Minnesota Woman Receives life in Prison for Killing 6-Year-Old Son

A Minnesota woman has been sentenced to life in prison for killing her six-year-old son without the possibility of parole.

Julissa Thaler, 28, was arrested last year in Minnesota when someone called the police and reported that she was driving her vehicle with a shattered rear window and a blown-out tire. When they conducted a traffic stop, police found that Thaler had flesh pieces on her and blood in her car. She claimed the blood was from a tampon, and the flesh was from a deer she had purchased from a butcher. Sadly, her six-year-old son’s body was found in the trunk of that car. Two months ago, a jury found her guilty and convicted her of first and second-degree murder. Prosecutors said that Thaler used a shotgun to shoot Eli Hart nine times.

During her sentencing, Thaler’s family revealed that Thaler and Tory Hart, her now deceased son’s father, had just undergone a custody battle, where Thaler was awarded custody just ten days prior. Following her sentencing, Hart filed a wrongful death suit against the Dakota County employees who gave Thaler custody. That case is scheduled for trial in 2024.

“Everyone knows Eli Hart as the victim of this senseless and horrific crime. But Eli was so much more,” said Josephine Josephson, Tory Hart’s partner. “Eli was an amazing 6-year-old boy who always woke up full of energy and laughter.”

While reading the sentence, Judge Quam said: “The worst thing that seems to happen to parents is to lose their child. It’s worse, though, when you don’t lose your child to something like cancer or an accident, it’s when someone takes that child from the world. What I can’t imagine, nobody can imagine, is that the person that takes the child from the world is the person that brought that child in. Nothing I do would bring justice to this situation. Nothing I do would relieve any of the pain that you caused by doing that.”

When Thaler was asked if she wanted to address the court, she agreed and said, “I’m innocent. F*** you all. You’re garbage. That is all, your honor,”