Julia Egler was 16 years old when she called 911 from her Palm Bay home on July 7, 2024, telling dispatchers an intruder had broken in and she was hiding. When officers arrived, they found her mother, 38-year-old Kelley McCollom, shot dead in the living room. McCollom’s boyfriend, 22-year-old Matthew Szejnrok, was found shot and stabbed repeatedly in the bathroom. There was no forced entry, and evidence at the scene, including five .38-caliber shell casings and a kitchen knife, did not match the account Egler gave.
Detectives continued to investigate, and Egler eventually confessed to staging the break-in. According to police, she told them she greeted her mother and her mother’s boyfriend with the words “Welcome home” before opening fire, and that she stabbed Szejnrok after running out of bullets. Now 18, Egler pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 50 years in prison, resolving a case that had been pending for more than two years.
The case has renewed conversations across Florida about juvenile sentencing, mandatory minimums, and how the courts handle defendants who were minors at the time of the crime. For families on the Suncoast, it is also a stark reminder of how quickly an ordinary evening can turn into something unimaginable. What questions does this case raise for you about how our justice system treats young offenders?
