Florida teen gets 50-year prison sentence after killing mother and her boyfriend

Florida teenager Julia Grace Egler, 18, has been sentenced to 50 years in state prison after pleading guilty to killing her mother and her mother’s boyfriend in Palm Bay in July 2024. Egler was 16 when Kelley McCollom and Matthew Szejnrok were killed. Prosecutors said she had planned the attack, staged a fake home invasion and waited for the couple to return before shooting them. According to investigators, Egler greeted the couple by saying “Welcome home” before opening fire. She later pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder under a negotiated agreement that reduced the original first-degree murder charges. At her September 25, 2026, sentencing, a judge imposed a 50-year prison term, with a mandatory minimum of 25 years before she can seek sentence review, followed by 20 years of supervised probation.How the Florida teen planned the ambush on her mother and boyfriendThe killings occurred shortly after midnight on July 7, 2024, at McCollom’s home in Palm Bay, Florida. According to the Palm Bay Police investigation, Egler initially contacted 911 and reported that an unknown person had broken into the house.Officers responding to the call found McCollom dead in the livin...