MOUND, Minn. — The Mound City Council voted 3-2 to approve the Eli Hart Memorial Playground Tuesday night.
Several people and groups have been working to get the playground built following the murder of 6-year-old Eli Hart by his mother in Mound last spring.
Plans to break ground for the new playground are set for the upcoming spring at Surfside Park in Mound on Lake Minnetonka.
Hart's mother, Julissa Thaler, was found guilty of Eli's murder in February and was sentenced to life without parole.
Eli's body was discovered in the trunk of Thaler's car on May 20, 2022 after police pulled her over for a traffic violation. The boy had been shot multiple times with a shotgun, and a weapon was also found in the trunk.
Thaler was involved in a custody dispute with Eli's father Tory Hart. Following Eli's death Hart sued Dakota County Social Services, alleging that employees returned his son to Thaler despite concerns of alleged drug use and deteriorating mental health.
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