A mother and her boyfriend were reportedly killed by the woman’s transgender child over disagreements the two had about the teen’s gender transition, according to a report.
The suspect, born Julia Grace Egler, 16, confessed to killing the couple in Palm Bay, Florida. Police records obtained by WKMG revealed Egler was motivated by two factors: The mother, Kelley McCollom, disapproved of Egler’s gender transition, and Egler was bothered by McCollom dating a 22-year-old.
Egler allegedly shot McCollom, 38, and McCollom’s boyfriend, Matthew Szejnrok, 22, several times. Egler then reportedly stabbed Szejnrock repeatedly before reloading the gun and shooting him in the head.
Police said Egler called 911 after the killings and staged a botched burglary. However, investigators identified evidence to counter the claims. The teen later confessed to the killings.
The murders mark the latest in a trend of violence committed by transgender people, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Mia Bailey, a 28-year-old biological male who identifies as a woman, was arrested in Utah last month after allegedly committing parricide.
Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old biological female who identified as a man, killed six people last year at the Covenant School in Tennessee.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, a biological male who identified as nonbinary, killed five people at an LGBTQ club in Colorado in 2022.
Maya McKinney, a biological female who identified as a man, killed one person at a Denver area charter school in 2019. Eight others were injured in the incident.
Snochia Moseley, a biological female who identified as a man, killed three people outside a Maryland warehouse in 2018.
However, Anthony Zenkus, a professor at Columbia, cited data countering claims that transgender people are more likely to commit acts of violence.
“4 shooters out of over 300 mass shooters since 2009 are transgender or non binary,” he tweeted. “That’s just 1.3% of all shooters. You just proved our point: 99% of mass shooters in the United States are cis gendered.”
Transgender people make up roughly 0.5% of the U.S. adult population, according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.