Prosecutors say Corie Walsh discussed the Lindsay Clancy murder trial with friends hours before Barrett Walsh was found unresponsive at home.
FRANKFORT, Ill. — Corie A. Walsh, 40, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old son, Barrett “Bear” Walsh, after police were called to the family’s Frankfort home Sept. 1 and found the child unresponsive, authorities said.
New details contained in a prosecution court filing describe the events investigators say unfolded inside the home and show that Walsh had been discussing the nationally followed Lindsay Clancy murder trial with friends earlier that day. Authorities have not established that the Clancy case caused Walsh’s alleged actions, and the timing of those discussions does not by itself establish a motive. Walsh’s attorney has said her client was experiencing a psychotic episode at the time of her son’s death.
Frankfort police were dispatched at about 4:04 p.m. to the 22700 block of Brook Stone Court for a report involving an unresponsive child. According to a court proffer filed by prosecutors, a neighbor found Barrett suspended from a device attached to a basement rafter and removed him before beginning CPR and calling for help. Emergency crews continued efforts to revive the boy, but he was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
An autopsy was performed Sept. 2. Prosecutors said preliminary findings indicated Barrett died from asphyxia caused by compression of the neck. The Will County coroner’s office separately described the death as an apparent homicide while saying final findings remained subject to additional investigation and testing. Police have said the investigation is continuing.
Officers also found Walsh injured elsewhere in the home, police said. Authorities described her wounds as apparently self-inflicted and not life-threatening. She was taken to a hospital for treatment. Three other children connected to the household were physically unharmed, according to police and the prosecution filing. Prosecutors said an infant was at the home and two school-age children returned around the time the emergency was discovered. Walsh’s husband was outside Illinois at the time and returned after being notified.
Prosecutors allege Walsh made statements to responding officers and later to investigators about her son and the death. The filing says she referred to Barrett as the “devil” and the “anti-Christ.” Prosecutors also said statements she made about what happened were consistent with evidence investigators found at the home. Those claims are allegations contained in the state’s case and have not been tested at trial.
The filing also says witnesses told investigators that Walsh had recently become “very invested” in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy in Massachusetts. Prosecutors said Walsh had been actively discussing the Clancy case with friends in a group text as late as about 12:30 p.m. Sept. 1, roughly three and a half hours before Frankfort police were called to the home. Investigators recovered Walsh’s cellphone, and prosecutors said a forensic examination of the device was underway.
Clancy’s case had drawn national attention as jurors considered whether she was criminally responsible for killing her three young children in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023. Her attorneys argued that she suffered from severe mental illness, including postpartum psychosis, while prosecutors maintained that she was legally responsible for the killings. A Massachusetts judge declared a mistrial Sept. 4 after the jury said it could not reach a unanimous verdict. The mistrial does not resolve the charges against Clancy.
Walsh’s three first-degree murder counts arise from different legal theories involving the same death, rather than allegations that three people were killed. Prosecutors allege that she intended to kill Barrett, knew her actions would cause his death or knew they created a strong probability of death. The charges are accusations, and prosecutors must prove them beyond a reasonable doubt.
Defense attorney Andrea Lyon has said the Walsh family is mourning Barrett and that Walsh was experiencing a psychotic episode when the death occurred. That assertion represents the defense’s position and has not been resolved by a judge or jury. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services told CBS Chicago that it had no prior contact with the family before the Sept. 1 incident and is now involved in the case.
Walsh was later taken into custody at the Will County Adult Detention Facility. Prosecutors have asked a judge to deny her pretrial release, arguing in court filings that she could pose a threat to members of her family. Walsh is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 8 before Will County Judge Amy Bertani Tomczak. The investigation remains active, and Walsh is presumed innocent unless proved guilty in court.
Author note: Last updated September 5, 2026.