Kelley McCollom, aged 38, not 41, and her boyfriend, Matthew Szejnrok, 22, were fatally shot and stabbed in their home in Palm Bay, Florida, on July 7, 2024. The killings were initially reported by McCollom's 16-year-old daughter, Julia Egler, who called 911 claiming an unknown male intruder had broken into the residence through a back sliding glass door and killed the couple.
However, upon further investigation, detectives discovered that Julia Egler was the actual perpetrator.
Egler had obtained a .38 special revolver from her mother’s bedroom and waited for the victims to return home. When McCollom and Szejnrok arrived, Egler greeted them with "Welcome home" before shooting her mother multiple times in the living room. She then turned the gun on Szejnrok, who pleaded for her to stop as she shot him repeatedly. After running out of ammunition, Egler followed Szejnrok into the bathroom, where she stabbed him repeatedly with a chef’s knife. When Szejnrok asked to be taken "out of his misery," Egler reloaded the gun and shot him in the head, killing him.
The motive behind the killings was centered on longstanding conflicts between Egler and her mother, including disagreements over Egler's gender transition and her mother's relationship with Szejnrok. There was also a history of domestic violence in the family, with previous incidents involving McCollom and her partners.
Egler was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder. She was initially held at the Juvenile Detention Center but is set to be transferred to the Brevard County Jail as prosecutors plan to pursue her prosecution as an adult. A grand jury has since indicted Egler for the murders, and she is being held without bond. No trial date has been set for her case.
The incident has been described as a tragic case by the Palm Bay Police Chief, with the police continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths. The families and loved ones of the victims are navigating this difficult time, with McCollom's son, Jacob Linton, expressing his grief and remembering his mother as a great person.
