Topics: Mackenzie Shirilla, Netflix, True crime, Crime, Ohio
Mackenzie Shrilla’s case has gained huge interest online, after the release of documentary The Crash, and now, her ‘code language’ with her mother has come to light.
The new Netflix documentary The Crash, tells the story of Mackenzie Shirilla, who is currently serving life in prison with eligibility for parole after 15 years following a car crash which killed her boyfriend Dominic Russo and friend Davion Flanagan in 2022.
Shirilla, who was 17 at the time, was driving the car which crashed into the wall at 100mph. Shirilla still maintains her innocence, and in the new documentary, her parents also share their doubts about her being guilty.
After the show aired, it was revealed that there were a number of shocking moments which were left out of the documentary, including an audio recording of Shirilla’s first police interview with a detective while she was in the hospital following the impacts of the crash.
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Mackenzie is currently serving life in prison (Netflix)
However, investigators were able to decode the secret language, in which the pair appear to add "ezza" between each syllable of each word. Communications were then used as evidence in Shirilla’s 2023 trial, where she was allegedly heard asking her mom: "Can we tell the police I had a seizure?" The information was shared in in an episode of A&E’s true-crime series Killer Cases.
Now, in prison calls, obtained by PEOPLE, Mackenzie can be heard shifting to the secret language as she speaks to her mother, Natalie, who replies “Oh God.”
“Oh my God is right,” Shrilla replies before continuing to speak more ‘gibberish’.
“Which one?” her mother asks, as Shrilla once again responds in the ‘secret language’. Natalie can then be heard asking: "Don't forget you said — can I say a gibberish term just to make sure? — don't forget that that might not be what really happened. She's being accused of that."
Elsewhere, another call obtained by the publication Shirilla allegedly switched to the ‘gibberish’ language when realizing her cellmates were in ear shot.
Shirillia was handed 12 felony offences, including aggravated vehicular homicide, murder, and the felonious assault of her boyfriend Russo and friend Flanagan, for the crash that took place in Strongsville.
She is currently serving her life sentences at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. She will be eligible for parole in 2037.
At the time of the crash, the teen's lawyer claimed that she had 'blacked out' behind the wheel due to her Postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS). However, this claim was thrown out by prosecutors, who said her foot was on the gas, which would not have been possible if she was unconscious.
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
