Mackenzie Shirilla’s mother, Natalie Shirilla, has shared new details about her daughter’s mental condition, when she ‘intentionally’ crashed her vehicle into a brick wall in Strongsville, Ohio, in July 2022, killing her boyfriend, Dominic Russo and their friend, Davion Flanagan. While both Russo and Flanagan were announced dead on the scene, the 17-year-old (at the time of the crash) Shirilla faced serious injuries and was taken to a hospital, following which, she was charged with the dual murders.
Mackenzie Shirilla, who was convicted in August 2023 of 12 felony charges, was sentenced to two concurrent life sentences (with the possibility of parole after 15 years) and remains incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. While Shirilla has maintained her innocence, suggesting that one of her pre-existing medical conditions could have led to the crash, the court denied her appeal three times.
In a new interview with the Cuomo Crime Time Podcast, Mackenzie Shirilla’s mother claimed that her daughter has no memory of the accident:
“It’s almost like she’s trapped in a nightmare that she has no memory of…“She’s never seen the evidence. She’s never seen the discovery. She’s never seen anything.”
More on this in our story.
What has Mackenzie Shirilla’s mother said about the 2022 deadly crash?
Since the deadly 2022 crash, Shirilla’s case has attracted widespread attention and been the subject of several documentaries, including Netflix’s The Crash, YouTube podcast Hell on Wheels and Channel 4 & Apple TV’s Killer Cases.
Aligning with her daughter’s original appeal, Mackenzie Shirilla’s mother made a bold claim on her latest podcast appearance, maintaining that her daughter has no memory of the incident:
“She’s almost trapped in a nightmare that she has. All she knows is that the boyfriend that she loved with her whole, whole heart is gone and Davion is gone and she was the driver in a car accident, and has no memory of it.”
Mackenzie Shirilla’s mother’s latest claims are not the first time that her family has defended their daughter. In May 2025, Shirilla’s parents insisted that their daughter was innocent, with her mother even claiming that Russo was ‘trying to end her life.’
What did Mackenzie Shirilla’s defense say during her trial?
While Dominic’s sister Christine Russo and Flanagan’s father have extended their support for Shirilla’s sentence, she has maintained her innocence throughout the trial, claiming that she:
”suffered from a pre-existing medical condition that could have caused her to black out while driving.”
In August 2022, when detectives visited Shirilla in the hospital, following the deadly crash, she was heard talking in a ‘unique language’ similar to pig Latin. In October 2022, she showed up at a Halloween party dressed up as a corpse, which did not sit right with the victim’s families. Flanagan’s father even called out her behaviour in Netflix’s The Crash.
Prosecutors maintained Shirilla intentionally crashed her vehicle on July 31 into the brick wall after allegedly threatening Russo that she would ‘crash this car right now.” (during an argument on July 17). However, Mackenzie Shirilla’s defense argued that she passed out while driving due to postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. After Shirilla’s defense failed to secure medical records or expert testimony proving her diagnosis, she was sentenced to two concurrent life sentences and would be eligible for parole in September 2037.
For the latest scoops on your favorite TV shows and movies, follow SoapCentral.
Edited by Aashna