Chicago mom accused of killing son enters plea as family sits in courtroom

A Chicago mom accused of killing her 2-year-old son before trying to harm herself inside her suburban home pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges. With her family sitting in the courtroom, Corie Walsh appeared emotional as she went before a judge for a second time to enter her plea. “They served us with an indictment charging Corie Walsh with three different counts under three different theories of first-degree murder,” Walsh’s attorney, Andrea Lyon, told reporters after the hearing. “We are, as you might know from the last time, very concerned about her mental health and stability.” In her last appearance, Walsh was ordered detained pre-trial, despite her attorneys pushing for medical treatment, saying the Frankfort mother was suffering from a psychotic episode at the time of her son’s killing. At the same time as her hearing, Walsh’s 2-year-old son, Barrett, was being laid to rest. On Thursday, Lyon said Walsh’s family was in court to support her, though none of the family members spoke following the hearing. “Her husband, her mother, her mother’s best friend, a cousin and uncle -- they all support her. They all know this is not about who she is,” Lyon said. Prosecutors did not speak after the Thursday proceedings, but previously argued that Walsh intended to do more than kill her son, but also discussed planning to poison her husband. Prosecutors had previously filed documents detailing what they said happened the day Walsh was found in a bloody bathtub and her 2-year-old son dead in her basement, hanging from a rafter. They revealed that two other children who live in the home, came back from school, saw the situation unfolding and ran to a neighbor for help. The neighbor quickly pulled Barrett down and attempted CPR, but said he had no pulse. He was later pronounced dead at an area hospital. The Will County Medical Examiner’s office ruled his cause of death as asphyxia. An 8-month-old infant was also in the home at the time and had been left on the ground of an upstairs room unsupervised, prosecutors said. Walsh was ultimately found by the neighbor fully clothed, in a bathtub with bloody water, having injuries to her wrist and thighs, prosecutors said. She told authorities at the time she killed her son because “he was the devil” and “anti Christ,” the court docs showed. She later made statements saying she intended to harm her husband when he arrived home, saying she would “poison him with a drink,” prosecutors said, noting that she also believed she had killed her other children as well. She had drinks at home and a number of prescription bottles, they added. Defense attorneys argued, however, that she was in a state of psychosis when she attempted to take her own life and when she made statements to law enforcement and hospital staff. “She was psychotic, and this is not a first-degree murder. This is a tragedy. There are no winners here,” attorney Andrea Lyon said. Prosecutors, citing witnesses, had previously said Walsh had “recently become very invested in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial,” which involved a mother killing her three children before trying to kill herself. The trial generated intense interest for more than a month, deeply dividing the public and drawing attention to issues around maternal mental health after childbirth. Clancy’s attorney said she was suffering from a rare condition called postpartum psychosis. Prosecutors conceded that Clancy had severe mental illness, but insisted she was able to understand and control her actions. According to the court documents, Walsh “had been actively discussing the case via group text message with her friends” up until just hours before the tragic discovery was made inside her home. But defense attorneys said those witnesses also noted some unusual behavior from Walsh hours before the incident unfolded. Members of the group chat described her messages as “confusing” and “out of character.” They said she believed Clancy’s husband killed his children, writing “it was manslaughter, please help I’m really freaking out.” The neighbor who found Walsh also acknowledged she was unlike herself, saying she had dilated eyes and a “weird giggle.” A firefighter and first responder told detectives she was “incoherent” in the ambulance as well. Defense attorneys noted that Walsh saw a counselor recently and had never previously displayed any signs of abuse toward her children, according to family and friends. Despite similarities and text messages surrounding the Lindsay Clancy case, defense attorneys said mentions of Walsh being a “Lindsay Clancy copycat” are “sickening.” “Describing Corie to a copied Lindsay is to take an easy bait,” defense attorney Robert Kerr said. Walsh is expected to appear in court again on Oct. 26.