An Illinois mother, Corie Walsh, 40, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of her two-year-old son, Barrett 'Bear' Walsh. Prosecutors stated that Walsh exhibited a disturbing fixation on the trial of Lindsay Clancy, another mother accused of killing her children.
Walsh was arrested after authorities found her son deceased in the basement of their Frankfort home on Tuesday afternoon. According to court documents, the child was found hanged from a basement rafter with a ligature around his neck. A neighbor discovered the toddler and began performing CPR, but the child was pronounced dead at the scene. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death as asphyxia due to ligature compression of the neck.
Investigators found Walsh upstairs in a bathtub, fully dressed and surrounded by bloody water, after she had allegedly attempted to harm herself with a knife. The neighbor who discovered the child reportedly provided aid to Walsh by holding a towel to a wound on her thigh.
Court documents revealed that Walsh had been actively discussing the Lindsay Clancy case via group text messages with friends up until a few hours before her son's death. Clancy's trial over the deaths of her three children concluded with a mistrial on Friday, as jurors were unable to reach a verdict. Clancy's defense had argued that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Walsh allegedly told police that she killed her son because he was 'the devil' and 'the anti-Christ.'
Walsh's attorney, Andrea Lyon, stated that her client was experiencing a psychotic episode at the time of the incident. She described the situation as a tragedy for the Walsh family and expressed hope that a thorough investigation would illuminate the circumstances.
Walsh's husband was reportedly out of state at the time of the incident. Another infant was found unharmed in the family home, and two school-aged children returned to the residence during the emergency response.
Walsh was booked into the Will County Adult Detention Facility on Friday afternoon and is expected to appear in court on Tuesday. The investigation into the incident remains ongoing.