What happened to Eli Hart? Minnesota mom arrested as six-year-old is found dead inside car

A Minnesota mom is behind bars after authorities suspect that she killed her six-year-old son Eli Hart and drove about with parts of his body stashed in the trunk of her bloodied car.

On Saturday, family members confirmed the named victim as 6-year-old Eli Hart. The victim is likely to be a kindergarten kid at Shirley Hills Primary School, according to the superintendent of Westonka Public Schools.

As stated in, the Orono Police Department conducted a traffic stop in Mound, Minnesota. They found Eli Hart’s body after pulling over a woman’s car driving on the rim and had its back window blasted out. She was identified as Julissa Thaler.

Julissa Thaler, 28, of Spring Park, has now been charged with second-degree planned murder in the killing of Eli Hart. She was only recently awarded full custody of her six-year-old.

As per Hennepin County, she was convicted of shooting her son up to nine times with a shotgun found in her vehicle. In addition to the car, authorities are also looking into several other crime locations, including a residence and a local gas station. Police said another unidentified person was also apprehended.

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Julissa Thaler charges explored against killing of Eli Hart

According to criminal reports, Thaler escaped from the crime scene before police discovered Eli Hart’s body. The charges against her do not specify why she was released.

Thaler was not at her residence when the police arrived. According to the charging statement, the washing machine kept running and was stuffed with clothes she had on at the traffic halt.

However, she was nabbed after leaving the location, as reported by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. She was stained with blood and found with a brain tissue-like substance.

According to the lawsuit, a witness noticed Thaler’s car at the Shell gas station on Three Points Boulevard not long before the traffic stop. Police investigated the gas station’s garbage bins and discovered backpacks, blood, bones, and what seemed to be brain tissue.

Police also tracked down the damage caused to the roads and, as per witness statements, brought them to several locations where blood and brain matter were dumped. Police discovered the bloodied infant booster sitting in a dumpster with damage “consistent with a shotgun explosion.”

The district’s crisis support team will be on-site at the school on Monday, according to Westonka Public Schools. According to Superintendent Kevin Borg, information about the boy’s death will not be disclosed in school so that parents can mourn the tragedy with their children privately.

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Fight for Custody

Eli Hart was a kindergarten student who aspired to be a firefighter. Reports suggest that Tory Hart has been fighting for custody of his six-year-old. The court rejected multiple allegations against Thaler’s drug and mental health issues. Despite these concerns, she was given full custody just ten days before his death.

According to Josie Josephson, Tory Hart’s fiance, Eli was kind, full of energy, always curious, and played with Matchbox cars. A GoFundMe campaign has been organised to help cover Eli’s funeral expenses.

Josie confirmed to FOX9, “that it was until last night that we got notified that he was found in the trunk of his mom’s car. Not only did we express concerns to multiple people, multiple times, every time the response was, “laws do not allow us to address this unless they see any physical abuse and have no grounds to remove him from her home.”

During the incident, Tony Hart and her biological mother, Thaler, were in the middle of full parental custody of their child, according to reports.

Josephson said, “the boy was previously in the custody of social services after Dakota County filed a Child in Need Protection or Service petition on his behalf in January 2021.”

WCCO-TV reports that despite social workers’ worries about Thaler’s long history of traffic offenses, failure to maintain stable housing, and mental health issues, she was awarded sole custody two weeks before Eli was found slain, according to Dakota County court filings.

Thaler’s bail was set at $2 million by the judge. Her next session on the court is set to take place on Tuesday. It was apparent whether she had hired an attorney or entered a plea.