Florida teen indicted on murder charges in deaths of mom, mom's boyfriend inside Palm Bay home
ORLANDO, Fla. - A Brevard County grand jury has indicted a Palm Bay teenager accused of plotting the deaths of her mother and her mother's boyfriend.
The 16-year-old girl faces two counts of first-degree premeditated murder for the deaths of Kelley McCollom, 38, and Matthew Szejnrok, 22.
Shortly after midnight on July 7, the teen called 911, alleging that a man had broken into her home on Benchor Road through a back sliding door, investigators said.
When Palm Bay police officers arrived, they found McCollom and Szejnrok deceased inside the house.
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Detectives said Egler initially claimed an intruder had shot the victims but later admitted to shooting them herself when they returned home.
While at the scene, detectives said they found a gun underneath the teen's bedroom window, a bloody knife on the bathroom window, and bloody footprints that matched the pattern at the bottom of the teen's shoes. Detectives also discovered that the glass from the backdoor was on top of McCollum's leg – which they say would have been impossible according to the teen's account of what happened.
After being brought in for questioning, the teen eventually told detectives what really happened.
She allegedly broke into her mother's bedroom to take her gun and ammunition while she waited in the kitchen area for the couple to come home. When they walked through the front door, she shot her mother and Szejnrok multiple times, police said.
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The teen said she followed Szejnrok, who ran into the bathroom and stabbed him several times before fatally shooting him, police said. She said she had reached her "boiling point" with her mother following several disagreements about the teen's mother not being accepting of her "transition." The two also argued because she did not like that her mother was dating a 22-year-old man.
Though arrested as a juvenile, prosecutors plan to try the teen as an adult; however, she is not eligible for the death penalty under U.S. Supreme Court rulings and Florida law.
The grand jury heard testimony from Palm Bay Police Department investigators and the associate medical examiner before returning the indictments.
The teen is being held without bond. She will be transferred from the Juvenile Detention Center to the Brevard County Jail.
No trial date has been set.