According to Palm Bay police, a 16-year-old shot his mother and her boyfriend

A Palm Bay teenager remains in juvenile detention after she shot her mother and her mother’s boyfriend on Saturday night and then called 911 with a fake call for help, according to police.

The 16-year-old was charged with first-degree premeditated murder after detectives examined forensic evidence – bullet casings, drops of blood and broken glass from a sliding glass door – at the crime scene at the Benchor Road residence.

Police said the motive was the teen’s disdain for her mother, who was dating a 22-year-old man. Investigators also determined that the teen shot her mother first, then shot the boyfriend before repeatedly stabbing him and then shooting him again before he died, reports show.

“One word stands out, and that is: tragic,” Palm Bay Police Chief Mariano Augello said of the double murder.

“I fully understand the public’s concerns and need for information. The investigation is ongoing and our detectives continue to work diligently to uncover all of the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident. I ask the public for patience as we continue our investigation.”

Arrest records show that sometime Saturday night, the teen grabbed a .38-caliber pistol and a chef’s knife and killed the two. She called 911 around 12:06 a.m. Sunday, crying hysterically and saying a man had broken into her home. Officers arrived within moments and found the bodies of the teen’s mother, Kelly McCollom, 42, and McCollom’s boyfriend, Matthew Szejnrok, 22, inside the home, both with multiple gunshot wounds, court records show.

The teenager met police outside the home and told officers she heard an unknown burglar in the house and hid in her room with her pit bull when “loud noises” continued to be heard in another part of the house. Police repeatedly questioned the girl’s account of what happened, records show.

The girl, whose identity FLORIDA TODAY is not releasing, was arraigned before a juvenile court judge and remanded in custody at the Sharpes Juvenile Detention Center.

More:Palm Bay police pass on details of fatal shooting of priest and two others to government

Police reports indicate that the teenager’s relationship with her mother has become increasingly acrimonious over the past two weeks.

Officers found a silver .38 caliber handgun outside the teen’s bedroom window. Detectives searched the home and found the boyfriend’s body in the bathroom. Several shell casings were found on the floor. A blood-stained knife was reportedly found on the bathroom counter. Detectives also found bloody footprints throughout the home — matching the teen’s shoes. The teen was questioned at the police station and turned over to juvenile authorities, records show.

The teenager later admitted to investigators that she had stolen the gun from her mother’s bedroom.

According to court documents, the couple returned home a short time later.

“Welcome home,” the teen said before pulling out the gun and shooting her mother several times. She then turned the gun on the boyfriend, who begged the teen to stop, court records show.

The girl told investigators that she then followed her mother’s boyfriend into the bathroom, where she stabbed him and shot him again, court records show.

McCollom’s son, Jacob Linton, announced his mother’s death on social media, with photos of McCollom outdoors holding a baby and posing with Linton.

“Please bear with me as I go through this difficult time,” he wrote, telling FLORIDA TODAY that his mother was “a great person.”

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