HENNEPIN COUNTY, Minn. (WTVO) — A Minnesota woman has been convicted of shooting and killing her 6-year-old son days after a court awarded her full custody of the boy.

Julissa Thaler, 29, was found guilty of first degree murder of her son, Eli Hart, last Wednesday.

According to CBS News, prosecutors claimed Thaler had a history of mental illness and drug abuse.

Eli’s body was found in her trunk on May 20, 2022, after she was pulled over for a traffic violation.

Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Dan Allard said Thaler killed her son either for life insurance money or because of her mental health.

The boy’s father, Tory Hart, has filed a lawsuit alleging that social workers ignored warning signs prior to Eli’s death, and had filed a petition seeking custody prior to the boy’s death.

Hart’s lawsuit claims police were called to Thaler’s home in Farmington 21 times in 10 months.

Another ex-boyfriend of Thaler’s, Robert Pikkarainen, testified that she and Eli had an argument the night he died, because the boy didn’t want to go to bed. Pikkarainen also testified that Thaler left the apartment, put a shotgun in the car, took Eli, and went downstairs.

Pikkarainen said he fell asleep and asked where she had gone the next morning.

Police pulled Thaler over later that day because she was driving without a tire and the back windshield of the car was blown out.

Thaler was found mentally fit to stand trial. The charge of murder carries a mandatory life prison sentence. She is due back in court on Feburary 16th.