What to know about Arizona serial killings that resulted in 8 murder convictions
Sep 25, 2025, 3:46 PM | Updated: Oct 1, 2025, 1:50 pm
FILE - A list of nine homicide victims all linked to a convicted felon is displayed by the Phoenix Police Department at a news conference Jan. 18, 2018 in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Terry Tang, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Terry Tang, File)
PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona man was convicted Thursday on eight murder charges for a string of fatal shootings in Phoenix and neighboring Glendale after a trial that spanned several months.
A jury in Phoenix found Cleophus Cooksey Jr., 43, guilty in the killings of eight people that targeted random victims and the defendant’s mother and stepfather over a three-week span in 2017. He was also found guilty of other crimes including kidnapping, sexual assault and armed robbery.
Authorities never offered a motive. Cooksey maintained his innocence at trial.
The sentencing portion of the trial begins Monday, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Here’s a timeline of the serial killings:
Andrew Remillard, 27, and Parker Smith, 21, are found dead with gunshot wounds to the head inside a parked car in Phoenix.
Salim Richards, 31, is shot and killed while walking in west Phoenix. His 9 mm Glock handgun and a necklace are missing.
Latorrie Beckford, 29, is found shot twice in the head in the common area of a Glendale apartment complex.
Kristopher Cameron, 21, is shot and killed upon arriving at a Glendale apartment complex to complete a drug transaction with Cooksey, police say.
About 90 minutes after Cameron was shot, Maria Villanueva, 43, parks her car at another complex 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away. Surveillance cameras show an unknown man approach her and then drive away in Villanueva’s car with her in the front passenger seat. She is found partially nude and shot to death in a Phoenix alley the next morning.
Police responding to gunfire at a central Phoenix apartment find Cooksey at the scene and, after a brief altercation, take him into custody. They find the bodies of his mother, Rene Cooksey, 56, and her husband, Edward Nunn, 54, behind the front door. Both had been shot to death.
Investigators said they 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.
