A new Netflix documentary reveals the dark truth behind a horrific 100mph car crash that ended two lives. The driver, Mackenzie Shirilla, is languishing in jail after being found guilty of murder
When detectives combed through the wreckage of a horrific car crash, what first appeared to be a tragic accident soon began to look like a calculated crime.
Three people were in the vehicle when it ploughed into a brick building at 100mph. Two lost their lives. Mackenzie Shirilla, the 17-year-old driver, was the sole survivor.
In the early hours of July 31, 2002, Mackenize was driving home from a party with her boyfriend Dominic Russo and his friend Davion Flanagan in tow. Just minutes after getting behind the wheel of her 2018 Toyota Camry, she rammed into the building with chilling ferocity.
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Russo and Flanagan were tragically declared dead at the scene in Strongsville, Ohio, while Shirilla was seriously injured. Prosecutors argued during a 2023 trial that she intentionally crashed the car as she was ‘on a mission’ to kill Russo. She claimed to have no recollection of the moments before her car hit the wall.
Now, Netflix has released a gripping new true crime documentary, titled The Crash, which takes a deep dive into “the volatile relationship at the centre, examining the shifting narratives of that fateful night to explore where a fatal mistake ends and cold-blooded murder begins”.
But where is Mackenzie Shirilla now? Here’s everything we know about the killer…
Toxic relationship with Dominic Russo
At the time of the crash, Shirilla and Russo had been dating on-and-off for around four years after first meeting at school. They had moved in together towards the end of 2021.
In the months leading up to the tragic crash, Russo’s mother, Christine, said the couple were on the rocks, often fighting and making threats towards one another, Ohio Supreme Court documents show.
She said the relationship has been ‘strained’ for some six months, and that she witnessed “fighting,” “arguments,” “disagreements,” “breakups” and “threats” and believed that Shirilla became “more possessive” of her son.
The night of the crash
In the hours before the crash, Shirilla, Russo and Flanagan attended several parties, including a gathering at their friend Paul Burlinghaus’ home. According to his testimony, the group arrived around 11 pm, and listened to music while some people smoked marijuana. Burlinghaus testified that “everything seemed fine” between Shirilla and Russo.
He said he went to sleep around midnight, the group continued to hang out. According to data from a phone app, Shirilla, Russo and Flanagan left the house around 5:30 am.
Minutes after setting off, Shirilla inexplicably sped up, and the trio were involved in a high-speed car wreck when the car crashed into a brick building. It would be 45 minutes before a passerby came across the site and called 911, People reports. Russo and Flanagan were pronounced dead on the scene. Shirilla was found unconscious and not breathing, and was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries.
Chilling online tribute
After the crash, Shirilla chillingly paid tribute to boyfriend Russo online, writing that he was “the last person to deserve this.” “You had such a perfect life ahead of you,” she wrote on his obituary page, where she shared photos of the pair together. “I miss your laugh, your perfect smile. I feel your energy around me everyday. I just wish it was physical.”
But behind the scenes, an investigation was underway with officials interviewing those close to Shirilla and Russo. She was arrested on November 4, 2022, shortly after being discharged from hospital, and charged with multiple crimes, including murder, felonious assault, and aggravated vehicular homicide.
The trial
Shirilla’s case went to trial in 2023, where prosecutors accused her of intentionally crashing her car to kill Russo and end their tumultuous relationship, stating that she had purposefully driven towards the wall of the brick building at upwards of 100 mph.
Shirilla claimed to have no recollection of the moments before her car hit the wall. But, based on the car’s event data recorder, forensic mechanical expert Mark Sargent concluded that the accelerator pedal was fully depressed – with no application of the brake – just seconds before the collision. It meant that Shirilla’s foot was on the accelerator when the crash occurred; her Prada slipper was still trapped between the pedal and the floor mat when the crash was discovered.
It was also shown that in the seconds before the crash, the car took a hard right turn. It’s not known whether this was Shirilla, or a passenger grabbing the wheel in an attempt to take control of the vehicle.
Sargent concluded that there was “no indication of any precrash mechanical or electrical failure that may have caused a loss of accelerator control, a loss of braking or a loss in the ability to steer the vehicle”.
The trial also heard that Shirilla was under the influence of marijuana and was in possession of the psychedelic mushroom psilocybin at the time of the crash.
Detective Zaki Hazou also uncovered over a hundred instances of what he called distracted or reckless driving on Shirilla’s social media accounts, including driving while smoking, People reports. Prior to her arrest, she posted a shocking photo on TikTok that boasted, “I’m just one of those girls that can do a lot of drugs and not die.”
The verdict
In August 2023, Shirilla was found guilty on four counts of felonious assault and two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide. She broke down in tears as the judge called her “literal hell on wheels.”
“This was not reckless driving — this was murder,” Cuyahoga County Judge Nancy Margaret Russo said in court. “She had a mission, and she executed it with precision. The decision was death.”
Shirilla was sentenced to 15 years to life. As of March 2026, the Eighth District Court of Appeals upheld the denial of a new trial for Shirilla, confirming she will continue serving her 15-years-to-life sentence for the 2022 double-murder conviction. The appeal was rejected because her legal team filed the motion one day late, preventing the court from reviewing the new evidence.
Where is Mackenzie Shirilla now?
Shirilla is incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women (ORW) in Marysville, Ohio. She is serving a sentence of 15 years-to-life for the 2022 murders, with her first parole hearing scheduled for September 2037.
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