Illinois woman with reported interest in Lindsay Clancy case to appear in court for alleged murder of her son

Will County Sheriff's Office

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes graphic and disturbing details.

An Illinois woman accused of killing her 2-year-old-son last week will be in court Tuesday morning to face three counts of first-degree murder.

Corie Walsh, 40, of Frankfort – an Illinois village southwest of Chicago – is accused of strangling her son Barrett to death, according to court documents obtained by CNN affiliate WLS .

Witnesses told police Walsh “had recently become very invested in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial ,” talking about it regularly in a group chat with friends almost until the moment her son was found unresponsive.

Clancy was charged with three counts of murder for the 2023 deaths of her three children in Massachusetts. Clancy acknowledged killing them but her defense said she had been suffering from post-partum psychosis that was not properly treated. Clancy had also told witnesses after the killings she had heard a male voice telling her to kill her children and herself.

Greg Derr/USA Today Network/Reuters

The Lindsay Clancy trial brings maternal mental health into the spotlight

In the Illinois case, police discovered Barrett Walsh in the basement of the family’s home the afternoon of September 1. A neighbor told police she found him with a cord around his neck, according to a court document. Walsh was discovered upstairs, bloodied after apparently cutting herself with a knife, responding officers reported. She told them Barrett was the “devil” and “anti-Christ,” according to police.

An infant was in the home at the time and two school-aged children returned home shortly after. They were all unharmed and later evaluated at the hospital as a precaution. Walsh’s husband was out of state at the time, according to investigators.

Corie Walsh was treated at a local hospital for three days before being transferred to the Will County Adult Detention Facility, where she is being held without bond.

“The defendant poses a specific, real, and present threat to her husband and her living three children,” prosecutors said in their request to deny bond.

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services told CNN it had never been previously called to the Walsh home.

An autopsy was conducted on the child last week.

“Final cause and manner will be determined following Autopsy, Police and Toxicological reports,” the Will County Coroner’s Office said.

Although Barrett Walsh was the only victim, prosecutors filed three first-degree murder counts against Corie Walsh under three different legal theories. Under the first theory, prosecutors must prove she killed her son “with the intent to kill or do great bodily harm.” Under the second theory, prosecutors must prove she killed her son “knowing that such an act would cause death” to her son. Under the third theory, prosecutors must prove she killed her son “knowing such act created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm” to her son.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, their loved ones, and everyone affected by this heartbreaking tragedy,” the Frankfort Police Department said in a statement last week.

Walsh’s attorney called the death a “heartbreak.”

“This is a tragedy, for the Walsh family all of whom are mourning the loss of this child,” Andrea Lyon said in a statement to CNN. “It is also a tragedy in that (Corie) herself was experiencing a psychotic episode at the time this happened.”

The Clancy case, which sparked a passionate public debate about maternal mental health, ended in a mistrial Friday when one holdout deadlocked the jury. Prosecutors in that case – who argued Clancy killed her children “intentionally, rationally and swiftly” – have not yet announced whether they plan to pursue a second trial.

CNN’s Nicki Brown, Amanda Watts, Gloria Pazmino, Dalia Faheid and Eric Levenson contributed to this report.

威尔县警长办公室

编者按：本文包含令人不安的画面和细节。

上周，一名伊利诺伊州女子被控杀害了她 2 岁的儿子，她将于周二上午出庭，面临三项一级谋杀指控。

据 CNN 附属电视台 WLS 获得的法庭文件显示，来自伊利诺伊州弗兰克福特（芝加哥西南部的一个小村庄）的 40 岁女子科里·沃尔什被指控勒死了她的儿子巴雷特。

目击者告诉警方，沃尔什“最近非常关注林赛·克兰西谋杀案的审判”，几乎在她儿子被发现失去反应的那一刻之前，她还在与朋友的群聊中经常谈论此事。

克兰西被控三项谋杀罪，罪名是她在2023年于马萨诸塞州杀害了她的三个孩子。克兰西承认杀害了他们，但她的辩护律师称她患有产后精神病，但没有得到妥善治疗。克兰西在案发后还告诉证人，她听到一个男人的声音命令她杀死她的孩子并自杀。

格雷格·德尔/今日美国网络/路透社

林赛·克兰西案将孕产妇心理健康问题推到了风口浪尖。

在伊利诺伊州的这起案件中，警方于9月1日下午在巴雷特·沃尔什家中地下室发现了他的尸体。据法庭文件显示，一位邻居告诉警方，她发现沃尔什时，他的脖子上缠着一根绳子。接警后赶到现场的警员报告称，沃尔什被发现时在楼上，浑身是血，显然是用刀割伤了自己的身体。据警方称，她告诉警员巴雷特是“魔鬼”和“反基督者”。

事发时家中有一名婴儿，两名学龄儿童随后也回到家中。他们都安然无恙，但出于谨慎起见，之后被送往医院进行检查。据调查人员称，沃尔什的丈夫当时不在州内。

科里·沃尔什在当地医院接受了三天的治疗后，被转移到威尔县成人拘留中心，目前被关押在那里，不得保释。

检察官在拒绝保释的请求中表示：“被告对她的丈夫和三个在世的孩子构成具体、真实和紧迫的威胁。”

伊利诺伊州儿童和家庭服务部告诉 CNN，他们之前从未接到过前往沃尔什家的求助电话。

上周对这名儿童进行了尸检。

“最终死因和死亡方式将在尸检报告、警方报告和毒理学报告出炉后确定，”威尔县验尸官办公室表示。

尽管巴雷特·沃尔什是唯一的受害者，但检方仍以三种不同的法律理论对科里·沃尔什提起三项一级谋杀指控。根据第一种理论，检方必须证明她“意图杀害或造成严重人身伤害”而杀害了她的儿子。根据第二种理论，检方必须证明她“明知此举会导致儿子死亡”而杀害了她的儿子。根据第三种理论，检方必须证明她“明知此举极有可能导致儿子死亡或遭受严重人身伤害”而杀害了她的儿子。

“我们向遇难者家属、他们的亲人以及所有受这场令人心碎的悲剧影响的人们致以最深切的慰问和祈祷，”法兰克福警察局上周在一份声明中表示。

沃尔什的律师称他的死是“令人心碎的”。

“这对沃尔什一家来说是一场悲剧，他们都在为失去这个孩子而悲痛，”安德里亚·里昂在给CNN的一份声明中说。“更令人悲痛的是，（科里）当时正处于精神病发作期。”

克兰西案引发了公众对孕产妇心理健康问题的激烈讨论，但由于一名陪审员的反对，导致陪审团意见不一，最终于周五宣告审判无效。该案的检方认为克兰西“蓄意、理性且迅速地”杀害了自己的孩子，但尚未宣布是否计划进行第二次审判。

CNN的Nicki Brown、Amanda Watts、Gloria Pazmino、Dalia Faheid和Eric Levenson对本报道亦有贡献。