Man goes on trial accused of 8 killings in metro Phoenix in 2017
[May 05, 2025]
By JACQUES BILLEAUD
PHOENIX (AP) — The key to cracking a series of fatal shootings in the
Phoenix area in 2017 came when police were called to a blood-spattered
apartment where they arrested a man who was suspected of killing his
mother and stepfather.
Authorities say evidence found there linked Cleophus Cooksey Jr. to four
other killings. Police found a gun used in several of them, a necklace
belonging to a victim and the vehicle keys of a woman whose partially
nude body was found in an alley.
Cooksey's trial opens Monday, more than seven years later, after
repeated delays due to pandemic. The 43-year-old is accused of murder
and other charges stemming from a total of eight killings in Phoenix and
nearby Glendale over a three-week span.
If he is convicted, prosecutors will seek the death penalty. Cooksey has
said the allegations against him are false and pleaded not guilty.
In earlier years, two other serial shooting cases sparked fear in metro
Phoenix, prompting some people to stay indoors after dark or stay off
freeways where they occurred. Unlike those cases, the killings Cooksey
is accused of did not occur over a matter of months and generated no
publicity until his arrest.
The victims
The first of the eight killings happened Nov. 27, 2017. By that point
Cooksey had been out of prison for four months after serving time for
his role in a 2001 strip club robbery that turned deadly.
Cooksey knew some of the victims intimately, but others were strangers.
Most of the shootings happened in the evening and overnight. Police
never released a motive but said Cooksey was responsible.
Parker Smith and Andrew Remillard were the first victims, shot while
sitting inside a vehicle in a parking lot. Five days later security
guard Salim Richards was fatally shot on the way to his girlfriend’s
apartment. Prosecutors say Cooksey and Richards fought physically and
Cooksey walked away with Richards' gun and necklace.
Latorrie Beckford and Kristopher Cameron were killed in separate
shootings at apartment complexes in Glendale.
Maria Villanueva was expected at her boyfriend’s apartment in Glendale,
but police say Cooksey drove away with her in her vehicle. The next day
her body, naked from the waist down, was found in a Phoenix alley.
Authorities say she had been sexually assaulted and Cooksey’s DNA was
found on her body.
Finally, on Dec. 17, 2017, Cooksey answered the door when officers
acting on a report of gunshots showed up at his mother's apartment.
Officers noticed a lot of blood. Cooksey said he had cut his hand and
was the only one home, according to police. Cooksey’s mother, Rene
Cooksey, and stepfather, Edward Nunn, were found dead. Before he was
detained, police say, Cooksey threatened to slit an officer’s throat.
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A list of nine homicide victims all linked to a convicted felon is
displayed by the Phoenix Police Department at a news conference on
Jan. 18, 2018 in Phoenix, Ariz. (AP Photo/Terry Tang, File)
The evidence against Cooksey
On the sofa in the living room, investigators found Richards’ gun,
which was later linked to the killings of Beckford, Cameron and
Villanueva. The keys to Villanueva’s vehicle also were found there,
and police say Cooksey was wearing Richards' necklace when he was
arrested.
In a January 2020 handwritten letter to a judge over the impending
postponement of his trial, Cooksey said he was in an “upmost hurry”
to prove “my charges are no more than false accusations” and “what
better way to do so than” a not-guilty verdict. An aspiring
musician, he said he was not a rapist or murderer: “I am a music
artist.”
The Associated Press left a phone message and email seeking comment
from Robert Reinhardt, a lawyer representing Cooksey.
Despite wanting to exercise his right to a speedy trial, Cooksey's
case encountered postponements due to the pandemic, which interfered
with preparation including the ability of experts to evaluate
Cooksey.
Earlier in the case, his lawyers raised questions about a claim
police made around the time of his arrest that Cooksey was suspected
of a ninth killing. But prosecutors ultimately declined to charge
Cooksey in the December 2017 shooting death of Jesus Real at his
home in Avondale.
According to police, Real’s sister and Cooksey had broken up the
night before. Prosecutors said they had no reasonable likelihood of
winning a conviction.
Serial shooting cases in the Phoenix area
Cooksey’s arrest came after two serial shooting cases in recent
years.
From late August to early September 2015, a total of 11 shootings
occurred on freeways. No one was seriously hurt when eight vehicles
were hit with bullets and three others with projectiles such as BBs
or pellets. But a 13-year-old was cut by glass.
Charges were later dismissed against the only person charged in the
shootings, who went on to win a rare court order declaring him
officially cleared of the allegations.
The next serial shooting case came over nearly a one-year period
that ended in July 2016. Aaron Juan Saucedo, a bus driver, has been
charged with first-degree murder and other charges in the attacks,
which killed nine people. He was arrested in April 2017.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Saucedo, who has
pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled for December.
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