Two school-aged children returned home on an ordinary afternoon in suburban Illinois.

What they encountered would turn their family home into the center of a homicide investigation.

According to police and prosecutors, the children arrived back from school around the same time their 2-year-old brother, Barrett “Bear” Walsh, was discovered unresponsive in the basement of the family’s Frankfort home on Sept. 1.

A teenage neighbor soon became involved, attempting CPR on the toddler before emergency responders arrived.

Barrett was later pronounced dead.

His mother, 40-year-old Corie Walsh, has now been charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors allege she killed her son by ligature strangulation and was later found elsewhere inside the house with self-inflicted injuries.

The case has attracted national attention for another reason.

Court documents say Walsh had become deeply interested in the widely followed Lindsay Clancy murder trial in Massachusetts and had been discussing that case with others only hours before Barrett’s death.

But prosecutors have also cautioned against drawing a direct line between the two tragedies.

They have not said they believe Walsh was copying Clancy.

And Walsh’s defense attorneys argue that what happened in Frankfort was instead the result of a severe mental-health crisis.

Police Were Called Shortly After 4 P.M.

Frankfort police said officers were dispatched to the family’s home on Brook Stone Court at approximately 4:04 p.m. on Sept. 1 after receiving a report of an unresponsive child.

When officers arrived, a teenage neighbor was already performing CPR on Barrett.

According to court records cited by CBS Chicago, the neighbor had found the child in the basement.

Emergency personnel continued lifesaving efforts before Barrett was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Preliminary autopsy findings determined that he died from asphyxia caused by ligature compression of the neck.

An infant sibling was also inside the home and was found unharmed.

The two older children returned from school around the time the emergency was unfolding and were also physically unharmed, according to prosecutors.

Their father was out of state at the time.

All three surviving children were later evaluated as a precaution.

Their Mother Was Found Upstairs

Authorities say Walsh was discovered in an upstairs bathroom after Barrett was found.

Court documents allege she was in a bathtub with injuries that investigators believe were self-inflicted.

The wounds were not considered life-threatening.

Prosecutors have also described statements Walsh allegedly made to investigators after police arrived.

They allege that she referred to Barrett using religiously charged language, including calling him the “devil” and “anti-Christ.”

Those allegations have become central to the defense argument that Walsh was experiencing a serious psychiatric episode at the time.

Her attorneys have said she was psychotic and should receive intensive psychiatric treatment rather than being treated simply as an ordinary criminal defendant.

Walsh has been ordered to remain in custody while the case proceeds.

At her first court appearance, Judge Amy Bertani ruled that there was sufficient evidence at this stage to consider Walsh a threat to her husband and surviving children.

The charges are accusations, and Walsh has not been convicted.

Hours Earlier, She Had Been Discussing Lindsay Clancy

One of the most unusual details to emerge from the investigation concerns Walsh’s interest in another high-profile case unfolding hundreds of miles away.

Prosecutors say Walsh had become “very invested” in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother whose case had dominated headlines throughout the summer.

Phone evidence allegedly shows Walsh participating in group conversations about the Clancy case only hours before Barrett’s death.

At that moment, Clancy’s jury was still deliberating.

Clancy had admitted killing her three children in Massachusetts in January 2023, but her attorneys argued that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and was not criminally responsible.

Prosecutors argued she understood right from wrong.

That trial ultimately ended in a mistrial on Sept. 4 after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict.

The timing has inevitably raised questions about whether Walsh’s attention to that case influenced what happened in Frankfort.

But prosecutors themselves have said they do not currently view the Walsh case as a straightforward copycat scenario.

The distinction is important.

Following a case obsessively is not the same thing as proving that case caused someone’s actions.

Investigators are continuing to examine Walsh’s phone, messages and mental state.

Defense Says She Was Experiencing Psychosis

Walsh is represented by attorneys including Andrea Lyon, a well-known criminal defense lawyer who previously worked on Casey Anthony’s defense team.

Her attorneys have characterized the case as a mental-health tragedy.

They argue Walsh was experiencing a psychotic episode when Barrett died and have sought psychiatric treatment for her while she remains in custody.

Defense attorney comments in court described Walsh as incoherent during parts of the immediate aftermath.

The defense has not disputed that something catastrophic occurred inside the home.

Instead, the eventual legal battle may focus heavily on her mental condition and what she was capable of understanding at the time.

That could create superficial comparisons with the Clancy case, where criminal responsibility became the central issue.

But they remain separate cases in different states, with different evidence and different legal standards.

The Other Children Became Part of the Timeline

The newest details have shifted some attention toward Barrett’s surviving siblings.

People previously knew that other children were associated with the household.

Police now say two of them arrived home from school at approximately the same time Barrett was being discovered and emergency help was being summoned.

That detail gives the timeline an especially painful dimension.

The children had apparently been away at school while whatever occurred inside the home was unfolding.

Within minutes of returning, their house was filled with a neighbor, police officers, paramedics and an emergency response surrounding their younger brother.

Their infant sibling, meanwhile, was still inside the residence but was unharmed.

Authorities have not released extensive information about the surviving children, and protecting their privacy remains important.

Barrett’s Family Is Now Mourning While the Case Moves Forward

Barrett’s father was reportedly out of state when the incident happened.

By the time Walsh appeared in court the following week, the family was preparing to bury the 2-year-old.

One of Walsh’s attorneys said Barrett’s father did not attend the hearing because he was at his son’s funeral.

For prosecutors, the next stage will involve building a criminal case from forensic evidence, phone records, witness accounts and Walsh’s alleged statements.

For the defense, mental-health evidence is expected to become increasingly important.

And for three surviving children, the legal arguments cannot change what happened on Sept. 1.

Two of them simply left for school that morning.

By the time they returned home, their family had been permanently changed.

That may ultimately be one of the most haunting details in a case already filled with difficult questions:

While adults now debate criminal responsibility, psychosis and whether Walsh’s intense interest in another murder trial meant anything, two children came home from school and stepped directly into the aftermath of a tragedy involving their little brother.