Minnesota mom is convicted of murdering her six-year-old son with a shotgun fired at him in her car

A Minnesota mother has been found guilty of murdering her six-year-old son, shooting him nine times as he sat in the back of her car.

Julissa Thaler, 28, showed no emotion as she was convicted on Wednesday by a court in Minneapolis, after jurors took two hours to reach their verdict. She will be sentenced on February 16: the conviction carries an automatic life sentence, without parole. 

In a trial deemed so horrific jurors were offered counseling, prosecutors told how Eli Hart had been placed in foster care, due to his mother's mental health issues - but was returned to her two weeks before she killed him.

Thaler lost custody of Eli in January 2021 after the Dakota County Social Services Department learned that she was 'presenting with psychosis and hearing voices telling her to kill herself.' 

Mary Moriarty, Hennepin County attorney, described it as 'one of the most horrific cases I have encountered in 30 years working in the criminal legal system.'

Eli Hart (left) was found dead inside the trunk of his mother Julissa Thaler's car in May 

Eli is pictured with his father, Tory Hart. Tory was pleading with authorities not to return the little boy to his mother 

Thaler 'bought a shotgun and learned how to use it' shortly after the boy's father, Tory Hart, filed papers asking the court for full custody, the court heard. 

Thaler's internet search history included how to load a shotgun, the most powerful knockout drug, payment from life insurance if child dies, and how much blood a six-year-old can lose, The Star Tribune reported.  

Thaler had carefully styled her hair for her mugshot

Thaler's boyfriend at the time, Robert Pikkarainen, said they spent the day shopping with Eli, then returned home for pizza and a movie, and played with their kittens.

He said the little boy refused to go to bed, and mother and son began fighting, and hitting each other.

She then left the apartment with the child, taking the shotgun with her. 

Thaler was arrested in Orono, five miles from her Spring Park home, when a caller reported that the car she was driving had a shattered rear window and a blown-out tire.

Police saw blood on Thaler's hand, the criminal complaint said, according to CBS News.

They found the little boy's body in the trunk of the car, and his cause of death was 'multiple shotgun wounds.'

Tory Hart made multiple attempts to warn CPS officials about his son's troubling behavior when he was in the custody of his mother

Tory Hart planned to bring his son to live in Chetek, Wisconsin, where he runs a bait shop

Tory Hart's fiancee said about the bond that Tory and Eli shared: 'They loved each other immensely. Tory's days and weeks revolved around when he would get to see his son next, and when the next sleepover would be … He was missing a piece of himself when [his son] was not around'

Phone records showed that she shot her son at a secluded parking lot at Lake Minnetonka Regional Park.

She then drove around the region, abandoning his belongings. 

Police found at dumpsters along her route her son's backpack containing worksheets and kindergarten assignments with 'Eli' written in the top right corner; a car booster seat covered in blood with a large bullet hole; clothing and human remains.

Julissa Thaler pictured on her Facebook page

DNA testing showed his blood on her clothes and skin. 

She was deemed competent to stand trial, but after turning down two offers from prosecutors to plead guilty to second-degree murder, including on January 30, her charges were upgraded to first-degree murder.

First-degree murder, which means the killing was premeditated, carries an automatic life sentence without parole. 

'I would never do that to my son,' she said in court on January 30 when rejecting the plea deal, Fox 9 reported. 

'I want to go to trial.'

Jury selection began on January 30. 

Eli's father said his son was popular at his elementary school and dreamed of becoming a firefighter.

'He was always really happy, outgoing, always full of energy, always,' Hart testified, Fox 9 reports.

He is suing the authorities for returning his son to Thaler.

After the verdict, Hart thanked the detectives and justice system.

'On behalf of Eli's family, Tory Hart would like to thank the jury, the court, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office and justice partners for their good work,' he said.

'This is a tragic and heartbreaking event that could have been avoided if Eli had never been returned to a dangerous home.'