Last week’s Illinois child murder case against Corie Walsh has drawn national attention not only because of the allegations themselves, but also because of reported references to the high-profile Lindsay Clancy case and Walsh’s decision to hire attorney Andrea Lyon, who previously worked on the defense team for Casey Anthony.

Walsh, 40, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old son, Barrett Walsh, at the family’s home in Frankfort, Illinois. Prosecutors allege Barrett died on September 1 from asphyxia due to ligature compression of the neck after being found hanging in the basement of the family’s home. According to court documents cited by local media outlets, a neighbor discovered the child, removed the ligature, and attempted CPR while calling 911.

Authorities say Walsh was later found in an upstairs bathroom suffering from what appeared to be self-inflicted injuries. She was transported to a hospital. Police previously said she would be transferred to the Will County Jail after being released from medical treatment to face detention proceedings. Records reviewed by Newsweek indicate Walsh is being held at Will County Adult Detention Facility.

Walsh appeared Tuesday morning in Will County court for a detention hearing, one of the first major proceedings in the case since charges were filed. Newsweek reached out to Lyon and Robert Kerr, the attorneys listed on Walsh’s case, by phone for comment on Tuesday morning.

Walsh ‘Very Invested’ in Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial

The Walsh case has attracted heightened scrutiny because prosecutors said witnesses told investigators Walsh had recently become “very invested” in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three children in 2023. Clancy’s case peaked public interest over the summer when jury selection began. Witnesses reportedly told police that Walsh had been discussing the Clancy case with friends through text messages in the hours before Barrett’s death.

Clancy’s case has been among the most closely watched child murder prosecutions in the country. The former Massachusetts labor and delivery nurse was charged after her three children, Cora, Dawson and Callan, died in 2023. Defense attorneys argued Clancy was suffering from severe mental illness and postpartum psychosis, while prosecutors contended she was criminally responsible for her actions.

Earlier this month, Clancy’s trial ended without a verdict after jurors repeatedly reported they were deadlocked. Following weeks of testimony and days of deliberations, Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision. The deadlock left unresolved the central issue that dominated the trial: whether Clancy should be held criminally responsible for the deaths of her children despite evidence that she suffered from severe mental illness and postpartum psychosis. A retrial remains possible.

That focus on mental state has already emerged in Walsh’s case.

In a statement released days after the charges were announced, Lyon described the death of Barrett Walsh as a tragedy and said her client had been experiencing a “psychotic episode” at the time of the incident.

Casey Anthony Attorney Now Representing Walsh

Lyon is based in Chicago, where she built her reputation handling homicide and death penalty cases and previously served as chief of the Homicide Task Force in the Cook County Public Defender’s Office. She later founded the Illinois Capital Resource Center and became known nationally for representing defendants facing the most serious criminal charges.

Her involvement has prompted comparisons to another case that captivated the country: the prosecution of Casey Anthony.

Anthony was accused in 2008 of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony, in central Florida. The disappearance and death of Caylee was widely covered in the news. Prosecutors sought the death penalty and argued Anthony killed her daughter before concealing the crime.

Lyon joined Anthony’s defense team in 2009 as a death penalty specialist after prosecutors sought the death penalty against the Florida mother. Lyon, a nationally known capital defense attorney known as the “Angel of Death Row,” left the case in July 2010, nearly a year before Anthony was acquitted of murder charges in 2011.

The Anthony case ended with a verdict that shocked many observers. Anthony was acquitted of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter charges, though she was convicted of misdemeanor counts related to providing false information to law enforcement.

What Happens Next

The overlap between allegations of maternal mental illness, the deaths of young children and the presence of a nationally known defense attorney has placed Walsh’s case squarely in the spotlight as prosecutors seek to keep her detained pending trial.

The case remains in its earliest stages, and Walsh has not entered a plea to the charges. Illinois abolished the death penalty in 2011, meaning Walsh does not face a possible death sentence. If convicted, she would instead face penalties under Illinois law that can include life imprisonment.