Illinois mother charged with killing two-year-old son after following high-profile murder trial

Corie Walsh, 40, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder after her two-year-old son, Barrett, was discovered dead in the basement of their suburban Chicago home on Tuesday. Prosecutors said Walsh had been closely following the nationally publicized trial of Massachusetts mother Lindsay Clancy and was texting friends about the case until about 12:30 p.m. that day, hours before the child was found.

A neighbor discovered Barrett in the basement less than four hours later, performed CPR and called emergency services. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead; an autopsy later determined death resulted from asphyxia caused by ligature compression of the neck.

Police found Walsh elsewhere in the house, fully dressed in a bathtub filled with bloody water and with self-inflicted cuts to her wrists and thighs. She was taken to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Prosecutors allege she told investigators she killed her son because she believed he was the “devil” and the “anti-Christ.”

Walsh’s attorney, Andrea Lyon, said her client was experiencing a psychotic episode and described the death as a tragedy for the family. Authorities have not linked the Clancy trial to the killing, and no evidence has been presented establishing a connection beyond Walsh’s discussion of the case.

The discovery came shortly after a Massachusetts judge declared a mistrial in the Clancy case, where the defendant faces charges of killing her three children and has claimed postpartum psychosis as a defense.