An 18-year-old transgender teenager from Florida received a 50-year prison sentence after taking a plea deal for the brutal 2024 murders of her mother and her mother’s much younger boyfriend.
Julia Egler pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a case where, reportedly, she waited for the couple to come home to their Palm Bay residence. She greeted them with a “welcome home” before using her mother’s .38 revolver to open fire and then attempted to make it appear as though a burglary had taken place.
The victims were Kelly McCollom, 38, and her boyfriend, Matthew Szejnrok, 22, both of whom died at the scene.
Initially facing two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, Egler accepted a plea deal that makes her eligible for parole in 25 years. During her sentencing on Friday, she expressed remorse, stating, “I’m sorry. I’m haunted by grief every day. I have shown that I can be rehabilitated. Please give me a chance to reintegrate back into society.”
Her confession revealed that she was upset about her mother’s relationship with someone so much younger, and she had reached a breaking point regarding her mom’s disapproval of her transgender identity, as detailed in the affidavit.
Following the shooting of her mother, she pursued Szejnrok, who had fled to the bathroom in panic. He pleaded for his life while she shot him multiple times. When she ran out of bullets, she grabbed a kitchen knife and began stabbing him on the bathroom floor.
According to the affidavit, a seriously injured Szejnrok asked Egler to end his suffering, prompting her to find another bullet in her mother’s room, load it, and shoot him in the head.
Afterward, Egler called 911, claiming that an intruder had broken in by smashing a sliding glass door. When questioned about whether the alleged intruder had brought a hammer, she referred to it as “just the house hammer” found near the back.
However, her story quickly crumbled. When asked to describe the supposed intruder, she hesitated and offered “Oh … it’s hard to remember.”
Investigating officers found evidence that contradicted Egler’s narrative, such as glass on McCollum’s leg and Szejnrok’s phone, indicating the glass was broken after the murders. They also discovered the revolver outside Egler’s bedroom window, along with a bloody knife on the kitchen counter, and footprints leading back to her.
Eventually, she confessed to the double murder during interrogation. Lieutenant Virginia Kilmer of the Palm Bay Police mentioned that Egler cited ongoing conflicts with her mother and her dissatisfaction with her mother’s relationship with Szejnrok as motives for her actions.
The family had a history of alleged abuse, including an incident 11 years prior involving Egler’s biological father and a more recent allegation against Szejnrok from McCollom.
Szejnrok’s brother, David, who lived next door, was home at the time of the shootings and reported he thought the gunfire was fireworks. “I was 75 feet away from my brother and had no idea he was fighting for his life,” he said in court. “Her actions didn’t just take my brother, they ruined our home. There isn’t a sentence that will bring my brother back,” he expressed to the court.
