Mackenzie Shirilla's texts with boyfriend show troubling conversations before deadly crash
Topics: Mackenzie Shirilla, Netflix, Crime
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Mackenzie Shirilla
Topics: Mackenzie Shirilla, Netflix, Crime
Mackenzie Shirilla's texts to her boyfriend have been revealed, and it's clear that the young couple didn't have the perfect relationship they presented on social media.
Shirilla, now aged 21, started dating Dominic Russo in high school. They were together for four years up until Russo's death in 2022.
Russo died in a head-on car crash alongside his friend Davion Flanagan. Shirilla, who was 17 at the time, was behind the wheel of the vehicle and drove 100mph into a building in Strongsville, Ohio.
She survived the ordeal, but Russo and Flanagan did not.
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It was later argued that the teenager drove her car into the building on purpose and she went on to be charged and convicted of murder, and a handful of other crimes.
As a result, she was handed two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life in prison.
Her story has received renewed attention of late following the hugely popular Netflix documentary, The Crash. As of May 26, the program was nearing a whopping 30 million views on the streaming platform following its premiere on May 15.
In light of the newfound interest in the case, PEOPLE has obtained text messages from the Strongsville Police Department that were sent between Shirilla and Russo from 2020 to 2022.
In one text thread between the young couple, it was clear that Shirilla was angry at Russo after he told her he couldn't give her a ride.
She said she was 'so f**king mad', adding: "I'm gonna kill someone. I'm mad as f**k [right now]."
They got into another explosive argument later that same day.
"I F**KING HATE MYSELF IM UGLY AND YOU J[UST] ADD ON TO IT AND MAKE ME FEEL EVEN UGLYER [sic]," Shirilla wrote. "YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE IM WORTHLESS I DO SO MUCH S**T FOR YOU."
Russo replied, saying that his girlfriend would not 'have to do anything for me and i'd probably be happy', sparking her to reply: "You cause pain to me for no reason and then you wonder why I'm so stressed. I'm trying so hard to please you but it's never enough."
Two months later and Russo suggested that the pair take a break from their relationship as it would be 'good for both of us'.
He went on to say in separate texts: "We haven't been getting along and u need to make some friends," adding: "I think it will be good for both of us."
She responded: "No NO NO."
Another couple of months followed and Russo again tried to tell Shirilla that they were on a break.
"F**K YOU WE NOT ON A BREAK [sic]," she replied.
The tensions between them didn't ease up as the months went on, and in one text to Shirilla, Russo alleged that she tried to harm him.
"Thsts [sic] my bad but u did threaten to stab me in the eye," he said, which his then-girlfriend seemingly admitted to.
"Maybe if u just had my back u wouldn't be threatened," Shirilla said in an apparent defense for her actions.
As the texts continued, Russo went on to say that it was his 'bad' for the joke that angered Shirilla, but that there was still 'no need to threaten to stab me'.
Eventually, Shirilla admitted that she had some anger issues after Russo called her behavior the 'main problem'.
"Obviously I have anger issues I've been working on in my whole entire life I need somebody that's going to be there for me and D escalate [sic] my situation‘s when I'm going through a manic episode and you never do that you choose to escalate the situation all the time," she said.
Elsewhere, she accused Russo of being a cheater and implied that he'd been unfaithful before.
Shirilla wrote: "You can't even prove to me that you're not a cheater because you know deep down that it's still in you and always will be."
Two weeks before the crash that would kill Russo and see Shirilla charged with murder, she accused her boyfriend of trying to kill her by crashing his car.
She said on July 17 2022: "The fact that my boyfriend of four years just tried to end my life by steering me off of the highway that's how I know you're not in love and you never were somebody who loves me would never do this to me."
Russo said he 'rly didnt', but Shirilla went on: "I'm already nervous driving in the rain as it is and the fact that you would even try to steer me off of the road and make my car spin out."
Shirilla threatened to 'file a police report'. Russo hit back: "If u do im telling your mom your a prostitute ... cuz u are."
Then on July 21, the week before the crash, Shirilla texted Russo begging to be let into his home.
He said no because she'd 'threatened to break a bunch if s**t', to which Shirilla responded: "I'm only going to break s**t if you don't let me in."