Police officers searching the house of a woman in Phoenix who was taken to hospital with stab wounds opened a closet to a grim discovery.

Inside, officers found the partially dismembered bodies of her three young sons.

Police discovered the dead boys — ages 2 months old and 5 and 8 years old — in a closet full of miscellaneous items. Phoenix police Sgt. Trent Crump said the youngest boy's body was in a suitcase.

Crump said the children appeared to have been stabbed to death and "parts of their bodies were dismembered."

The 29-year-old mother is in the hospital in critical condition with self-inflicted stab wounds. Police say she is the primary suspect and will face charges.