phoenix murder trial.

A jury has sentenced a man to death in six murders in metro Phoenix in 2017, but was undecided on the punishment for his convictions in the killings of his mother and stepfather. The punishment given to Cleophus Cooksey Jr. marks the end of a seven-month trial over attacks that targeted random victims and his own mother and stepfather. The jury delivered its sentencing decision on Thursday. Cooksey was found guilty in late September of murder in the killings. 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. Cooksey has maintained his innocence.

A man tried for murder after he was accused of killing eight people in the metro Phoenix area in 2017 is set to hear a jury’s verdict against him. Cleophus Cooksey Jr.’s trial came more than seven years after the killings due to repeated delays caused by the pandemic. The 43-year-old is accused of murder and other charges stemming from the fatal shootings in Phoenix and nearby Glendale over a three-week span. If he is convicted in the verdict expected Thursday, prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty. Cooksey has said the allegations against him are false. He pleaded not guilty.