Minnesota Mother Sentenced for Killing 6-Year-Old Son
Minneapolis, MN (KROC-AM News)- A Minnesota mother has been sentenced for killing her 6-year-old son.
A Hennepin County jury last week convicted 28-year-old Julissa Thaler of first and second-degree murder after deliberating for less than two hours. She was accused of killing the six-year-old boy by shooting him multiple times with a shotgun in the backseat of a vehicle last May.
Thaler was sentenced to life in prison in Hennepin County Court Thursday morning. State law prohibits the sentence from including the possibility of parole.
Thaler was arrested by police in Mound, who pulled her over after officers responded to reports of an erratic motorist and spotted her driving a car that was missing one of its tires and had a shattered rear window. The officer noticed blood on the woman's hand and what appeared to be a bullet hole in the back seat, along with a shotgun shell and a spent shell casing inside the vehicle.
See Also: Guilty Plea from Red Wing Woman Accused of Killing Two Newborns
When investigators opened the trunk, they discovered the body of little Eli Hart and the shotgun that was used to kill him. An autopsy later determined the child had been shot at least 9 times.
Court records indicate Hennepin County child protection workers had earlier removed Eli from his mother’s home, but he was returned to her custody 10 days before he was killed. Prosecutors contend a heated custody battle between Thaler and Eli’s father was the motive for the fatal shooting.
10 Unsettling Unsolved Mysteries from Minnesota
More From KROC-AM
