FRANKFORT, Ill. (Court TV) — A mother accused of killing her son after becoming interested in the Lindsay Clancy trial is not without her own supporters.
Corie Walsh, 40, appeared in court on Monday for a pretrial hearing, weeks after she was arrested and charged with the murder of her 2-year-old son, Barrett. Walsh is charged with three counts of first-degree murder after her other two children came home from school and found her fully clothed in a bathtub that had blood in the water. Their little brother was found hanging from a rafter in the basement, and their 8-month-old sibling was in another room on the floor, unsupervised.
A courtroom sketch of Corie Walsh during her Oct. 26 hearing (WMAQ).
After the children ran to their neighbor’s house for help, the neighbor came over and got Barrett down from the rafter. The little boy was brought to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Walsh’s lawyers, including Andrea Lyon, who previously defended Casey Anthony, have maintained that Walsh was suffering from a psychotic episode at the time and was not criminally responsible for Barrett’s death. Lyon spoke to the media, including local NBC affiliate WMAQ, outside the courthouse following Walsh’s appearance on Monday, saying, “We are continuing to investigate and thoroughly represent our client by learning everything that we can about her and about her psychosis.”
Lyon said, “Psychosis is not a choice, and the death of Little Bear — that was his nickname — is an unimaginable tragedy.” She added, “We are getting prepared to defend her, and that requires us to know everything. The only way to do that is to get all the discovery.” Lyon also said Walsh’s family was “fully supporting her.”
Walsh is also being represented by attorney Robert Kerr, who told WMAQ, “We’re working closely with the jail to make sure Corie is treated fairly.”
WMAQ reported that prosecutors did not provide any public statements. They previously said in court that Walsh allegedly said she killed Barrett because “he was the ‘devil’ and the ‘anti-Christ.'” Prosecutors also alleged that Walsh was planning to “poison” her husband “with a drink.”
According to court documents obtained by WMAQ, Walsh had “recently become very invested” in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy — who was accused of strangling her three young children before trying to take her own life, allegedly while experiencing psychosis — shortly before her son’s death.
Walsh is scheduled to appear in court again on Nov. 23.
