FEBRUARY 16, 2023:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota woman convicted of fatally shooting her 6-year-old son just days after regaining custody was sentenced Thursday (Feb. 16, 2023) to life in prison.
Julissa Thaler, 29, was convicted last week of first-degree murder in the October 2022 death of Eli Hart, who prosecutors said was shot nine times by his mother as he sat in his booster seat.
Officers found the boy’s body in the trunk after a traffic stop.
Eli’s father, Tory Hart, has sued Dakota County Social Services, alleging that employees returned his son to Thaler despite concerns about her alleged drug use and deteriorating mental health.
In closing arguments during the trial, Thaler’s defense attorney, Bryan Leary, acknowledged she participated in the boy’s death but said she was not the one who shot him.
Eli’s stepmother, Josephine Josephson, said in a victim impact statement for herself and Tory Hart that “the pain is so deep you can’t breathe.”
“You can’t explain the loss of your only son … then to have lost him in such a horrible way, you just can’t explain how that changes your life,” she said.
When given a chance to respond after victim impact statements, Thaler said she was innocent and directed an expletive toward those in the courtroom, The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
SEPTEMBER 28, 2022:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A judge in Minnesota has ruled a mother accused of fatally shooting her 6-year-old son is mentally competent and can assist in her own defense. Julissa Thaler is charged with second-degree murder in the May 20, 2022, death of Eli Hart. The suburban Minneapolis woman is accused of shooting her son and then hiding his body in the trunk of her car. Orono Police pulled Thaler over after she was spotted driving her car on a wheel rim and with a window smashed out. She was arrested after officers found the boy’s body in the trunk.
MAY 23, 2022:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A mother was charged Monday (May 23, 2022) in the death of her 6-year-old son whose body was found in the trunk of her bloodied car in a Minneapolis suburb last week. Twenty-eight-year-old Julissa Thaler, of Spring Park, is charged with second-degree intentional murder in the death of Eli Hart. Court records do not list an attorney who could speak on her behalf. Family members said that the boy’s father, Tory Hart, of Chetek, Wisconsin, was trying to win custody of his child at the time. Police say they found the boy’s body after Thaler was pulled over in Mound on Friday. According to a criminal complaint, the child was shot up to nine times.
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