A Minnesota woman was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for murdering her young son, but before the proceeding was over, she expressed harsh words to the court.
“I’m innocent, f*** you all, you’re garbage,” Julissa Thaler said at the sentencing hearing, according to KMSP-TV.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, a jury earlier this month convicted Thaler of first- and second-degree murder in connection with the death of her 6-year-old son, Eli Hart, in May 2022.
Police arrested the 29-year-old woman in Orono, outside of Minneapolis, after a caller reported seeing a vehicle with a blown-out tire and shattered rear window. The boy’s body was later found in the vehicle’s trunk.
Thaler was reportedly in a heated custody dispute with the child’s father, Tony Hart, at the time of the killing.
Tony Hart has since sued officials who awarded custody of the boy to Thaler. That case, alleging wrongful death, is scheduled for trial next year. The complaint alleges that officials did not properly consider Thaler’s declining mental health and alleged drug abuse, KARE 11 reports.
During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Hart’s former foster mother, Nikita Kronberg, said the boy “meant the world to so many people. He was so kind and amazing. Always had a smile on his face. He made friends so easily and wanted to explore all the time,” according to WCCO-TV.
Josephine Josephson, Tory Hart’s partner, also spoke at the hearing.
“Eli was an amazing 6-year-old boy who always woke up full of energy and laughter. You were the happy 6-year-old boy, our little boy, that we loved so deeply.”
“Nothing will ever be the same. The pain will never go away,” Josephson added, according to KARE 11.
Following Thaler’s vitriolic remarks, Hennepin County District Court Judge Jay Quam admonished her statements and said a mother killing her own child is unimaginable.
“Ms. Thaler, I don’t know that that’s appropriate here,” Quam said before he handed down the sentence, according to KARE 11.
“The worst thing that seems to happen to parents is to lose their child. It’s worse though when you don’t lose your child to something like cancer or an accident. It’s when someone takes that child from the world. What I can’t imagine, nobody can imagine, is when the person who takes a child from the world is the one that brought that child in.”
The family is raising money via GoFundMe for a playground in the boy’s honor.
Thaler’s prison sentence excludes the possibility of parole.
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[Featured image: Handout/Eli Hart]
