Mackenzie Shirilla became the subject of national attention after a fatal July 2022 car crash in Ohio left her boyfriend and a close friend dead, and ultimately landed her behind bars on murder charges. Now 21, Shirilla is serving two concurrent life sentences, and renewed interest in her case following Netflix’s documentary The Crash has put the timeline of her crime and trial back in the spotlight.
Here is a look at how the case unfolded.
Mackenzie Shirilla’s Fatal Car Crash Took Place in July 2022
In the early morning hours of July 31, 2022, Shirilla was driving her Toyota Camry through Strongsville, Ohio, after a graduation party and a stop at a friend’s house. Her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, sat in the front passenger seat, while their friend Davion Flanagan was in the back.
Investigators later determined that Shirilla accelerated the vehicle to more than 100 mph and never once pressed the brake before slamming into a brick building. Both Russo, 20, and Flanagan, 19, were killed on impact, and Shirilla survived.
The crash quickly drew scrutiny as investigators reviewed surveillance footage, vehicle data and witness accounts. Prosecutors would eventually argue the wreck was no accident at all.
Mackenzie Shirilla’s 2023 Murder Trial and Conviction
Shirilla went to trial in 2023, opting for a bench trial rather than a jury.
Prosecutors argued that the crash was a botched murder-suicide attempt, pointing to the vehicle’s speed and the absence of braking. The defense countered that Shirilla suffered from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) — a condition that can cause dizziness and fainting — and had blacked out behind the wheel.
The judge sided with prosecutors and Shirilla was convicted of 12 felony charges, including four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault, two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and one count each of drug possession and possessing criminal tools. She was then sentenced to two concurrent terms of 15 years to life in prison.
Before her conviction, Shirilla had been held on a $500,000 bond at the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center. After sentencing, she was transferred to the Ohio Reformatory for Women, where she remains incarcerated.
Mackenzie Shirilla’s Jail Call Claiming She Was the ‘3rd Victim’
In a phone call from the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center obtained by People, Shirilla spoke with her mother, Natalie Shirilla, about her trial strategy — and her belief that she, too, was a victim of the crash.
Shirilla told her mother that she had asked her attorney to let her testify in her own defense. “I was asking him if I could just testify to show them that like, I have nothing to hide, and he was like, ‘I don’t know if that’s a good idea at this point,’” she said.
She went on to argue that taking the stand would have helped her case. “If they see the truth, then they’ll know that this was nothing but a car accident,” Shirilla said. “They’ll just see that there’s a third victim, and it’s me, and I lost the love of my life and a good friend, and now I have to deal with this grief the rest of my life.”
Shirilla added that she was “scared to drive and stuff like that,” and accused prosecutors of having “henchmen go and lie on the stand” during her trial, though she did not specify what testimony she was referring to.
Later in the same call, Shirilla asked her mother to “pay my bond and get me out of here,” urging her to contact a bail bondsman about the 10 percent option. She acknowledged that her bond would likely be revoked within days once the judge ruled — a prediction that proved correct.
“I’m getting very irritated like, and I need to get the f*** out of jail because they’re just trying to f*** me over bad as f***,” Shirilla told her mother.
Mackenzie Shirilla Worries About Her Future in Another Jail Call
In a separate, undated jail call also obtained by People, Shirilla opened up to her mother about her fears for life after prison.
She told her mother she “doesn’t want to live here with these people,” referencing fellow inmates her mother described as “murderers [and] kidnappers.”
Shirilla also voiced concerns about her parents potentially having to sell their house to cover her legal bills.
Then she turned to a more personal worry. “I feel like I want to live off the grid, like, and I’m just — I’m just I’m thinking about like how I’m just gonna be like old when I get out of jail and like, I don’t know, like I’m not gonna be able to have kids or like a family and s** like that,” she said.
Mackenzie Shirilla Featured in Netflix’s ‘The Crash’ Documentary
Shirilla’s case returned to public attention with the release of Netflix’s documentary The Crash on May 15, 2026. Shirilla appeared on camera from behind bars, expressing remorse for the deaths of Russo and Flanagan and again speculating that her POTS diagnosis caused the wreck.
The documentary reignited debate over whether the crash was a tragic medical episode or a deliberate act — and prompted people who had crossed paths with Shirilla in prison to come forward with their own accounts.
Mackenzie Shirilla’s Former Inmate Disputes Her Documentary Portrayal
Mary Katherine “Kat” Crowder served time alongside Shirilla at the Ohio Reformatory for Women for six months after being booked in April 2024 on outstanding misdemeanor warrants from Tennessee. She told The New York Post that Shirilla’s documentary persona did not match the woman she encountered behind bars.
“When she walked out in the documentary, my jaw literally dropped, because her demeanor and the way that she looked was nothing like the person I was in there with,” Crowder said.
Crowder claimed Shirilla styled herself as the head of the “Mean Girls” in prison, embracing a full glam look she said was funded by Shirilla’s parents and online “sugar daddies.”
Speaking to NewsNation on May 20, 2026, Crowder said Shirilla appeared to model herself after the Mean Girls character Regina George. “I do say that she wanted to be like Regina George,” Crowder said. “I mean, just the way that she did her makeup … it was like she was going out to a club or something.”
Crowder also pushed back on Shirilla’s medical defense. “Never one time did I ever see Mackenzie Shirilla go for a blood pressure check, take any type of medication or go to sick call, ever experience dizziness,” she said. “In fact, Mackenzie Shirilla would go out in 100-degree heatwaves with baby oil on her and sit in the prison yard and tan … the girl does not have any medical issues.”
Shirilla’s attorney did not immediately respond to Us Weekly’s request for comment regarding Crowder’s claims.
This story was compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists.
