Phoenix (AP) — An Arizona jury convicted a man Thursday on eight murder charges for a string of fatal shootings in metro Phoenix that targeted random victims and the defendant's mother and stepfather over a three-week span in 2017.

The jury in Phoenix also found Cleophus Cooksey Jr., 43, guilty of crimes including kidnapping, sexual assault and armed robbery. The sentencing portion of the trial begins Monday. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

The victims in Phoenix and nearby Glendale included Cooksey’s mother and stepfather, a security guard walking to his girlfriend’s apartment and a woman whose body was found in an alley after she was sexually assaulted. Cooksey, an aspiring musician, knew some of the victims but wasn’t acquainted with others, police said. Authorities never o

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