Mother text friends about Lindsay Clancy murder trial hours before killing her 2-year-old

Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse and self harm which some readers may find distressing.

A mother who allegedly killed her two-year-old son had become gripped by the Lindsay Clancy trial, witnesses say in court documents.

Corie Walsh, 40, has been charged with the first-degree murder of her son Barrett Walsh, who prosecutors allege was strangled to death on 1 September in their family home in Frankfort, Illinois.

Police were called to the house in the suburbs of Chicago just after 4pm after receiving a report of an unresponsive child. The two-year-old was found in cardiac arrest and CPR was administered, but sadly, he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Authorities also discovered Walsh attempting self-harm. After being hospitalised. her injuries were declared non-life threatening.

At the same time, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the eyes of the US and the world were locked on the high-profile trial of Lindsay Clancy, which was into its fourth day of deliberations with the jury at deadlock.

Lindsay Clancy during the conclusion of her trial (Greg Derr / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Clancy, 36, was standing trial for the murder of her three children - Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months - in January 2023, which eventually ended in a mistrial on September 4 as the jury could not reach an unanimous verdict.

While the defence did not dispute that Clancy had killed her children, they argued she could not be held criminally responsible as she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and severe mental illness at the time of the killings.

According to court files obtained by WLS, an affiliate of CNN, Walsh had become 'very invested' in the trial.

It's reported Walsh had been discussing the case in a group messaging chat with her friends up until 12:30pm on the day Barrett died.

Corie Walsh told police her son was 'the devil'

Prosecutors said Walsh told officers that her son was the 'devil and the 'anti-Christ' and later, while in hospital, is said to have described to them how she allegedly killed Barrett, which was 'consistent with the evidence in this case.'

Walsh was taken into custody by the Frankfort Police Department and Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force and is now awaiting a detention hearing on Tuesday, September 8.

Corie Walsh will have a detention hearing on Tuesday (Will County Sheriff's Office)

Prosecutors want her to be denied pretrial release as they allege Walsh 'made statements regarding harming her other children and statements that she intended to harm her husband upon his return home'.

A baby was in the home at the time of the incident but was unharmed. Two school-aged children returned to the home around the time Barrett was discovered but were also unharmed.

Walsh's husband was not in the state at the time but returned later that evening.

A neighbour found Walsh 'actively harming herself' in a bath tub and took a knife away from her. The unnamed neighbour then found Barrett in the basement and gave first aid while calling emergency services.

She was was 'experiencing a psychotic episode at the time this happened'

Andrea Lyon, Walsh's lawyer, told CNN on Friday that she had been suffering a 'psychotic episode'.

Walsh is accused of killing her two-year-old son at her home in Frankfort, Illinois (NBC)

“This is a tragedy for the Walsh family all of whom are mourning the loss of this child. It is also a tragedy in that [Corie] herself was experiencing a psychotic episode at the time this happened.

"It is our hope that, through a thorough presentation and investigation of the facts, that all of us will come to see this heartbreak for what it is.”

A GoFundMe has been started to raise funds for the family to help cover bills as they 'focus entirely on grieving, healing, and caring for one another,' its description says.

A total of $37,120 has been raised so far out of a goal of $100,000.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123 or contact Harmless by visiting their website https://harmless.org.uk.