Frankfort Mother Charged With Murder Denied Pretrial Release in Toddler’s Death

A Will County judge has denied pretrial release to a Frankfort mother charged with murdering her 2-year-old son, according to court documents obtained by Fox 32 Chicago.

Corie A. Walsh, 38, faces three counts of first-degree murder in the death of her son, Barrett Walsh. Prosecutors say Walsh told officers she killed the boy because she believed he was the “devil” and the “anti-Christ,” according to a petition filed to keep her detained ahead of trial.

Frankfort police were called to a home in the 22700 block of Brook Stone Court just after 4 p.m. on Sept. 1 for a report of an injured child. Officers arrived to find a neighbor performing CPR on Barrett, who the neighbor said she had discovered hanging from a basement rafter with his feet off the ground. The neighbor brought the boy down and continued CPR while calling 911, but Barrett was pronounced dead at the scene. A preliminary autopsy found he died of asphyxia caused by strangulation, court records state.

Walsh’s three other children, including an infant who was in the house at the time, were unharmed. Her husband was traveling out of state when Barrett was found and flew home that evening.

While officers were at the home, they were directed to an upstairs master bathroom, where Walsh was reportedly trying to harm herself. According to the petition, she was found fully dressed in a bathtub surrounded by bloody water while a neighbor pressed a towel against her left inner thigh. The neighbor told investigators she had taken a knife away from Walsh and thrown it into a sink; police later recovered the knife and documented cuts on Walsh’s wrists and thighs.

The neighbor told investigators Walsh asked why she had taken the knife, saying she was trying to kill herself, and then said “Bear” — a known nickname for Barrett — was in the basement. While hospitalized, Walsh made further statements to investigators about how she killed her son, which prosecutors say were consistent with the physical evidence.

Interest in Lindsay Clancy case noted in filing

Court documents state that witnesses told investigators Walsh had recently become “very invested” in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three children. The filing says Walsh discussed the Clancy case in a group text with friends as recently as 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 1, roughly three and a half hours before Barrett was found. Her cellphone was recovered from the bathroom, and forensic analysis of the device was ongoing as of Sept. 3.

The petition notes Walsh’s interest in the Clancy case but does not allege it was connected to Barrett’s death. Walsh’s attorney, Andrea Lyon, rejected any link between the two cases.

“They are not correlated at all. It’s just accidental,” Lyon said, calling speculation of a copycat crime “baseless and cruel.”

Detention hearing and defense strategy

Prosecutors asked the court to deny Walsh pretrial release, arguing she poses a real and present threat to her husband and her three surviving children. Because Barrett was 2 years old, a conviction carries a mandatory sentence of 60 to 100 years in prison without the possibility of early release.

At a detention hearing Tuesday, the judge denied Walsh’s request for release to a locked hospital setting. Lyon said the defense was disappointed but would continue investigating the case while Walsh recovers from her injuries, and that the defense may seek pretrial release again.

“She was psychotic. And this is not a first-degree murder,” Lyon told reporters.

Walsh’s defense team includes Lyon, who previously represented Casey Anthony. Anthony was acquitted in 2011 in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, a case that remains unsolved; a jury found Anthony guilty of lying to investigators but not guilty of murder, manslaughter or child abuse charges.

The Will County State’s Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Walsh remains hospitalized at Silver Cross Hospital and is expected to be transferred to the Will County Adult Detention Facility once medically released. The case remains pending in Will County Circuit Court.