A Minnesota jury took barely an hour to find a 28-year-old mother guilty of murder in the shooting death of her 6-year-old son.
Julissa Thaler was accused of shooting Eli Hart with a shotgun nine times as she drove around the west side of Minneapolis last May.
Prosecutor Dan Allard said during closing arguments that Eli “probably thought he was going on a late-night adventure” when his mother put him in their vehicle and started driving, according to KSTP.
“The person he trusted most killed him,” Allard said.
Thaler was arrested after a traffic stop on May 20 when police observed her driving on a flat tire and a smashed out back window, as CrimeOnline previously reported. Officers drove Thaler home and then discovered her son’s body in the trunk.
She was arrested on a second degree murder charge and offered a plea deal in October: 40 years in prison for a guilty plea. She declined. In January, she was indicted on a first degree murder charge.
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Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday morning, KSTP said, and the defense did not call any witnesses. When court resumed after lunch, the attorneys presented closing arguments. Thaler’s attorney, Brian Leary said his client was “guilty of something,” but it wasn’t first or second degree murder.
The jury disagreed, returning guilty verdicts on both charges.
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[Featured image: Eli Hart and his father, Tory Hart/GoFundMe]
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