Illinois mother accused of killing two-year-old son

In Illinois, United States, Corie Wlash, 40, is accused of strangling her two-year-old son Barrett to death, reports CNN. Prosecuted for “first degree murder” (equivalent in the French system to unpremeditated murder), she was placed in pre-trial detention on Tuesday morning following her appearance in court. According to the American channel, witnesses told police that Corie Walsh "had recently taken a great interest in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial", regularly talking about the case in a chat group with friends, just hours after her son was found unresponsive.

On September 1, a neighbor reportedly found Corie Walsh's son Barrett unconscious in the basement of her home. She provided him with first aid while waiting for emergency services and the police to arrive. Corie Walsh was found upstairs, bleeding after apparently cutting herself with a knife, responding officers reported. She told police she did so because Barrett, her son, was the “devil” and the “Antichrist,” according to court documents.

“A state of psychosis”?

A few hours before the facts, the accused was actively communicating with friends by message about the trial of Lindsay Clancy, accused of having killed her three children, her defense arguing that she suffered from “postpartum psychosis”. Robert Kerr, her lawyer, acknowledged Corie Walsh's fascination with the Lindsay Clancy case, but said in court Tuesday that his client was in a "state of psychosis" that coincided with the trial in Massachusetts.

“We strongly believe in what Corie needs, the attention she needs. We will continue to fight for this. This is not a case of first degree murder; it’s quite the opposite,” Robert Kerr told reporters after the hearing. An opinion that prosecutors do not share. They opposed the release of Corie Walsh. “The accused represents a specific, real and immediate threat to her husband and three surviving children.”

The Lindsay Clancy affair

Lindsay Clancy, whom Corie Walsh defended, was charged with three counts of murder for the deaths of her three children, which occurred in 2023 in Massachusetts. Lindsay Clancy admitted to killing them, but her defense argued that she suffered from postpartum psychosis, part of postpartum depression that had not been properly treated. Lindsay Clancy told witnesses after the incident that she heard a male voice ordering her to kill her children and commit suicide.

The Lindsay Clancy case, which sparked a heated public debate over the mental health of mothers, ended Friday in a mistrial, with one juror joining forces and leading the jury to an impasse. Prosecutors in the case — who have argued that Clancy killed his children “intentionally, rationally and expeditiously” — have not yet announced whether they plan to seek a new trial.