Moments before Minnesota police arrested Julissa Thaler in the death of her six-year-old son Eli Hart, officers found blood in her vehicle but drove her home without further incident. New documents showed Thaler's excuse at the time was that the blood was from a tampon, and the flesh found on her body and in the seats was from a deer she picked up from a butcher.
Orono police officers said in the new documents that they located the 28-year-old's car after being initially notified about a vehicle with a smashed window driving on a flat tire, FOX 9 of Minneapolis reported.
During the traffic stop, they found what appeared to be blood on Thaler and additional blood and bits of flesh in the car. The documents further stated that the cops also saw a bullet hole in the car and shell casings, but none of those details resulted in the police officers initially detaining Thaler.
Officers drove mom home before finding the child's body in the trunk
Instead, the officers drove Thaler to her home while other cops who remained at the scene inspected her vehicle, according to the report. Officers then found the body of Thaler's son, Eli, in the car's trunk.
Alongside the child's body was a shotgun. An autopsy later revealed that the young boy was shot nine times, including in his head. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office subsequently charged the Minnesota mom with second-degree murder. Thaler's boyfriend was in the vehicle during the initial traffic stop and was taken into custody by the police before he was released due to a lack of evidence to charge him.
Thaler was awarded full parental custody of her son just ten days before Eli's body was discovered, according to the New York Post. The young boy's death is especially heartbreaking for his father, Tory Hart, who tried to get custody of him before the murder.
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Mound community in mourning following Eli Hart's death
He made several complaints about Thaler's drug and mental health problems, but the courts ignored him. Hart's fiancée Josie Josephson said in an interview that the court failed the child by handing him to his mother despite her mental health and substance abuse issues.
Family court documents revealed that several social workers were concerned with Thaler's mental health and the mother's unstable living situation and criminal history. A document showed Thaler having a hearing in June regarding the theft of pharmaceuticals. She also has received numerous traffic infractions for using a phone while driving and speeding.
The Mound community gathered on Friday night in remembrance of Eli. Ray Salazar, the mayor of Mound, Minnesota, said there is a lot mourning and that they lost a great little kid a week ago. Chris Foley, a Mound resident, told KSTP that what happened to Eli was heartbreaking. He added that he can't even imagine and can't believe this happened to him.
