Mackenzie Shirilla's dad speaks out with bold claim after being placed on leave from job
The father of Mackenzie Shirilla has broken his silence after being placed on leave from his teaching job, following his appearance in the Netflix documentary, The Crash.
Steve Shirilla is on administrative leave from his position at Mary Queen of Peace School in Cleveland, where he reportedly served as an art and digital media teacher.
The documentary focuses on his daughter’s murder charge, following her 2022 car crash, in which both her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and friend, Davion Flanagan, lost their lives.
In a new interview with TMZ, Steve has spoken about the school's decision to place him on leave and the controversial comments he made about marijuana.
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During the Netflix documentary, viewers learn that Mackenzie had been taking the drug as a teenager.
In an interview, Steve said of his daughter smoking cannabis: "I don't have a problem with her smoking dope. If you're going to smoke a drug, that's the one I believe you should take."
The comment attracted a lot of controversy online, with many criticizing the dad over his views.
Addressing what he said, he told TMZ that some of what he said was taken out of context. Steve explained: "That is part of a longer answer... I can't remember what the question was because the documentary people had interviewed us for two days straight and then came back and did more interviews so there was a lot of questions answered.
"My answer wasn't in support of marijuana, it wasn't saying, I'm smoking marijuana. What I was saying was, who am I to say who can smoke and who can't smoke. I never allowed my daughter to smoke marijuana."
The dad went on to say: "How was I stopping her, I couldn't lock her up in a room, I'm not quite sure where there's a problem with what I said. It was never, 'Hey, everyone go and smoke marijuana'.
"I don't understand why the documentary felt the need to put that in there. I don't know what the relevance was to my daughter and this accident she was in."
Steve explained he had no idea that Mackenzie had been smoking in the car, adding: "I'm not with my daughter all the time, all I can do is tell my daughter, don't do it. I told her many times, I had no idea she was smoking in the car like that, that was new to me.
"I couldn't stop her, am I supposed to lock her up in a room?
"I had no idea she was driving and smoking... if I'd known I would have had a huge issue about it. I didn't know, I don't know what else to tell you."
Steve explained he wasn't sure if his leave was about his 'parenting' or 'defending his daughter', but explained that the school had received multiple phone calls from concerned parents and therefore placed him on administrative leave while they carry out an investigation.
"I would hope they would support me like I've supported that school for the past seven years," he added.
"If the diocese want to test me every day they can test me and I won't have marijuana in my system."
According to Cleveland 19 News, children at the school were informed of the art and digital media teacher’s leave via an email, which began: "We are investigating allegations made on social media that one of our teachers has demonstrated poor judgement."
They then said he had been placed on administrative leave ‘upon learning of the allegation’ and an investigation was ongoing. They also reassured parents that ‘the safety, wellbeing, and trust of students’ remained their top priority.
Towards the end of the lengthy statement, the school confirmed they were ‘limited’ in information they could share ‘during an active personnel investigation’ but will provide more communication when they’re able to.
In an additional statement to UNILAD, Mary Queen of Peace School said: "Administrators at Mary Queen of Peace School in Cleveland are investigating allegations made on social media that one of its teachers has demonstrated poor judgement. Upon learning of the allegation, the school acted immediately and placed the teacher on administrative leave. The investigation is ongoing.
"The health and wellbeing of its students are among the highest priorities for Mary Queen of Peace School, and its leadership team takes all allegations of poor judgment very seriously."
UNILAD has reached out to Netflix for comment.
Topics: Film and TV, Netflix, News, US News, Mackenzie Shirilla
Lucy Devine