Netflix's The Crash reveals heartbreaking last text victim sent his father before Mackenzie Shirilla's collision
Topics: Netflix, True crime, Crime, US News
Emily Brown
Featured Image Credit: WKYC Channel 3
Topics: Netflix, True crime, Crime, US News
On July 31, 2022, 17-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla crashed a car carrying her boyfriend, Dom, and his friend, Davion, killing both men while leaving Shirilla injured, but alive.
After an investigation into the collision found that Shirilla had crashed the car on purpose, Netflix has now done a deep dive into the horrifying events and revealed the last text Dom sent to his father before his life was cut short.
Dom's dad, Frank Russo, is one of a number of interviewees in The Crash, which arrives on the streamer on May 15 and details the actions of Shirilla, who had been driving Dom and Davion home from a party when she slammed her 2018 Toyota Camry into a brick building at upwards of 100 mph.
Shirilla was left with multiple broken bones and a lacerated liver and kidney, among other injuries, with the documentary revealing that she had 'looked like she had lost a fight'.
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However, data from the car's black box found that the 17-year-old had her foot 100 percent on the gas pedal in the lead up to the crash, with no use of the brake.
In the wake of Dom's death, Russo spoke with police the following morning as they tried to piece together what happened.
In bodycam footage, Russo asked the police if they knew what time the crash had taken place, but the police didn't have that information so early into the investigation.
He then checked the time of his son's final text, sent at 2:53am on the day he died.
The text simply read: "Love you dad."
While Shirilla has maintained she did not crash the car on purpose, she was found guilty in 2023 of 12 charges, including murder, aggravated vehicular homicide, felonious assault and drug possession.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Nancy Margaret Russo - no relation to Dom - said: “She had a mission and she executed it with precision. The decision was death.”
Shirilla was sentenced to two concurrent 15 years to life sentences, and remains behind bars. She sought to appeal the conviction, however Ohio’s Eighth District Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s decision after the appeal was filed one day after the 365-day jurisdictional deadline.
Shirilla's parents have stood by her following the crash, telling 3News: "Show me one piece of evidence — one — that says she did this on purpose. Show it to me. Then she's right where she belongs and she's guilty of it. But there isn't any. There's no evidence (of) what was going on in that car other than information they gleaned from the black box."
The Crash is available to stream on Netflix from May 15.