Years before Mackenzie Shirilla was convicted of murdering her boyfriend, the two had a deeply troubled relationship and a series of disturbing text messages are now offering a rare glimpse inside it.
What do the scriptures reveal?
The text messages, obtained by TMZ, were part of the police investigation into the fatal car crash that killed Dominic Russo and his friend Davian Flanagan. McKenzie appears extremely emotional and volatile in the messages. She told Dominic, “I’m going to kill someone,” “I want to bang my head against the wall until I die,” and “This is why I want f***ing KMS,” according to tmz.
Other messages show Mackenzie discussing not getting pregnant, getting tested for STDs, dealing with health problems from smoking, feeling depressed, disliking her house, and complaining about how Dominic treated her.
In an unusual detail, there is also a message from Dominic himself telling Mackenzie that he had crashed her mother’s car. As her case progressed through the legal system, police, prosecutors, and McKenzie’s defense team all studied the lessons.
Also read: Mackenzie Shirilla was prison’s ‘mean girl’: Former inmate makes shocking claim, criticizes Netflix’s The Crash
What happened and where is he now?
On July 31, 2022, then-17-year-old Mackenzie Schirilla crashed her car into a brick wall at nearly 100 mph in Strongsville, Ohio, killing her 20-year-old boyfriend Dominic Russo and his friend Davion Flanagan, 19. According to court documents cited by People, investigators found that the accelerator was fully depressed in the last seconds without applying the brakes and experts ruled out any car malfunction. A family friend also testified that he had heard Shirilla say, “I’m going to destroy this car right now” a few weeks before the accident.
In August 2023, Judge Nancy Margaret Russo found him guilty on all 12 charges. “He had a mission and he executed it with precision,” the judge said, according to 3News. “The verdict was death.” Shirilla was sentenced to two concurrent 15-year terms and will not be eligible for parole until 2037.
According to WKYC, all appeals have been denied. She is currently incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, Ohio.
Also read: Mackenzie Schirilla’s shocking ‘Pig Latin’ hospital call resurfaces after fatal car crash amid Netflix’s The Crash
A former prisoner says what he really saw
Mary Katherine Crowder, who is 27 and spent more than six months with Shirilla in the same prison in 2024, told New York Post The Netflix documentary bears no resemblance to the man she knew behind bars. “When she walked out in the documentary, my mouth literally dropped open, because her demeanor and the way she looked, it didn’t resemble the person I was there with,” Crowder told The Post.
Crowder claimed the now 21-year-old behaved like a celebrity inside the prison, getting her hair and makeup done daily and socializing with a group of younger inmates. “Everyone knew why she was there, and she walked around like she was a celebrity inside the prison,” Crowder said. “She definitely presented herself like she was the Regina George of prison… She was just like the ‘It Girl.’
The Netflix documentary The Crash, streaming May 15, has drawn renewed attention to the case.