Twin Cities Mom Gets Life In Prison In Killing Of 6-Year-Old Son

MINNEAPOLIS — A 29-year-old Spring Lake Park woman was sentenced Thursday to life in prison after she was convicted in the killing of her 6-year-old son.

Julissa Angelica Genrich Thaler was found guilty of first-degree murder last week. She was given no possibility of parole.

Thaler fatally shot her son with a shotgun and hid his body in the trunk of her car, authorities said. Prosecutors said Thaler may have killed her son for insurance money. She was also in the middle of a custody battle with the boy's father.

"We now have legal closure on this heartbreaking tragedy," Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. "But nothing will ever fill the void in the world that Eli left behind. I hope his family can slowly move forward and eventually find some level of peace."

On May 20, 2022, Mound police officers conducted a traffic stop on a Chevrolet Impala that was reportedly driving without one of the front tires and was riding straight on the rim.

During the traffic stop, officers also notice blood on the driver's hand and a shotgun shell in the vehicle, according to the criminal complaint. Thaler was identified as the driver.

Police determined that the vehicle could not be driven safely, and Thaler was released from the scene, authorities said.

Before the Impala was towed, police searched it and found a shotgun and the body of a child who had been shot up to 9 times, according to the criminal complaint.

Police drove to Thaler's apartment, which they found empty but the washing machine was running with the clothes she had just been wearing, according to investigators.

Thaler was later found leaving the area and placed under arrest, according to the criminal complaint. Police said they found blood and brain matter in her hair.

A witness also reported seeing Thaler's car at a gas station, parked near the dumpster, according to the criminal complaint. Police searched the dumpster and said they found a backpack, blood, bone, and brain matter.

The Star Tribune reported that in court, Orono police investigator Kyle Kirschner testified that the search history found on Thaler's Google account included searches on:

• Loading a shotgun
• Knockout drugs
• Payment from life insurance if a child dies
• How much blood a 6-year-old can lose

Those searches were made in the months before Eli Hart's death, Kirschner said.