Netflix’s latest true crime documentary, The Crash, delves into a chilling murder case of Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan.
On July 31, 2022, Mackenzie Shirilla crashed a Toyota Camry into a commercial building in Strongsville, Ohio. She was critically injured while her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and their friend Davion were declared dead on the spot. Initially, the cops thought this was a case of rash driving under the influence of marijuana. However, as the investigation proceeded, the case took a wild turn. During the trial, it was found that Mackenzie Shirilla deliberately crashed the car.
In August 2023, Mackenzie Shirilla was found guilty of twelve charges: four counts of murder and four counts of felonious assault. Apart from that, she also had two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, one count of drug possession, and one count of criminal tools possession. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Nancy Margaret Russo said (via Wkyc Studios):
“This was not reckless driving. This was murder”
The Crash: How Mackenzie Shirilla’s 2022 car crash became a murder case?
Mackenzie Shirilla and Dominic Russo were dating for almost four years in school. So what went wrong between the two that led to such a tragic end? According to Netflix’s The Crash, they were even living together. As per Shirilla’s father, the couple had plans of getting hitched.
However, things took an ugly turn when Mackenzie Shirilla crashed a Toyota Camry, killing her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and friend Davion Flanagan in 2022. Even though initially it was ruled as a tragic accident, the evidence found later pointed towards foul play.
Video footage showed Mackenzie overspeeding the car (100 miles per hour) before crashing it violently into a commercial building. Both Russo and Flanagan suffered serious head trauma and were declared dead. The investigators further found out via the car’s black box data that Mackenzie Shirilla never applied the brakes, which raised further suspicion. The authorities also found out that the couple had been having problems in their relationship for a long time. They frequently broke off and patched up. After the cops went through their texts, they found out that the couple was clearly in a toxic relationship.
The investigators concluded that Mackenzie deliberately crashed the car because she wanted to put an end to the relationship. Dominic’s relatives and the couple’s mutual friends testified that they were having trouble in their relationship.
During the trial, Judge Russo called the crash a murder based on video footage evidence that proved her purpose and intent to kill. As per Wkyc Studios, Shirilla was sentenced to two concurrent sentences, which were 15 years to life.
Where is Mackenzie Shirilla now?
As per Netflix’s true crime documentary, Mackenzie Shirilla is now serving prison time at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville. After the sentence hearing, Mackenzie’s lawyers tried to appeal to the court, but any was denied any relief because the paperwork was filed too late, as per a report by Court TV. Her first parole hearing is scheduled for September 2037.
Also Read: When will The Crash premiere? Release date news, streaming details and more
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Edited by Archi Biswas