Prosecutors say Illinois mother texted about Lindsay Clancy trial hours before killing her 2-year-old son
Editor's note: This story includes graphic and disturbing details.
An Illinois mother who prosecutors say killed her 2-year-old son had been following the Lindsay Clancy murder trial so closely that she was texting about it with friends just hours before the boy's death, according to court records.
Corie Walsh, 40, of Frankfort, Illinois, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Barrett Walsh, according to a complaint filed Friday and obtained by CNN affiliate WLS. Her attorney said Walsh was in the middle of a psychotic episode when the child died.
Authorities said Walsh exchanged messages about the Clancy case until about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. Around 4 p.m., Frankfort police were sent to a home for an unresponsive toddler. Barrett was pronounced dead around 5 p.m. at a New Lenox hospital.
The neighbor who found Barrett told investigators the toddler was hanging in the basement from a rafter with a ligature around his neck and his feet off the ground, according to court documents. She said she removed the ligature, lowered the child and began CPR. Officers who reached the house found Walsh in an upstairs bathroom lying in a bloody tub, with cuts on her wrists and thighs. A neighbor at the scene said she had removed a knife from Walsh's hand and thrown it in the sink. Walsh, who was still alive and asking why she had been stopped from ending her life, told her that “Bear”—Barrett's nickname—was in the basement.
Prosecutors said Walsh later told officers she killed her son because he was “the devil” and “the anti-Christ.” Her attorney, Andrea Lyon, said Friday that Walsh was experiencing a psychotic episode. “This is a tragedy for the Walsh family,” Lyon said. “It is also a tragedy in that she herself was experiencing a psychotic episode at the time this happened.”
Barrett's three siblings were not hurt. An infant was in the home when the killing happened, and two school-age children returned home as the neighbor was trying to save Barrett. Walsh's husband, who was out of state, flew home Tuesday night.
The Illinois case unfolded as a jury more than 1,000 miles away was deliberating in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, a former nurse charged with killing her three children. Walsh had become “very invested” in that case, witnesses told prosecutors, and was discussing it on a group text message until early Tuesday afternoon.
Clancy's trial ended in a mistrial Friday after the jury said it was deadlocked. Her lawyers argued that she should not be held criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis; prosecutors said the killings were intentional. The case drew national attention and set off fierce debate over maternal mental health, criminal responsibility and the limits of psychiatric defenses.
The new charges in Illinois, coming so soon after that mistrial, are likely to sharpen the same debate. Walsh's case is still in its early stages. Prosecutors have asked that she be held in custody, saying she made statements about harming her other children and her husband. She is being held at the Will County Adult Detention Facility and faces a detention hearing Tuesday.
Investigators recovered Walsh's phone from the bathroom and are conducting a forensic analysis, prosecutors said. A knife found in the home was also taken into evidence. The Will County coroner's office completed an autopsy Wednesday; preliminary findings indicate Barrett died from asphyxia caused by ligature compression of the neck, with final results pending toxicology and additional reports.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services told CNN it had no previous contact with the family.
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or a mental health crisis, help is available. In the United States, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. International resources can be found through Befrienders Worldwide and the International Association for Suicide Prevention.