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A transgender teenager in Florida was sentenced to 50 years behind bars after she struck a plea deal for the fatal shooting of her mother and her 22-year-old boyfriend.
asserted
she → see → mother
Julia Egler, 18, learned her fate on Friday after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the horror 2024 shooting of Kelly McCollom, 38, and her boyfriend Matthew Szejnrok, 22.
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Egler → learn → McCollom
'I'm sorry,' she told the court.
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she → tell → ?
'I'm haunted by grief every day.
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I → haunt → grief
I have shown that I can be rehabilitated.
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I → show → ?
At 16, Egler said she lashed out and killed McCollom and Szejnrok because she disapproved of her mother dating a much younger man.
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mother → say → man
Her mother also didn't approve of Egler's gender transition, authorities said.
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authorities → approve → transition
She told detectives interviewing her after the murders that her preferred name is Jasper, and she sported a short haircut in court.
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she → tell → court
But charging documents refer to her as Julia.
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documents → refer → Julia
Egler had cried hysterically as she made a frantic 911 call just after midnight on July 7, 2024, claiming that a man had broken in through a sliding glass door with a hammer.
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man → cry → hammer
'I don't think that the door was locked, but I don't think he knew there was a hammer by the back window,' Egler told officers, according to Fox 35.
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Egler → think → Fox
When the operator asked whether it was her family's hammer or if the assailant brought a hammer of his own, Egler replied: 'It was just the house hammer.
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It → ask → own
Julia Egler, 18, was sentenced to 50 years on Friday after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the 2024 shooting of Kelly McCollom, 38, and her boyfriend Matthew Szejnrok, 22
At 16, Egler said she lashed out and killed McCollom and Szejnrok because she disapproved of her mother dating a much younger man.
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mother → sentence → man
Her mother also didn't approve of Egler's gender transition
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mother → approve → transition
Egler had cried hysterically as she made a frantic 911 call just after midnight on July 7, 2024, claiming that a man had broken in through a sliding glass door with a hammer
'I think they grabbed it and broke in the window.
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they → cry → window
But when she was asked to describe the man who broke into the house, Egler simply said, 'Oh... it's hard to remember.'
Her story quickly unraveled when police showed up at the scene of the crime.
Detectives noticed that there was broken glass on McCollum's leg, and on top of Szejnrok's phone, which suggests the glass was broken after the two were already killed.
They then found a .38-caliber revolver just outside Julia's bedroom window, a bloodstained knife on the bathroom counter, and bloody footprints matching her shoes.
uncertain
They → ask → shoes
Police also said they found droplets of blood, leading from the front door to the bathroom - where Szejnrok's body was found with several shell casings nearby after he pleaded with Egler to stop.
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he → say → Egler
None of the many cameras around the outside of the house found any trace of an intruder.
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None → find → intruder
Officers eventually brought Egler in for questioning and she confessed to the double homicide.
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she → bring → homicide
Authorities said Egler explained she had stolen her mother's gun and waited in the kitchen with it and a knife hidden in her pockets for them to arrive home about 10:30 pm
Egler admitted to staging the scene to look like a home invasion, claiming she had 'reached her boiling point' after weeks of disagreements with her mom
Egler was initially charged with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder until accepting the plea deal on the lesser charge.
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Egler → say → charge
She will be eligible after 25 years
Authorities said Egler explained she had stolen her mother's gun and waited in the kitchen with it and a knife hidden in her pockets for them to arrive home about 10:30 pm.
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them → say → pockets
'Welcome home,' she told them, before she opened fire on her mother with the revolver from her mother's bedroom, shooting her several times until she was dead.
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she → tell → her
Police say Egler then turned the gun on Szejnrok as he fled to the bathroom and begged for his life, but she repeatedly shot him.
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she → say → him
When the gun ran out of bullets, she allegedly took out the kitchen knife and began viciously stabbing him on the bathroom floor.
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she → run → floor
Szejnrok, mortally wounded and in agony, 'essentially asked [Julia] to take him out of his misery', the affidavit read.
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affidavit → wound → misery
At that point, Egler walked back to her mother's room, loaded another bullet into the revolver, and shot him in the head, police said in an affidavit.
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police → walk → affidavit
Egler admitted to staging the scene to look like a home invasion, claiming she had 'reached her boiling point' after weeks of disagreements with her mom, police said.
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police → admit → mom
Palm Bay Police Lieutenant Virginia Kilmer said: 'Egler cited long-standing conflicts with her mother, including disagreements related to her gender transition, as well as disapproval of her mother's relationship with Szejnrok, as motives for the crime.
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Egler → say → crime
'
Egler, born female, wanted to transition to male and call herself Jasper.
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Egler → bear → herself
She appears here as a girl on McCollom's social media pages from years ago
None of the many cameras around the outside of the house found any trace of an intruder
The murderer, who was born female, was trying to transition in her teenage years.
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who → appear → years
She appeared as a girl on McCollom's social media pages from at least 2015.
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She → appear → 2015
Police investigated past episodes tied to the family, including those in which McCollom was allegedly abused.
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McCollom → investigate → which
One incident occurred with Egler's biological father around 11 years ago, while the other involved Szejnrok in April 2024, Florida Today reports.
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Today → occur → April
Police at the time said he and McCollom were arguing in public when he repeatedly grabbed her.
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he → say → her
Prosecutors dismissed the charges, and he was allowed to return home to McCollom and Julia.
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he → dismiss → McCollom
Szejnrok's family continue to live next door to the murder scene.
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family → continue → scene
According to Law & Crime, his brother had been home at the time and mistook the gunshots for fireworks.
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brother → accord → fireworks
'I was 75 feet away from my brother and had no idea he was fighting for his life,' David Szejnrok told the court, prosecutors said.
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prosecutors → have → court
Police investigated past episodes tied to the family, including those in which McCollom was allegedly abused.
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McCollom → investigate → which
One incident occurred with Egler's biological father around 11 years ago, while the other involved Szejnrok in April 2024
'
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other → occur → April
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
