A Phoenix community is left stunned after a local mother allegedly stabbed her three children to death in a family home early Thursday, KPHO reports. According to the report, the children, identified as 8-year-old Jaikare Rahaman, 5-year-old Jeremiah Adams and 2-month-old Avery Robinson, all died in the attack.
The mother, 29-year-old Octavia Rogers, reportedly stabbed herself as well but survived and was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Her condition has since been upgraded.
"You feel bad for the family, you feel bad for the police officers. It's just horrible," Efren Bojorquez, a neighbor, told the news station.
By Thursday night, a small memorial containing flowers and toys had been placed outside the crime-scene tape.
According to Phoenix Police Sgt. Trent Crump, Rogers was said to be acting irrationally when her brother got to the family home around 12:30 a.m. Thursday. Rogers reportedly locked her brother in the garage. By the time the brother forced his way back into the home, Rogers had already stabbed herself multiple times in the abdomen and neck.
According to Crump, Rogers told her brother that she was "stabbing her abdomen because she is pregnant." Authorities have not confirmed the pregnancy.
Rogers' brother went to grab some towels and sheets and call 911, and when he returned, he reportedly found his sister trying to drown herself in a bathtub.
It was only when police arrived at the home that they discovered the two older boys in a bedroom closet and the baby "stuffed into a case." All three boys had multiple stab wounds.
"An absolutely horrific scene for the officers and for her brother to arrive to," Crump said.
Read more at KPHO.