TRUE CRIME FRIDAY: The Case of Mackenzie Shirilla

Ninetoes crashes into the Case of Mackenzie Shirilla, and NETFLIX’s docuseries on the tragedy.

Hey there, true crime lovers! It is your favorite investigator, Ninetoes, coming to you from Ninetoes HQ, and I am on the beat with The Case of Mackenzie Shirilla. I have my notebook in hand and coffee in my system, so let’s get to it!

In the spirit of transparency, this article is a result of watching the NETFLIX show The Crash. I felt like the show was holding something back, and decided to do a deeper dive.

I want you to remember two names: Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan. These are the two young men who were in the car with Mackenzie Shirilla when the “accident” happened.

Mackenzie Shirilla was a 17-year-old girl who was the popular girl at school. Now, there are two types of popular: good and mean. Unfortunately, Mackenzie was the mean type of popular. She had her little group of followers, and if you were their particular target for the day, she made your life miserable wretched hell. Her main ambition in life was to be a social media influencer, and before you knew it, companies were sending her all sorts of products to test and keep. Anything from makeup to designer clothes and handbags.

Being the popular girl, Mackenzie got herself the hot guy, Dominic Russo. Dominic was three years older than Mackenzie, but when they started dating, she latched on to him and never let go. Dominic had a knack for making money, dabbling in the stock market and bitcoin. He owned his own house (which was right next to his parents’ house), and Mackenzie moved in with him. Mackenzie’s parents felt she was mature enough to make the move. Life is perfect, right?

On the morning of July 31, 2022, Mackenzie, Dominic, and a friend of theirs, Davion Flanagan, left a house where they were partying to go home. At 5:34 am, a CCTV camera caught Mackenzie making a controlled turn from Pearl Road onto Progress Drive. Progress Drive ended in a T-split with Alameda Drive. Mackenzie accelerated her car to over ninety miles per hour and drove it into a brick building, instantly killing Dominic and Davion. Mackenzie was seriously injured.

First responders were not alerted to an accident until a person driving by the scene called 911 to report it, 45 minutes later.

Was it an accident? Did the car malfunction? Did somebody who hated Mackenzie (and she did have a lot of enemies) somehow tamper with the car? OR, did Mackenzie turn her car into a guided missile with deadly intent?

Here are some facts to consider:

*Mackenzie and Dominic’s relationship was not picture perfect. Moments of happiness were punctuated with out-of-control arguments, especially if Mackenzie did not get her way. On several occasions, Dominic recorded some of the phone arguments in which Mackenzie was verbally abusive and threatening.

*Days before the accident, Mackenzie had driven out to the industrial park area where the accident occurred.

*Dominic was planning on breaking up with Mackenzie. If that happened, her “brand” would collapse, she would have to go back home to live with her parents, and her lifestyle would alter to the point of non-relevance.

Mackenzie’s mother was present in the hospital room when detectives came to interview her. Mackenzie claimed to have blacked out after making the turn onto Progress Drive. At times during the interview, Mackenzie would talk to her mother in a form of Pig Latin, and what the conversation amounted to was her asking her mother, “Couldn’t I just say I had a seizure?” Mackenzie even mentioned a possible punishment to the detectives: “Couldn’t you just take my license away for 10 years?”

As the investigation into the crash progressed, investigators learned several things. First of all, the car was not tampered with; there were no mechanical issues, and everything was in working order at the time of the crash. The accelerator was pressed all the way to the floor. The brake was never once used as the car sped along Progress Drive.

Several of Davion’s friends came forward. These friends shared an app on their phones so they could keep tabs on each other. This app also recorded information on where the particular person was going, how fast they were going, etc. The app showed that Davion was traveling over 90 miles an hour at the time of the crash.

On November 4, 2022, investigators had gathered enough evidence to arrest Mackenzie Shirilla. She was charged with 17 crimes, including two counts of aggravated murder and one count of drug trafficking (marijuana and psylocibin mushrooms were found in her car). Since she was 17-years-old, she could have been tried as a minor, but due to the seriousness of the charges, she was tried as an adult. She also chose to go through a bench trial in which the judge would decide her guilt or innocence.

On August 14, 2023, Shirilla was found guilty on charges of murder, felonious assault, aggravated vehicular homicide, drug possession and criminal tools possession.

On August 21, 2023, Mackenzie Shirilla was sentenced to two terms of 15 years to life to be served concurrently. Her driver’s license was also suspended permanently. She is currently serving her sentences at the Ohio Reformatory for Women.

She will be eligible for parole in 2037.

Her lawyers have filed several appeals. All of them were denied.

After considering all of this, I do have a question or two. Where were the parents in all of this? Sure, they showed up at the hospital and the trial, but that is about as far as parenting went with them. They never told her “no”. Why were they not held as liable as Mackenzie?

Darren “Ninetoes” Perdue is a book and media reviewer. When he is not reading, he is watching true crime shows, cooking for his family, or working on a plan for universal domination. If you see him on his porch, say hi. He does not bite…much.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.