A Minnesota mother calmly told police there was “nothing” in her trunk as the blood-soaked car reeked of death just days after child protective services ignored frantic warnings and returned full custody of her 6-year-old son to her.
Julissa Thaler, then 29, was pulled over in May 2022 for driving on a bare rim with a shattered rear window and visible blood. Bodycam footage shows an officer noting the vehicle “smells like death.” Thaler brushed off the bullet holes as kids with paintball guns, claimed the blood was “deer meat” or “feminine hygiene,” and insisted she just wanted a ticket and a ride home.
Inside the trunk, officers found the body of her son, Eli Hart, who had been shot nine times while in his booster seat. A shotgun was nearby. The boy had been returned to Thaler’s full custody only about 10 days earlier by a Dakota County judge following recommendations from social workers and a guardian ad litem.
The father, Tory Hart, had been fighting for custody amid documented concerns about Thaler’s mental health and drug use. Family members and a former foster mother later said numerous people warned that Eli was not safe with her. One social worker had previously assessed the risk of reunification as “high.” Thaler had a history of psychosis, drug and alcohol issues, and earlier removal of the child from her care. Despite this, the system handed him back.
Hart later sued Dakota County Social Services, alleging the employees’ negligence was a proximate cause of his son’s death. The county settled the wrongful death case for $2.25 million in 2024, with the bulk going to the father after legal fees.
A jury convicted Thaler of first-degree premeditated murder in February 2023 after less than two hours of deliberation. She received the mandatory life sentence without parole. In court, she declared, “I’m innocent. F--- you all. You’re garbage.”
The case stands as a stark example of how repeated red flags from family, foster caregivers, and even some caseworkers were overridden, returning a vulnerable child to a parent who posed a clear danger. Eli Hart paid the price for a system that failed to protect him.
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