A Maricopa County jury has issued a sentence of death for an eight-time convicted murderer who authorities say went on a killing spree over three weeks in 2017.
Jurors were unanimous in deciding Cleophus Cooksey Jr. should be handed the ultimate punishment for six of the murders, but undecided on whether the murders of his mother and stepfather met the threshold. A clerk called out the verdicts Thursday in Maricopa County Superior Court.
"We the jury duly empaneled and sworn in the above and titled action and upon our oaths unanimously find, having considered all of the facts and circumstances of this case, that the defendant should be sentenced to death."
Police connected Cooksey to the murders using evidence including DNA, victim jewelry and firearms.
He will join the more than 100 inmates already on Arizona’s Death Row.
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