Corie Walsh‘s former high school friend says she’s struggling to reconcile the woman she knew as a teenager with the disturbing allegations now surrounding the Illinois mom accused of killing her 2-year-old son.

The former classmate tells TMZ she knew Corie during their high school years at a small Catholic school, although they hadn’t been in contact since — but says every interaction she had with Walsh was positive, remembering her as “beautiful, kind, intelligent, talented and giving.”

The woman says Corie was involved in the school’s poms team, Helping Hands club, senior Powderpuff games and liturgy through Mass. She says Walsh seemed to know everyone and was friendly with people from all different groups.

One detail in particular is hard for her to reconcile with the Corie she knew … the allegation that Walsh told investigators she believed her son was the “devil” and “anti-Christ.” When asked if that kind of religious thinking was something she remembered from Walsh’s character, the former friend said plainly “Not at all.”

She explains that while they all grew up Catholic and regularly attended Mass, that was largely because they went to Catholic school, emphasizing “None of us were church freaks.” The friend adds that Walsh was active in religious activities at school, but says she would never have characterized her as someone 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.