Mackenzie Shirilla missed chance of freedom by just 24 hours - two months before The Crash released

Netflix’s The Crash is bringing renewed interest in the case of Mackenzie Shirilla, a teenager described as ‘hell on wheels’ when she was found guilty of two counts of murdering following a 100 miles per hour crash into a wall.

The new Netflix documentary features Mackenzie’s first ever interview from prison, with the convicted murderer maintaining her innocence to this day.

Mackenzie’s case for innocence is a tricky one, with the now 21-year-old claiming that she has no memory of the crash and that she may have passed out due to a POTS related incident.

In data revealed from the ‘black box’ of the car however she was found to have floored the accelerator at 100% right up until when she hit the wall, making no attempt to break.

Despite this, Shirilla made an attempt to gain freedom just two months ago, but was unsuccessful by just 24 hours.

Mackenzie Shirilla failed in her attempt to appeal the conviction by 24 hours – and blamed it on a leap year

In August of 2023 the 17-year-old, who was trialled as an adult, was found guilty of two counts of murder, felonious assault, aggravated vehicle homicide, drug possession, and criminal tools possession. It is stated in the Netflix doc that she had an appeal to overturn the conviction denied, but does not explain why it happened.

Later that year, on October 24, 2023, the criminal trial transcripts were filed, which gave her 365 days to filed her appeal.

Despite filling her appeal documents on October 24, 2024, it was found that Shirilla was a day late. This was due to the fact that 2024 was a leap year, making October 24, 2024 366 days on from the beginning of the countdown.

She will next be up for parole in 11 years time (Netflix)

Shirilla’s legal team tried to push back against this, stating that she should be given leniency because of the leap year, but in March of 2026 the Ohio Courts of Appeal upheld the decision, saying in their decision: “Equitable arguments generally cannot overcome clear jurisdictional requirements.”

Shirilla’s family continue to fight for her freedom, but she will next be up for parole in October of 2037.

Shirilla spoke in the documentary from prison, with the creators of the doc giving an insight into the interview

Mackenzie Shirilla speaks in the doc, where the crew had just one hour to interview her (Netflix)

Speaking in the documentary, the convicted murderer pushes back on the image of her in the public eye. She says: “I've never spoke before, and I never told my side of the story, and I understand there's many different sides to the story and different perspectives, but I just want to say my truth, and I just know myself, and I know I'm not a monster.”

Director Gareth Johnson stated in an interview with Netflix’s Tudum that they got just an hour to interview Shirilla and that she had never even been interviewed by the cops before.

Producer Angharad Scott said that she believes Shirilla’s parents will continue to fight her case, as they present evidence in the documentary they don’t believe was properly considered.

Speaking to Tudum, Scott said: “We know that the Shirillas will use every recourse available to them. As they say in the film, ‘We will fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight.’ And I do believe they really will do that.”