Police in Palm Bay, Florida, claim a transgender teenager shot and killed her mother and her mom’s boyfriend last Saturday, then called 911 to falsely blame the murders on a home invasion.
The teen, identified as 16-year-old Julia Egler, will face charges of premeditated murder after police say she ambushed her mother Kelley McCollum, 41, and her mom’s boyfriend Matthew Szejnrok, 22, waiting for them to return home before violently slaying them.
Florida Today has more:
After investigating the scene, detectives said the teen greeted the couple Saturday night with “Welcome home.” She then shot her mother to death, then shot Szejnrok before stabbing him repeatedly and then shooting him again before he died, records show.
According to police, Egler “was hysterical” when she phoned Palm Bay dispatch around midnight claiming that “an unknown male intruder had entered the residence through a back sliding glass door.”
However, police grew suspicious when they investigated the scene and found Egler had made no mention during her nine-minute 911 call of the two victims being shot.
During interrogation, Egler later confessed to the murders admitting to “obtaining a .38 special revolver from (McCollom’s) bedroom, waiting for the victims to return home, and then shooting them multiple times,” according to The Sacramento Bee.
Egler reportedly cited “longstanding conflicts” with her mother over her gender transition and the age difference in her mom’s relationship with her boyfriend as motives for the murders.
The Bee described the crime scene in detail based off the police affidavit:
Szejnrok’s body was found in bathroom, and he had been shot and stabbed, officials said. McCollom was found in the living room, the affidavit reports.
“When they walked through the front door, (the suspect) told them ‘Welcome home.’” Within moments, Egler shot McCollom multiple times, then repeatedly shot Szejnrok “as he pleaded” for the teen to stop, the affidavit states.
“Egler then followed Matthew into the bathroom where he retreated and began stabbing him repeatedly” while out of ammunition, then he asked to be taken “out of his misery,” according to the affidavit.
Egler then reloaded the gun and shot him in the head, killing him, the affidavit reports.
The shooting comes as a judge in Nashville, Tenn., last week ruled the manifesto of transgender shooter Audrey Hale, who killed 6 people at a Christian private school in March 2023, would not be released to the public.
