Mackenzie Shirilla's texts with her dad show what their relationship was really like
Text messages sent between Mackenzie Shirilla and her father are going viral online as a Netflix true crime documentary continues to fuel renewed interest in her case.
On July 30 2022, 17-year-old Shirilla was driving through Strongsville, Ohio, in a 2018 Toyota Camry after attending a graduation party and visiting a friend with boyfriend Dominic Russo, 21, and mate Davion Flanagan, 19.
Just after 5.30am, CCTV captured the vehicle accelerating into a brick wall at over 100 miles per hour.
Shirilla was airlifted to a nearby hospital with severe injuries and multiple bone fractures, while both Russo and Flanagan were pronounced dead at the scene.
Advert
Four months after the tragedy, the influencer was arrested and charged with multiple crimes, including two counts of aggravated murder and one count of drug trafficking.
Following a bench trial, in which a judge determines a person’s guilt, rather than a jury, she was found guilty on various counts and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 15 years.
Shirilla is currently incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women and will be eligible for parole in late 2037.
Following the launch of the controversial Netflix doc, The Crash, interest in Shirilla’s case has spiked.
As a result, the local Strongsville PD have recently released files related to the case, which include text messages about ‘warm milk’ shared between the convicted murderer and her father, Steve Shirilla.
Steve Shirilla defends his daughter
Appearing on the True Crime This Week podcast on Wednesday (27 May), Steve Shirilla claimed his daughter, nicknamed the ‘Hell on Wheels’ killer, had ‘remorse’ for the deaths of her boyfriend and Flanagan.
Speaking about his child, now 21, Steve also claimed she did not kill her friends ‘on purpose’.
“She was 17. She’s a dumb kid. She didn’t do it on purpose,” he told podcast host and journalist James Renner.
“I’ve asked her…’Did you do this on purpose?’ And she’s going, ‘No’,” he alleged.
“And I would think if my daughter was that mad, that mad at that boy to want to kill him that way, Davion would have never been in the car [also]. … That makes no sense.”
Texts between the father and daughter go viral
Text messages shared between Steve and the convict have recently spread across social media.
The Tab reported that on March 23 2020, Steve text his daughter saying: “I do love you, and I did not say anything about Dom when you were leaving with Mom. Please let them help you at the hospital.”
Two days later, he messaged her again, typing: “Come home, please. I love you. Your choice.”
On March 27, the dad said: “When are you coming home. You’re not going to be in trouble or get punished. Just come home.”
“Will you make me warm milk?,” Shirilla asked on 2 April.
“Just saw this. Do you still want?,” the father replied before claiming that his phone was ‘dead’ at the time the message was sent.
On May 3, Shirilla asked if she could stay at Russo’s house, claiming she wanted ‘a night with friends’ and to be ‘away from home’.
“No. Sorry, don’t argue about it, it’s a no,” he texted back.
Despite pleading with him to change his mind, Steve said: “Kenz, I’m not doing this with you. I’m sorry, the answer is no.”
The Crash is available to watch on Netflix now.
Mackenzie Shirilla timeline
July 17 2022 - Mackenzie Shirilla and her boyfriend Dominic Russo get into an argument. A friend overhears Shirilla tell him: “I will crash this car right now.”
July 31 2022 - Shirilla is driving Russo, 20, and their friend Davion Flanagan, 19, from Russo’s home to a friend’s house. At around 5.30am, she crashes the car into a Plidco Building in Strongsville, Ohio, travelling at 100mph without braking. Police arrive on the scene 45 minutes later. Russo and Flanagan are pronounced dead and Shirilla is transported to MetroHealth Medical Center.
August 2022 - 200 people attend a vigil for Russo and Flanagan. Shirilla remains in critical condition. When a detective visits her in hospital, she is said to be speaking a ‘unique language’ similar to pig Latin.
October 2022 - Shirilla attends a Halloween party wearing fancy dress which resembles a corpse, which Davion’s father considers in very poor taste. He says in Netflix’s The Crash: “Dressing up as corpses three months after she killed two people, it just sickened us to the very core.”
November 4 2022 - Shirilla is arrested and faces 18 charges, including two counts of aggravated murder. She also faces charges for allegedly breaking into the Columbia Church of God in Columbia Station days before the crash, along with drug trafficking and possession charges.
August 7 2023 - Shirilla’s trial begins. Her defence team argue she may have passed out at the time of the crash due to postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), but no medical records or expert testimony confirms the diagnosis.
August 14 2023 - Shirilla is found guilty on all counts. Judge Nancy Margaret Russo calls her ‘hell on wheels’, and the court concludes she intetionally crashed the car in a premeditated act.
August 23 2023 - Shirilla is sentenced to two concurrent 15 years to life sentences. Her legal team later lose an appeal and relief petition. She remains incarcerated in Ohio Refamatory for Women.
May 22 2025 - Mackenzie’s parents insist that she’s innocent. Her father Steve tells WKYC: “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.” Her mother Natalie claims there are texts in which Shirilla says Russo was ‘trying to end her life’.
May 15 2026 - Netflix’s The Crash premieres. In it, Shirilla insists she is ‘not a murderer’ and has no memory of the crash, continuing to blame POTS.
May 18 2026 - Steve Shirilla is placed on administrative leave from his job as an art and digital media teacher at Mary Queen of Peace School in Cleveland following allegations he had ‘demonstrated poor judgement’. Viewers of Netflix’s documentary objected to his attitude towards Shirilla’s marijuana use and his dismissal of claims she told a classmate to end their life.
September 2037 - This is when Shirilla will be eligible for parole
Topics: Mackenzie Shirilla, Netflix, True crime, Ohio
Ella Scott