Mackenzie Shirilla was convicted of murder and other charges after a crash killed her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and friend, Davion Flanagan, in 2022
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Prosecutors argued a TikTok video posted after the tragedy showed a lack of remorse while Shirilla insisted the crash was unintentional
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The case is being revisited in a new Netflix documentary, The Crash, which premiered Friday, May 15
A newNetflixdocumentary,The Crash,is revisiting a 2022 Ohio case that ended with 19-year-oldMackenzie Shirillareceiving two 15 years-to-life sentences for a deadly high-speed crash that killed her boyfriend and a friend.
Shirilla, then 17, drove her Toyota Camry into a brick building in Strongsville, Ohio, at more than 100 mph in the early morning hours of July 31, 2022 after leaving a party. Her boyfriend, 20-year-oldDominic Russo, and 19-year-oldDavion Flanaganwere pronounced dead at the scene. Shirilla survived and later said she had no memory of what happened leading up to the crash.
Prosecutors argued the evidence told a different story. A forensic analysis of the vehicle’s data showed the accelerator was fully depressed seconds before impact, with no braking and no signs of mechanical failure. Testing also showed Shirilla was under the influence of marijuana at the time of the crash. However, her blood tested negative for alcohol and mushrooms, the latter of which were found at the scene.
Meanwhile, Shirilla and her family have always maintained she suffered a medical episode and that the crash was an accident.
Investigators also pointed to social media videos they said appeared to show Shirilla engaging in distracted or reckless driving, including clips of her driving while smoking what appeared to be marijuana. Friends and family members also told investigators that Shirilla and Russo’s relationship had become strained in the months before the crash, marked by arguments and breakups, with some describing Shirilla as possessive in the relationship.
Following a 2023 bench trial, Shirilla was convicted of all 12 charges against her, including murder, aggravated vehicular homicide, felonious assault and drug possession.
At sentencing, prosecutors referenced a TikTok video Shirilla posted months after the crash, arguing it showed a lack of remorse. The clip showed Shirilla and two friends on Halloween, shortly before she was charged, dressed in costumes and horror-style makeup.
“Dressing up as corpses three months after she killed two people, it just sickened us to the very core,” Davion’s father, Scott Flanagan, said in the documentary. “We’re not seeing her post videos of her mourning or videos of her regret. We were seeing posts of her living her best life.”
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Russo’s sister, meanwhile, acknowledged that posting videos online is common for teenagers and young adults today. “That is what these kids do nowadays. Everything’s on social media. They make crazy videos all the time,” Christine Russo said in the documentary. “If she didn’t kill someone, I guess it wouldn’t have been a big deal. But she did. So now it just kind of sheds light on who she was.”
Prosecutors also highlighted another social media video featuring photos of Shirilla set to lyrics that included, “I’m the girl you’d die for.” Her friend claimed in the documentary that the post was part of a popular 2021 trend and was being taken out of context.
In a prison interview featured in the documentary, Shirilla defended her online posts — which also included food reviews and outfit videos — saying, “I feel like anybody’s social media isn’t really them. It’s how they want the world to see them.”
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After the crash, Shirilla alsopublicly mourned Russo online, writing that he was “the last person to deserve this” and sharing photos of the couple on hisobituary page.
Shirilla apologized through tears at hersentencingand has continued to insist the crash was not intentional.
“There was no intent whatsoever there,” she said in the documentary. “I have excessive amounts of remorse for Dominic, Davion [and] both of their families.”
Though her first appeal was denied, the documentary says Shirilla's family continues to fight her conviction. She will beeligible for parole in 2037.
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