Prosecutors say an Illinois mother accused of killing her 2-year-old son before injuring herself had become disturbingly focused on the trial of Lindsay Clancy.
Corie Walsh, 40, is facing a first-degree murder charge after her young son, Barrett “Bear” Walsh, was discovered hanged in the basement of the family’s home on Tuesday afternoon.
The devastating case had already prompted comparisons to Clancy, who is accused in the deaths of her three children, before prosecutors described another unsettling connection in a court petition seeking to keep Walsh jailed while she awaits trial.
According to the filing, Walsh had been “actively discussing the case via group text message with her friends” until only hours before her son was killed, NBC 5 Chicago reported.
Clancy’s trial in connection with the killings of her three children was still underway when the message was sent, though it ended in a mistrial earlier Friday. Echoing elements of Clancy’s defense, Walsh’s attorney said her client had been experiencing a “psychotic episode.”
Prosecutors also alleged in the filing that Walsh told police she killed Bear because he was “the devil” and “the antichrist.”
The court document says officers responding to the Walsh home found a neighbor in the front yard performing CPR on a toddler, later identified as Bear.
That neighbor told investigators she had found the child hanging from a basement rafter with a ligature around his neck.
Corie Walsh, 40, was charged with first-degree murder after her son, Barrett ‘Bear’ Walsh seen in her arms, was found hanged in the basement of their family home on Tuesday afternoon
Walsh was discovered upstairs lying in a bathtub ‘fully dressed, surrounded by bloody water,’ after she had attempted to harm herself with a knife, according to court documents
A neighbor told law enforcement that, after she had discovered Bear, she lowered him to the ground and began to perform CPR but he was ‘cold’ with no pulse
Bear was declared to have died from ‘asphyxia due to ligature compression of the neck,’ according to the documents.
Walsh was discovered by the neighbor upstairs lying in a bathtub ‘fully dressed, surrounded by bloody water,’ prosecutors said in the petition.
The neighbor held a towel on Walsh’s thigh after she had harmed herself with a knife in an alleged attempt to end her life, documents revealed.
Walsh’s husband was out of state at the time of the incident. Officers said they found another infant unharmed in the family home.
Two school-aged children also returned to the residence amid the chaos, according to the filing.
Walsh was transported to hospital and allegedly admitted to killing her son, officials said.
According to prosecutors, witnesses described how Walsh had recently become invested in the Clancy murder trial.
Clancy recently stood trial over the deaths of her three children, who she admitted to killing before attempting to end her own life, as her attorney argued that the mother had suffered from postpartum psychosis.
Walsh allegedly told officers that she ‘did this to her baby because he was the ‘devil’ and the ‘anti-Christ’
The case collapsed in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a verdict following days of deliberations.
Walsh’s lawyer Andrea Lyon told the Chicago Tribune her client was experiencing a psychotic episode.
‘This is a tragedy for the Walsh family, all of whom are mourning the loss of this child,’ she said.
‘It is also a tragedy in that Corie herself was experiencing a psychotic episode at the time this happened. It is our hope, through a thorough presentation and investigation of the facts, that all of us will come to see this heartbreak for what it is.’
Neighbors said earlier this week that they were stunned by the tragedy at the Walsh home, with resident Carolyn Pappas saying that the tragedy shared eerie similarities to the Clancy case.
Pappas told NBC Chicago: ‘This is just absolutely devastating, that this could be another Lindsay Clancy situation in our neighborhood, in our community.
‘You never think it’s going to hit so close to home. That absolutely makes us think of that.
‘And again, just more people, I think, are struggling than we realize and so we just need to be there for one another.’
Walsh had allegedly become invested in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial and had been ‘actively discussing the case via group text message with her friends’ up until just hours before her son’s horrific murder, per court filings
Frankfort Police Chief Leanne Chelepis said: ‘Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, their loved ones, and everyone affected by this heartbreaking tragedy.’
The investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
Walsh was booked into the Will County Adult Detention Facility on Friday afternoon on three counts of murder, online records show. She is expected to appear in court on Tuesday.
Our News Outlet reached out to Lyon, the Frankfort Police Department and the Will County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
