An Illinois mother accused of murdering her 2-year-old son has retained one of Casey Anthony’s attorneys as her defense counsel.
During a court appearance on Tuesday, September 8, the woman, Corie Walsh, 40, was denied pretrial release, WLS reported.
Walsh is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the death of one of her four children, Barrett, who was killed on September 1, according to the Frankfort Police Department.
Witnesses said Walsh became “very invested” in the Lindsay Clancy murder case and had been “actively discussing” Clancy’s trial via text messages within hours before Barrett was found unresponsive in the basement of her home in Frankfort, a Chicago suburb, according to court documents obtained by NBC 5 Chicago.
A neighbor allegedly discovered the 2-year-old dead inside the basement before finding Walsh in a bathtub with self-inflicted injuries on September 1, according to prosecutors, WLS reported. The boy was later pronounced dead in a hospital.
Andrea Lyon, a Chicago-based attorney who was a member of Casey Anthony’s defense team during Anthony’s 2011 high-profile murder trial, is representing Walsh, NBC 5 Chicago reported. Anthony was previously found not guilty of murder, manslaughter and child abuse in connection with the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.
The Anthony case is described by A&E as “one of the most polarizing trials in United States history” that “continues to divide public opinion and raise questions about the complexities of justice and the role of the media in high-profile criminal cases.”
In relation to Barrett’s death, Lyon contends Walsh was experiencing a “psychotic episode,” according to NBC 5 Chicago, according to the outlet.
While speaking with police, Walsh had described her son as the “devil” and the “anti-Christ,” per court filings reviewed by the outlet.
She allegedly killed Barrett while her husband was not home, prosecutors said, per WLS.
The boy’s death came days before Clancy’s murder case ended in a mistrial in Massachusetts due to a deadlocked 11-1 jury.
Prosecutors have not said whether they’ve made a decision on retrying Clancy for the killings of her three children, Cora, Dawson, and Callan, Us reported. Clancy has admitted to killing her children by strangling them inside her basement before an apparent suicide attempt in 2023, according to authorities.
Clancy’s defense attorneys have argued that she had been suffering from severe postpartum psychosis.
As for Walsh, she is being held in the Will County Jail, where she’s to receive psychiatric care, ahead of trial, FOX 32 Chicago reported.
Call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 833-852-6262 for free, confidential support, available 24/7 in the U.S.
