An Illinois mother accused of hanging her 2-year-old son had also discussed a plan to kill her husband, prosecutors said Tuesday during her first court appearance in the case.
The allegation against 40-year-old Corie Walsh surfaced at a bail hearing, where prosecutors outlined the case against the Frankfort mother charged in the death of her son, Barrett, NBC 5 Chicago reported.
According to prosecutors, Walsh made comments about “poisoning [her husband] with a drink.” They also noted that she had several prescription bottles in her possession.
Evidence presented in court also indicated Walsh, who allegedly attempted to take her own life, was experiencing delusions so severe that she believed she had killed her three other children as well.
Defense attorney Robert Kerr told the court that Walsh was “severely mentally ill” and said doctors had recommended she be placed into “immediate” care to keep her from harming herself.
Walsh’s attorneys argued she was in the midst of a “psychotic episode” when she allegedly hanged Barrett, who died of asphyxia. Kerr asked that she remain under medical care.
The case drew wider attention after prosecutors said Walsh had spoken with friends about the Lindsay Clancy trial shortly before she allegedly killed her son.
On Tuesday, however, Walsh’s lawyers sought to downplay any link to Clancy, whose widely followed triple-murder case ended Friday in a mistrial.
“Describing Corie to a copied Lindsay is to take an easy bait,” attorney Robert Kerr said in court, according to the local NBC station.
Kerr said mentions of Walsh being a “Lindsay Clancy copycat” are “sickening.”
In the hours leading up to the killing, Walsh was frantically sending messages to friends that were “confusing” and “out of character,” and said she believed that Clancy’s husband killed their children, not their mother.
Here’s the latest on Corie Walsh, the Lindsay Clancy-obsessed mom accused of murdering her 2-year-old son
“It was manslaughter, please I’m really freaking out,” Walsh wrote to friends during jury deliberations on Sept. 1.
A few hours after she sent the text, Barrett was found dead and Walsh was found in the bathroom fully clothed in a bathtub of bloody water, with wounds to her wrists and thighs, prosecutors said.
Kerr told the court that his client was “severely mentally ill” and she was diagnosed with “grief psychotic disorder” at the hospital following the alleged killing.
Walsh’s husband was not in court, although her attorney said that he has “unwavering” support and love for her.
He cooperated with police and social workers.
