Julia Egler, the 16-year-old Florida transgender teen at the time, reported a home invasion, claiming her mother, Kelley McCollom, 41, was shot dead and her mother's boyfriend, Matthew Szejnrok, 22, was stabbed repeatedly and shot to death in Palm Bay, Florida.
She was later accused of the crime, and the newly released bodycam footage and interrogation video show law enforcement confronting the teenager about the story. Ultimately, the now 17-year-old tells the truth. Who exactly is Julia Egler?
Who is Julia Egler?
Julia Egler, 17 years old, who also goes by the name Jasper, who on midnight of 7 July 2024, called 911 claiming that someone had broken into their home, ultimately killing her mother and her mother's boyfriend. However, after investigating the scene, the teenager was arrested and accused of killing the two victims.
According to the 2024 report of Florida Today, investigators said that the teen greeted the couple Saturday night with a 'Welcome home' before shooting her mum to death. The transgender teen then followed Szejnrok into the bathroom, where Egler stabbed him repeatedly with a chef's knife and then shot him again before he died, records show.
The report shows that the teen stole McCollom's .38-caliber handgun from her bedroom late in the evening of 6 July. She then placed the gun in her pocket and waited for the couple to return home.
Florida Transgender Teenager Confessed to the Crime
A new analysis video posted by Law&Crime Network shows bodycam footage of the day Egler called the emergency services to report a home invasion and the death of her mother and her mum's boyfriend, who was, at the time of the crime, only six years older than her.
In the bodycam footage, Egler is seen crying when asked by the authorities about the blood on the floor and the smashed door, she answered 'somebody came.'
On the affidavit, Egler said to the 911 dispatcher that an unknown man broke into their home through a back sliding glass door. She said that she grabbed the dogs and hid in her bedroom — too scared to come out and just waited for hours, listening to the intruder until McCollom and Szejnrok were killed.
However, officers noticed that her story did not match the crime scene, and the teenager was brought to the station for questioning. As the interview progressed, Egler revealed frequent arguments with McCollom because of her gender identity, where she felt misgendered at home.
'Well, me and her would have a lot of arguments about things, especially over like me being trans. So, she'd be like, "Okay, you're not a real boy." And blah blah blah and all, you know, the whole spiel of transphobic stuff,' Egler said.
Egler also revealed that she didn't support her mum's relationship with Szejnrok and that she didn't want him living in the house, describing ongoing tension when he was around.
The interview circled back and forth until the teenager's story no longer lined up and continued to fall apart, and after long hours of interrogation, the teenager confessed to the crime — telling the truth that there was no intruder.
Egler was arrested and initially charged as a juvenile, but was later indicted on two counts of first-degree premeditated murder. The state attorney's office announced that she would be tried as an adult, but she is not eligible for the death penalty based on Florida statute and the US Supreme Court, and will face life in prison if convicted.
