Arizona jury sentences man to death in string of killings in metro Phoenix during 2017

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona jury has sentenced a man to death in a string of killings in metro Phoenix during a three-week span in 2017.

Cleophus Cooksey Jr., 43, was found guilty in late September of murder in the killings of eight people, including random victims and his own mother and stepfather. He also was convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery and attempted sexual assault charges stemming from the attacks in Phoenix and nearby Glendale. Jurors sentenced Cooksey to death in six of the eight killings for which he was convicted of murder. The jury was undecided on punishments for his convictions in the killings his mother and stepfather.

The jury delivered its sentencing decision on Thursday.

The victims included two men found dead in a parked car, a security guard shot while walking to his girlfriend’s apartment and a woman who was kidnapped, her body found in an alley after police say she was sexually assaulted.

Authorities say they linked Cooksey to the slayings through evidence found at his mother’s apartment in the aftermath of her killing. That evidence included a gun used in several of the killings, vehicle keys belonging to another victim and a victim’s necklace that Cooksey was wearing when he was arrested, investigators said.

Authorities never offered a motive.

Cooksey, an aspiring musician, knew some of the victims but he wasn’t acquainted with others, police said. He has maintained his innocence.