Make New York Post a Preferred Source JOLIET, Illinois — Corie Walsh was the quintessential suburban mom who was planning a Disney World dream vacation for her family — especially the 2-year-old son she is now accused of murdering, according to her lawyer.
Defense attorney Robert Kerr revealed the details during a court hearing earlier this month in an attempt to show that the Lindsey Clancy-obsessive was an otherwise normal mom who was in the throes of a “psychotic episode” when she hanged little Barrett from the rafters and then tried to kill herself on Sept. 1.
Barrett had delayed speech, but his first words were “Bluey” and “Mickey Mouse,” Kerr said during the hearing.
Walsh “could not wait, she told her mother, to see [Barrett’s] face when he met Bluey and Mickey,” he said.
Prosecutors have alleged that Walsh, 40, had recently become “very invested” in Clancy’s high-profile murder trial before she “knowingly and intentionally” left Barrett suspended by a ligature around his neck in the basement of the family’s $850,000 home in suburban Frankfort, Illinois — about 35 miles south of Chicago.
Her defense attorneys, however, said that just hours before the killing, she excitedly told a family member about their upcoming Disney trip.
Walsh and her mother had started planning the vacation – which was to include the Walsh, her husband, their four children and both grandmothers – back in January, Kerr told a Will County courtroom during Walsh’s Sept. 8 arraignment.
“They reserved flights, rooms. They made dinner reservations. They obtained park passes,” Kerr said.
“And of all of her children – she told her mom this, Judge, hours before the incident…[Walsh] was most excited for [Barrett], given his age and his affection for these characters, to go to Disney.”
In the weeks since the alleged slaying, Walsh’s stunned friends, family and neighbors have struggled to reconcile the allegations with the woman they knew.
She was remembered as “a very highly-involved, highly-functioning mother, a good mother, a loving and doting mother,” Kerr told the court.
Other mothers within her circle even “trusted Corie to care for their own children at times,” he said.
Walsh’s husband, mother and other loved ones were still publicly standing by her this week, growing teary-eyed as they watched the pale, jail garb-clad mom from the front row of the gallery during a preliminary hearing on Thursday.
Walsh, who has remained in jail since her Sept. 4 arrest, entered a not guilty plea to three counts of first-degree murder during the roughly three-minute hearing.
Outside the courtroom, Michael Walsh’s loved ones offered him comfort, with one supporter saying, “She will get through this, she’s strong.”
The devastated husband, who wore a pained expression and wiped away tears, told another supporter he had been “packing up” the family home – where The Post saw stacks of boxes piled up in the living room through the front windows.
Walsh’s attorneys, Andrea Lyon and Kerr, are still seeking to have her released from jail and transferred to a hospital for psychiatric treatment, despite a judge’s refusal earlier this month.
Lyon told reporters outside of the courthouse Thursday that her client’s jail records had been subpoenaed “to see whether or not she’s getting the treatment she needs.”
Her “whole family” continues to support her, according to the defense attorney.
“They love her and this is not — she’s never been violent… she was psychotic. They all know that and want her to get better. This is not who she is,” Lyon said.
The horrifying events unfolded around 4 p.m. on Sept. 1, when Barrett’s two older siblings allegedly returned home to find him with a rope around his neck and feet off the ground before running to a neighbor’s house for help.
The frantic neighbor called 911 and tried fruitlessly to perform CPR on the tot, who didn’t have a pulse and was cold to the touch. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy later confirmed that Barrett – who was affectionately called “Bear” – died of “asphyxia due to ligature compression of the neck,” according to court records.
Walsh — whom cops discovered fully clothed, soaking in a bathtub full of bloodied water at the house – tried to take her own life by slashing her wrists and thighs with a dull kitchen knife.
She allegedly confessed to killing the youngster, claiming he was the “anti-Christ” and “devil,” the documents state.
Her 8-month-old son was also found unsupervised on the home’s main floor, according to cops.
A heartbreaking obituary released this week remembered Barrett as a happy-go-lucky child who loved playing games with his siblings.
The tragic toddler “will always be remembered as a joyful, funny, entertaining, rambunctious 2-year-old who loved singing and dancing to Super Simple Songs and Miss Rachel,” reads the obit, which was first reported by The Post.
He also enjoyed “learning his colors with Pingfong and Hogi, kicking a soccer ball with his friends and counting out loud to 5 Little Duckies.”
Most importantly, Barrett was a “cherished little brother” to Grady and Anna and a “caring big brother” to a baby boy, Cormick, the devastating webpage states.
A heart-wrenching tribute to the tot — including stuffed animals, flowers and hand-written notes of remembrance — sat outside of the Walsh’s home this week, while blue ribbon was wrapped around all nearby trees in his honor.
