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The Walsh case — Frankfort, Illinois
Charged; pleaded not guilty September 24, 2026; detained. Corie Walsh is presumed innocent. No trial date.
On the afternoon of Tuesday, September 1, 2026, Frankfort police were called to a home in the 22700 block of Brook Stone Court for an unresponsive child. Officers found a neighbor performing CPR on Barrett Walsh, two years old; he was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. The Will County coroner called it an apparent homicide, and asphyxia was later given as the cause. His mother, Corie Walsh, 40, was found in the home with wounds to her wrists and thighs and was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. Three other children — an eight-month-old who was in the house, and two who came home from school — were unharmed. Their father was out of state.
Walsh was charged on September 4 with three counts of first-degree murder — one death, charged under alternative theories, as Illinois prosecutors commonly do. At her detention hearing on September 9, prosecutors told Judge Amy Bertani that Walsh said she "did this to her baby because he was the 'devil' and the 'anti-Christ,'" and that she had made statements about harming her husband. The judge found clear and convincing evidence and ordered her held: "she poses a real and present threat to her family." On September 24 she pleaded not guilty.
Her lawyers, Andrea Lyon and Anthony Kerr, do not dispute the outline of what happened; they say Walsh was in a psychotic episode — "She was psychotic, and this was not a first-degree murder" — and had been hospitalized for several days at Silver Cross Hospital not long before. Her husband and family have said, through counsel, that they stand by her; they missed the detention hearing because it fell on the day of Barrett's funeral.
One detail has driven the national coverage: prosecutors said witnesses told police Walsh had "recently become very invested" in the Lindsay Clancy trial in Massachusetts and had been texting with a group of other mothers about it in the hours before Barrett died. Prosecutors themselves said they did not consider it a copycat case; Lyon called that speculation "baseless and cruel." The Blotter treats the connection as what the record says it is — a fact about a text thread, not an explanation — and follows the Clancy case on its own page (the Clancy case).
- Barrett Walsh, 2 — died September 1, 2026. Cause of death, per the Will County coroner: asphyxia.
- Corie Walsh, 40 — his mother; a mother of four. Charged with three counts of first-degree murder; pleaded not guilty September 24, 2026; held without pretrial release in the Will County jail. Presumed innocent.
- Andrea Lyon and Anthony Kerr — defense attorneys. Their position: a psychotic episode; "this was not a first-degree murder."
- Judge Amy Bertani — Will County Circuit Court, Joliet; ordered detention September 9.
- Will County State's Attorney's Office — prosecuting. Its proffer at the detention hearing is the source of the statements attributed to Walsh.
- Chief Leanne Chelepis — Frankfort Police: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, their loved ones, and everyone affected by this heartbreaking tragedy."
- About 4 p.m.: Frankfort police respond to the Brook Stone Court home for an unresponsive child. Barrett Walsh, 2, is pronounced dead at a hospital; Corie Walsh is hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Three other children are unharmed. — Chicago Sun-Times
- Corie Walsh is charged with three counts of first-degree murder; she is to be transferred to the Will County jail for a detention hearing. — Chicago Sun-Times
- First court appearance in Joliet. — ABC News
- Detention hearing before Judge Amy Bertani. Prosecutors' proffer: Walsh told officers she "did this to her baby because he was the 'devil' and the 'anti-Christ'"; witnesses said she had become "very invested" in the Lindsay Clancy trial. The judge orders her held: "she poses a real and present threat to her family." Defense: a psychotic episode, postpartum psychosis. — CBS News Chicago
- Her family, absent for Barrett's funeral, sends word of "unwavering support of Corie." Defense attorney Andrea Lyon: "She was psychotic, and this was not a first-degree murder." — ABC7 Chicago
- Arraignment: Walsh pleads not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder. Lyon on the Clancy connection: "That speculation that this has anything to do with it, that it's a copycat or anything like that, is baseless and cruel." — WTVO / MyStateline (via AOL)
- To be set Next status date in Will County Circuit Court, Joliet — the desk checks the docket. Expect defense motions on fitness and mental state before any trial date.
- Open Whether the defense raises insanity under Illinois law (which puts the burden on the defendant) and what the state's own experts conclude.
No editions have filed on this case yet.
- Mother charged with killing 2-year-old child in Frankfort before trying to harm herself — Chicago Sun-Times, Sep 4, 2026
- Frankfort mother Corie Walsh ordered held in custody after 2-year-old son found in basement — CBS News Chicago, Sep 9, 2026
- Mom charged with murdering 2-year-old child ordered held in custody — ABC News, Sep 9, 2026
- Corie Walsh is held; witnesses say she discussed Lindsay Clancy trial — ABC7 Chicago, Sep 9, 2026
- Frankfort mom texted about Clancy hours before son's killing: Docs — NBC Chicago, Sep 8, 2026
- Illinois mother Corie Walsh enters not guilty plea to triple murder charge — WTVO / MyStateline, Sep 24, 2026