After intentionally driving her boyfriend and his friend to their deaths, Mackenzie Shirilla allegedly texted Dominic Russo's brother to bring photos from his desk to put inside the casket.
Convicted former teen Mackenzie Shirilla is back in the spotlight amid disturbing new details about her actions following the deadly 2022 crash that killed her boyfriend Dominic “Dom” Russo and their friend David Flanagan. New court documents reveal that Shirilla allegedly wanted photos of herself placed inside Dominic’s casket before his funeral.
While the gesture may have initially seemed emotional or heartfelt, it later took on a far more chilling tone after prosecutors concluded that Shirilla had intentionally caused the crash that killed him.
Mackenzie Shirilla was only 17 years old when she drove her Toyota Camry into a brick wall at nearly 100 mph, as per prosecutors. While she miraculously survived the July 2022 collision, the other two passengers, Dominic Russo, 20, and Davion Flanagan, 19, were killed instantly. After the fatal incident and before it was labelled intentional, Shirilla publicly mourned her slain boyfriend, Dominic. Shirilla's mother, Natalie, even told the court that her daughter was "broken, lost, and heartbroken" and would never recover from the emotional and physical trauma.
Shirilla, who herself sustained catastrophic damages from the crash and had to be airlifted to the hospital, kept mourning in public, showing how deeply she felt the losses of two of her closest friends. She wrote online how Dom was "the last person to deserve this," and even cried at his gravesite. However, one particular request mentioned in appellate court documents has now drawn renewed attention online.
According to the 2024 Ohio Court of Appeals opinion cited by PEOPLE, Shirilla texted Dominic’s older brother, Angelo Russo, asking him to retrieve photographs from Dominic’s room where she and he were together. She allegedly asked Angelo whether he could "go in Dom's room and grab some photos from his desk of me and him." She allegedly wanted the photos placed in Dominic’s casket "so he can be with me forever."
It took Shirilla multiple surgeries and bed rest to recover from the deadly crash. However, through it all, she allegedly mourned in ways that showed she was deeply tied to Dominic and Davion. Her family said in court that for about three months, she wore only Dom's clothes, ate his favourite snacks, and listened to his music.
She even created a shrine on her bedside with Dom's photos and belongings, and apparently lay in bed crying every day, as Natalie Shirilla. Netflix's The Crash showed clips of Mackenzie Shirilla visiting Dominic's grave and breaking down. Viewers also get a glimpse of her bedside shrine and alleged emotional collapse in the months following the crash.
Court documents showed that Dominic had reportedly attempted to break up with Mackenzie multiple times in the months leading up to the crash, and the relationship had turned rather toxic. His older brother, Angelo Russo, later told investigators that Dom often had to call Mackenzie's parents to calm situations down. In footage later featured in The Crash documentary, Angelo told police:
"Dom tried to break up with her multiple times. Dom would have to call Kenzie's parents, call her mom and stuff, and say, ‘Hey, you need to get Kenzie out of here. She's refusing to leave my house; she's being crazy.' "
Evidence showed that Shirilla pressed her car's accelerator to the floor and never hit the brakes in the five seconds before impact. Investigators also cited prior threats allegedly made by Shirilla involving crashing a vehicle during arguments with Dominic. The judge ultimately convicted her on multiple felony charges, including murder and aggravated vehicular homicide, famously calling her "literal hell on wheels." In August 2023, Shirilla was found guilty on 12 charges, including four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault, two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, drug possession, and possessing criminal tools, relating to the car she used for the crash.
Mackenzie Shirilla, 21, remains incarcerated in the Ohio Reformatory for Women and will not be eligible for parole until 2037.
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