MINNEAPOLIS — A woman was charged Monday on allegations that she fatally shot her 6-year-old son, whose body was found by police late last week in the trunk of a car in Mound.
Julissa Thaler, 28, of Spring Park, was arrested Friday and now stands charged with second-degree intentional murder in connection with the death of Eli Hart.
Family members said Saturday that the boy's father, Tory Hart, of Chetek, Wisconsin, was trying to win custody of his child at the time of Eli's death.
The criminal complaint says Eli was shot up to nine times in the body and head, according to preliminary autopsy findings. The complaint does not say when the boy was shot or where the car was when the shooting occurred.
Thaler remains jailed in lieu of $2 million bail ahead of a court appearance on Tuesday. Court records do not list an attorney for her.
A 27-year-old Minneapolis man has been arrested and remains jailed on suspicion of murder. Monday's charges say Thaler and the man went to a gun range in order for her to learn how to use a firearm.
The man has yet to be charged as of mid-afternoon Monday because "there is insufficient evidence at this time," said Assistant County Attorney Maxwell Page, acting as a spokesman for the County Attorney's Office. The Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.
Orono police received a call Friday about 7:10 a.m. about a car driving on a tire rim with the back window smashed out. When officers stopped the car at Shoreline Drive and Bartlett Boulevard in Mound, they noticed blood inside, a bullet hole in the backseat and found Eli's body inside the trunk. Thaler was soon arrested on foot near her apartment.
The criminal complaint raised suspicions that Thaler took various steps to cover up Eli's death.
According to the complaint:
Thaler "had been released from the scene" by officers before they located Eli in the trunk, read the charging document, which did not explain why she was allowed to leave.
Police immediately went to her apartment, about three-fourths of a mile east of the traffic stop, but Thaler was not there. The washing machine was running, and it contained clothes she had on during the traffic stop.
Officers caught up with Thaler nearby and noticed that she had blood and other biological evidence in her hair.
A tip about the car led police to a dumpster at a gas station on Three Points Boulevard in Mound, where they located a backpack and more biological evidence related to Eli.
Tracks left in the road by the car's rim led officers to other locations where still more biological evidence was discovered. They also located a bloodied child booster seat in a dumpster, and it appeared to have been damaged by a shotgun blast.
A shotgun was recovered by police from the trunk, and a shotgun shell and casing were discovered in the vehicle's passenger compartment.
Until this case, Thaler's criminal history in Minnesota includes nothing more serious than a few traffic violations, according to a spokesman for the State Court Administrator's Office.
Family members have blamed Dakota County social workers for not protecting the child, who was placed in foster care for nearly a year after the boy's mother failed to properly care for him, interviews and court records show. The boy was placed back with his mother in December over the objections of his foster parents and other family members.
Tory Hart's fiancée, Josie Josephson, said multiple family members "expressed a lot of concern."
The Dakota County social worker in charge of the case has yet to respond to messages.
Josephson said Eli was a happy, patient child who loved playing with Matchbox cars and dreamed of someday becoming a firefighter. He suffered from a rare genetic disorder called Townes-Brock syndrome, which led to kidney disease and hearing problems that required hearing aids.
Family members said the boy's behavior changed after Thaler regained custody five months ago. They said he began misbehaving in school and was violent toward other children, including pushing one off a playground slide. He also kicked another child in the throat.
In a March 25 email to county social workers reviewed by the Star Tribune, Hart expressed concern that his son was being "mentally and emotionally abused." Hart noted that his son had trouble sleeping, was chewing on his shirt and showing other signs of anxiety, and was using baby talk again. Eli was also stuttering again.
Josephson said Hart lost contact with his son shortly after the boy was born. They rekindled their relationship in 2019.
____
Star Tribune staff writer Jeff Meitrodt contributed to this report.
____
