A former high school friend of Corie Walsh says she is struggling to reconcile the teenager she knew with the allegations now facing the Illinois mother accused of killing her 2-year-old son.
The former classmate told TMZ she knew Walsh at a small Catholic school, though they had not been in contact since.
She remembered every interaction with Walsh as positive, describing her as "beautiful, kind, intelligent, talented and giving."
Walsh was involved in the school's poms team, the Helping Hands club, senior Powderpuff games and liturgy through Mass.
The friend said Walsh seemed to know everyone and was friendly with people from all different groups.
When she heard about the alleged killing and the accusations surrounding it, she said she was completely shocked.
"Never in a million years could I have imagined something so tragic," she said.
Religious Claim Hard to Reconcile
One detail is especially hard for the former friend to reconcile with the Corie she knew.
That is the allegation that Walsh told investigators she believed her son was the "devil" and "anti-Christ."
Asked whether that kind of religious thinking matched Walsh's character, the former friend said plainly, "Not at all."
She explained that while they grew up Catholic and regularly attended Mass, that was largely because they went to Catholic school.
"None of us were church freaks," she said.
The friend added that Walsh was active in religious activities at school, but said she would never have characterized her as consumed by religion or fearful of God.
The allegations come as Walsh's defense team argues she was experiencing a psychotic episode when her son died.
Prosecutors have also said Walsh had become heavily invested in the Lindsay Clancy case and was discussing it with friends just hours before her son Barrett was found dead.
Authorities have not established that the Clancy case caused or directly influenced what happened.
The former friend said she has not spoken with Walsh since high school and does not want to speculate about the person she became or what may have led to the alleged tragedy.
She said her heart breaks for everyone affected, "most especially for the loss of an innocent little boy."