According to Phoenix police, a mother is suspected of having stabbed and partially dismembering her three young sons before stuffing their bodies in a closet and trying to kill herself.
The children have been identified as Jaikare Rahaman, 8, Jeremiah Adams, 5, and Avery Robinson, 2 months.
On Wednesday, 29-year-old Octavia Rogers was seen by her brother in the family’s garage. She reportedly spoke with him about God and the meaning of life. Rogers then went inside and locked the door behind her, leaving her brother to force his way inside.
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By the time he got in, Rogers had already barricaded herself in another room. When she emerged, she was covered in blood and had stab wounds across the abdomen and neck. She told her brother she was pregnant.
He tried to grab some towels to help with the bleeding, but then Rogers attempted to drown herself in the bathtub. That’s when he called police for help.
After Rogers was taken to the hospital, investigators discovered the bodies of the two oldest boys stuffed inside a closet. The youngest child was discovered in a suitcase further in the closet as well. Detectives had not known the boys were there until they were discovered, as Rogers had told them her sons were with a caretaker.
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Phoenix Police Sgt. Trent Crump described the scene as “horrific.”
The children’s grandmother, Tanella McCoy, who shared the home with Rogers and her son, told AZCentral.com that her daughter was a good mother.
“She didn’t go out, she didn’t party, she didn’t do any of that,” said McCoy.
McCoy also told the paper that her youngest grandson Avery was a “good baby,” Jeremiah, 5, was her “muscleman” who would help carry things for her and Jaikare, 8, was her “book scholar.”
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The eldest children were often seen riding their bikes in the neighborhood.
The Arizona Department of Child Safety says it previously received three reports involving Rogers’ children but she “refused to receive services.”
Sgt. Crump says the boys’ fathers were “not in the picture” and Rogers had no known history of mental illness. She will likely face homicide charges once she is released from the hospital.