Man charged in 8 killings 8 years ago in Phoenix area goes on trial

Phoenix — The key to apparently 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 opened Monday, more than seven years later, after repeated delays due to the 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 plan to seek the death penalty. Cooksey has said the allegations against him are false and pleaded not guilty.