‘This is a tragedy’: Illinois mom followed a murder trial, then killed her own son

The Lindsay Clancy trial drew heavy national coverage for weeks, and prosecutors in Illinois now say one woman following it closely has been charged in her own son’s death. Corie Walsh, 40, of Frankfort faces three counts of first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old son Barrett, according to CNN. She has not entered a plea and the allegations are unproven.

Frankfort police were called to a home on Brook Stone Court just after 4 p.m. that day for a report of an unresponsive child. Officers found a neighbor performing CPR on Barrett, who had been discovered in the basement. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, and a preliminary autopsy listed the cause as asphyxia due to ligature compression of the neck.

Officers also found Walsh in the home with self-inflicted injuries. She was hospitalized in non-life-threatening condition and taken into custody once she was stable. Her husband was out of town, and the couple’s three other children, including an infant who was home at the time, were not physically harmed.

The timeline in the court filing is the part people cannot get past

Prosecutors wrote in their petition to deny pretrial release that witnesses described Walsh as having recently become very invested in the Clancy trial. She had been discussing the case in a group text with friends until 12:30 p.m. on September 1, three and a half hours before the scene was found. The Clancy jury was deliberating at the time.

The petition also alleges Walsh told investigators she believed Barrett was the devil and the anti-Christ, and that she made statements about harming her husband and her other children. Investigators are examining her phone for searches and messages that could show her state of mind. None of that has been tested in court.

Walsh’s attorney, Andrea Lyon, has described the case as a tragedy for the whole family and said Walsh was experiencing a psychotic episode. Lyon is a veteran capital defense lawyer who previously worked on the Casey Anthony defense. It’s important to note that no court has found Walsh legally insane, and the standard for that finding is far higher than evidence of mental illness alone.

The Clancy comparison has limits. Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, was accused of killing her three children in 2023, and her defense argued that an illness she never asked for was responsible rather than Clancy herself. Prosecutors there argued she understood and planned what she did.

That case ended on September 4 without a verdict, as the jury could not agree. Notes later showed the jury split 11 to 1 in favor of acquittal. Lyon has used the broader term psychotic episode rather than postpartum psychosis, so it is not yet clear whether Walsh’s defense will follow a similar path.

Walsh is due at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet for a detention hearing, where a judge will decide whether she stays in custody while the state builds its case. Whether the forensic review of her phone supports or complicates the prosecution’s account could shape how the case proceeds from there.