FRANKFORT, Ill. — An Illinois mother charged with killing her 2-year-old son had become “very invested” in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial and was texting friends about the case hours before the toddler was found dead, prosecutors say in court filings reported Sept. 6, 2026.

Corie A. Walsh, 40, of Frankfort — about 35 miles southwest of Chicago — faces three counts of first-degree murder in the Sept. 1 death of her son Barrett Walsh, according to a complaint obtained by CNN affiliate WLS and charging announcements covered by NBC News, NBC Chicago, and the New York Post. (Some local desks have also spelled the child’s name Bennet.)

Citing witnesses, prosecutors wrote that Walsh “had been actively discussing the case via group text message with her friends” until about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, CNN reported. Around 4 p.m., Frankfort police responded to a report of an unresponsive toddler; Barrett was pronounced dead about 5 p.m. at a New Lenox hospital, according to the Will County Coroner’s Office via CNN.

Neighbor’s discovery

Court documents say a neighbor found the toddler hanging from a basement rafter with a ligature around his neck and his feet off the ground, removed the ligature, began CPR, and called 911. The same neighbor then found Walsh upstairs in a bathtub with a knife, “actively harming herself,” with cuts to her wrists and thighs, prosecutors said. Walsh allegedly asked why the knife was taken away as she attempted suicide and told the neighbor that “Bear” — Barrett’s nickname — was in the basement.

Walsh told officers she did this because her son was the “devil” and the “anti-Christ,” prosecutors said. While hospitalized, she allegedly described how she killed Barrett in terms prosecutors said matched the scene evidence. A preliminary autopsy finding cited in filings indicated death from asphyxia due to ligature compression of the neck; final cause and manner remained pending toxicology and related reports, CNN reported.

A baby in the home was unharmed. Two school-aged children returned around the time Barrett was found and were also unharmed. Walsh’s husband was out of state and flew home Tuesday evening, according to court documents summarized by CNN and NBC News. Prosecutors sought to deny pretrial release, alleging Walsh made statements about harming her other children and intending to harm her husband upon his return.

Defense: psychotic episode; Clancy mistrial backdrop

Defense attorney Andrea Lyon told CNN Walsh had been in a mental health crisis and was “experiencing a psychotic episode at the time this happened,” calling the case a tragedy for the Walsh family. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services told CNN it had no record of prior contact with the family.

Walsh was booked into the Will County Adult Detention Facility and was scheduled for a detention hearing Tuesday, according to the sheriff’s office via CNN. The killing came while jurors in Plymouth, Massachusetts, were deliberating in the Clancy case — which ended in a mistrial Friday, Sept. 4, after a deadlock, with a Sept. 29 hearing set on next steps. Prosecutors have not claimed the Clancy trial caused the Frankfort killing; they cite Walsh’s fixation and texts as context in the charging papers.

Sources