Mackenzie Shirilla insists there was “no intent” behind the 2022 crash that killed two people – but as The Crash brings renewed attention to the case, legal experts say the one thing she still struggles to show could determine whether she ever gets parole.
Days before Mackenzie Shirilla turned 18, she slammed her Toyota Camry into a brick wall in Strongsville, Ohio, in July 2022, killing her boyfriend, 20-year-old Dominic Russo, and their friend, 19-year-old Davion Flanagan.
Tried as adult
During her 2023 bench trial, prosecutors argued that the crash was intentional, saying Shirilla drove nearly 100 mph directly into the wall after tensions developed in her relationship with Russo.
Court documents alleged she had made multiple threats toward him in the weeks leading up to the crash, while videos recovered from Russo’s phone reportedly showed heated confrontations between the couple.
Throughout the trial, Shirilla – who was tried as an adult – maintained she could not remember the crash and denied deliberately causing it.
Her defense team argued she suffered from Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), while both Shirilla and her mother pointed to a possible medical episode as the explanation behind the deadly crash.
“I always tell everybody that she has POTS,” Natalie Shirilla said in court, per cleveland.com. “POTS stands for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. It’s a blood pressure disorder. You can either get dizzy, lightheadedness, you can black out.”
“And so, you were aware of these POTS incidents, yet you still went to the DMV and said, ‘Give my daughter a driver’s license,” the prosecutor said the mother when she was on the witness stand.
According to the true-crime doc, no medical records or expert testimony confirming a diagnosis were ever presented during the trial.
Surveillance footage also proved otherwise – the teen appeared to be alert and in full control as she navigated winding roads.
In addition, data recovered from the vehicle demonstrated that the accelerator remained pressed until impact.
‘This was murder’
Judge Nancy Russo ultimately sided with prosecutors after reviewing crash footage and evidence presented in court.
“The [crash] video clearly shows the purpose and intent of the defendant. She chose a course of death and destruction that day,” the judge said, according to CBS affiliate 19 News.
“She morphs from a responsible driver to literal hell on wheels as she makes her way down the street,” Russo added. “She had a mission and she executed it with precision.”
While delivering the verdict, the judge also rejected Shirilla’s claim that she blacked out before the crash.
“This was not reckless driving. This was murder,” Russo said during sentencing.
According to People, the judge also described Shirilla’s actions as “controlled, methodical, deliberate, intentional and purposeful.”
‘Mackenzie will not be out in 15 years’
“I understand that the pain in this room wants me to impose the harshest sentence,” Russo said before announcing the sentence while Shirilla cried uncontrollably.
She added, “But I don’t believe that would be an appropriate sentence, because I do believe that Mackenzie will not be out in 15 years.”
Shirilla, now 21, is currently serving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. Under her sentence, she will become eligible for parole in 2037, when she is expected to be 33 years old.
‘I’m not a monster’
Interest surrounding the case intensified again after Shirilla spoke publicly from prison for the first time in The Crash.
“I’ve never spoken before, and I’ve never told my side of the story,” she says in the film. “I understand there’s many different sides to the story and different perspectives, but I just wanna say my truth. I just know myself, and I know I’m not a monster.”
She continued insisting the crash was not intentional.
“I remember turning on the street and then I’m waking up in the hospital the next day and my whole life is shattered,” Shirilla says.
Near the end of the documentary, Shirilla hesitates when asked whether she wants to add anything else, briefly looking toward her off-camera attorney and admitting she doesn’t want to “force anything” or “sound crazy” before turning back to continue defending her claim that there was “no intent” behind the crash.
“I just want to make sure that I’m big on the ‘no intent,’” she says. “There was no intent whatsoever. I have excessive amounts of remorse for Dominic, Davion, both of their families. This was not intentional, and I will do everything I can to prove that to the world and the families.”
Shirilla’s ‘biggest challenge’
As discussion surrounding the documentary intensified online, criminal defense attorney Ross Goodman shared a major update about Shirilla’s future parole chances during an interview with The Mirror.
“Mackenzie Shirilla is well-positioned to be granted parole, given she was a youthful (teenager) and first-time offender,” Goodman said.
But he also explained that one issue could complicate her future parole hearing.
“Mackenzie will also need to document that she is remorseful and accepts responsibility,” he added. “This will be the biggest challenge for someone who believes she suffered a medical condition resulting in an accident.”
Do you believe Mackenzie Shirilla when she says there was “no intent” behind the crash — or, as she admitted in the documentary, does it feel like she’s trying to “force” the remorse? Share your thoughts in the comments, and pass this story along to keep the conversation going.
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