Minnesota mom Julissa Thaler arrested for killing 6-year-old son Eli Hart after cops find body in trunk

A Minnesota mom who was just awarded custody of her 6-year-old son was arrested for allegedly killing him and stuffing his body in the trunk of her car.

Cops found Eli Hart’s body in the trunk of his mom’s Chevy Impala when they made a traffic stop in Mound, Minnesota on Friday morning, according to ABC 5 Eyewitness News

Julissa Thaler, 28, was arrested after police noticed blood on the interior of her car and searched the car.

Eli’s father, Tory Hart, made numerous complaints about Thaler’s drug and mental health problems but was ignored by the courts, the report said.

Despite the complaints, Thaler was awarded full parental custody just 10 days before his body was discovered.

Tory Hart’s fiancé Josie Josephson told Fox9 that the court failed Eli by handing the boy to his mother despite her mental health and substance abuse issues.

“No matter how many cries we cried, they ignored us,” Josephson said. “No matter how many warning signs there were.”

Family court documents also show that several social workers were concerned with Thaler’s mental health, unstable living situation and criminal history.

One document shared on Twitter by a WCCO-CBS Minnesota reporter noted that she received numerous traffic infractions for speeding or using a phone while driving and that she has a hearing in June regarding the theft of pharmaceuticals.

Another document noted that the mom was jeopardizing her son’s relationship with his biological father, despite the fact that he seemed to be a “stabilizing force” in the young boy’s life.

Tory Hart wasn’t able to have a relationship with his son until the beginning of 2021 due to Thaler’s efforts to block him from his life, according to the boy’s one-time foster mom.

The foster parent said their bond was powerful from the very start.

“Eli fell in love with his father and loved spending time with him,” she wrote on a GoFundMe page. “Tory was excited to make up for all the lost years and was thrilled to start teaching his son how to fish and ride a bike with no training wheels.”

Instead, Tory Hart is organizing a funeral for his young son.