Court finds Phoenix mom who killed 3 sons ‘guilty except insane’

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — There’s been a major change in the case of a Phoenix mother who was facing the death penalty for the deaths of her three young sons.

Instead of going to trial next week, we’ve learned Octavia Rogers changed her plea to “guilty except insane,” meaning the death penalty and trial are off the table.

There’s even a possibility she could walk free in a matter of years.

The Phoenix mom, once sobbing in the courtroom as she pleaded not guilty to killing her three sons years ago, agreed to the plea deal earlier this year.

Rogers is now serving a life sentence in the state hospital.

“A criminal except insane plea is very, very rare in our criminal justice system,” said Jay Rademacher, a former Maricopa County Attorney’s Office trial attorney. “The reason it’s rare is because it’s very difficult to prove someone was actually insane when they did it.”

Rademacher was working in the office when this horrific case unfolded.

“I can speak specifically on this case. I know it took a toll on a lot of individuals who worked on this case. I know that for a fact,” Rademacher said.

In 2016, Rogers stabbed her three young sons, ages 8, 5, and 2 months, to death inside their townhome, then took it a step further.

“It appears that the children at this point were likely stabbed to death and that parts of their bodies were dismembered,” a Phoenix Police officer said at the scene in 2016. “There’s nobody that wanted to walk in and find a scene as gruesome as this one.”

The bodies of all three boys were found in the closet, with the 2-month-old found inside a suitcase.

Police said Rogers’ brother had been locked out of their townhouse, and when he forced his way inside, he found his sister had tried to stab and drown herself before the children were found.

Rogers was charged with premeditated first-degree murder for killing her three sons, but her mother stood by her in court years ago.

“It broke my heart because that’s my baby. Regardless of what she is accused of, I love her, and she let me know she loves me,” her mother said outside the courthouse in 2016.

But this is where this new plea deal comes into play.

According to the court documents, psychological and medical experts for the state, the defense, and the court all agreed Rogers was guilty except insane at the time of the crime, meaning she did not know her actions were wrong and did not understand the consequences.

Experts said it’s rare for all sides to agree a defendant was insane.

Rademacher said that changes the ability to go forward with a death penalty case.

“You cannot execute someone who is legally insane,” said Rademacher. “This would be, I guess, you could say a win for the state in a sense that they obtained the max sentence without having to go to trial, expend the resources, and most importantly, putting the victims’ family through all of that.”

So why is it that Rogers could be released in two years?

The guilty except insane plea requires her to have a hearing every two years to determine how she is doing and where she is at.

At any of those hearings, the court could decide to keep her in the state hospital, move her to prison, release her with conditions, or release her altogether.

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