A horrified neighbor made a gruesome discovery in the basement of a Frankfort, Illinois home this week—a 2-year-old boy allegedly killed by his own mother, who authorities say was fixated on the Lindsay Clancy murder trial.
The boy, Barrett Walsh, was found hanging by a rope from the rafters, his feet dangling off the ground, according to court documents obtained by CNN. The neighbor quickly removed the ligature, lowered the toddler, and began CPR while calling 911. Barrett was rushed to the hospital but did not survive.
The same neighbor then went upstairs and found the boy’s mother, 40-year-old Corie Walsh, in a bloody bathtub, reportedly trying to harm herself with a knife. The neighbor took the weapon away and pressed a towel over Walsh’s thigh wound.
Walsh allegedly asked why the knife was taken, saying she was trying to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 herself, according to court records. She reportedly told the neighbor that “Bear”—her nickname for her son—was in the basement.
Prosecutors say Walsh later described the killing to police in a way that was “consistent with the evidence.” The mother of four has been charged with murder.
The case has drawn eerie parallels to the Lindsay Clancy trial, which ended in a mistrial just days earlier. Clancy’s defense argued she suffered from postpartum psychosis when she killed her three children. Similarly, Walsh’s attorney claims her client was “experiencing a psychotic episode” at the time of the tragedy.
According to reports, Walsh had been discussing the Clancy case just hours before her son’s death. She allegedly described Barrett to police as the “anti-Christ” and the “devil.”
As the community mourns a little boy lost, one question lingers: how many more tragedies will it take before the system sees the warning signs?
