Phoenix police say a mother is suspected of killing her three sons before harming herself in a north Phoenix home overnight.
A man reportedly called police after he returned home, near 23rd Avenue and Greenway Road, around 12:30 a.m. Thursday to find his 29-year-old sister talking irrationally in the garage.
Phoenix Police Sgt. Trent Crump says the woman "was talking about religion and having found the answer to her problems."
She proceeded to lock him out of the house before locking herself in a bathroom, police say.
The brother forced his way in and found her suffering from multiple serious, self-inflicted stab wounds to her neck and stomach. She also reportedly tried to drown herself.
Police say the woman, who believed she was pregnant, was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Authorities say her condition had improved by late afternoon, and she is expected to survive.
Police say they were alerted that the woman had three sons, whom police later found dead inside the home. Two boys, 8-year-old Jaikare Rahaman and 5-year-old Jeremiah Adams, were found in a closet. Two-month-old Avery Robinson was found inside a suitcase in the same closet, police say. All had suffered multiple stab wounds.
"I had the unfortunate situation of seeing them removing the bodies," said neighbor Bob Wituschek. “Anything that involves little kids is just tough."
Another neighbor, Michelle Wiens said, "I can't imagine what those kids were going through. It's just awful."
Police say the woman, who family identified as Octavia Rogers, had recently moved back to Phoenix to live with her brother and before giving birth to Avery.
"Talking to her mother and to her brother, both they said she was a very loving mother, loved her children more than herself and they have no answers for what occurred," Crump said.
"We had a garage sale and she came over and looked at a few things and bought things," said neighbor Jeff Ruoff. "She bought something and said, 'This would be great for the kids in the summer.' I thought about that on my way to work and it kind of broke my heart."
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