Mackenzie Shirilla’s boyfriend sent her eerie text weeks before deadly car crash
Netflix’s The Crash has led internet sleuths to dig deep into the case of Mackenzie Shirilla, finding recordings of her ‘secret language’, other documentaries that seem to prove her guilt, and even finding her fellow prison inmates to describe how she acts behind bars.
Mackenzie Shirilla’s text messages with her boyfriend Dominic Russo, prior to the 100 mph crash that claimed his life along with his friend Davion Flanagan, were a major part of the prosecution’s case against her.
The texts were used as proof that the two were in a 'toxic' relationship, with prosecutors pointing to this as Mackenzie’s motivation for crashing the car.
As these texts were used in court there are publicly accessible files with 31,000 pages of messages between the pair, ranging from mundane to heartbreaking. One particular text Dominic sent is quite eery in retrospect, however.
Dominic said that ‘there isn’t very much time on earth’ just weeks before his death
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Mackenzie and Dominic’s texts show that the pair’s relationship was on-and-off, with the couple going on multiple ‘breaks’ in the years leading up to the crash.
In the text messages released Dominic texts her multiple times telling her they’re on a break before the pair get back together, with Mackenzie often sending over ten texts in a row if he leaves his phone on Do-Not-Disturb. This, at one point, culminated in her sending 35 text messages after he went for an extended period without replying.
This continued throughout the two years of text messages released, between 2020 and 2022, and a month before the crash Dominic sent her a message saying: “Kenzie u know i love u but i don’t think we should be together at this point there isnt very much time on earth yaknow.
“I dont want u to think im abandoning u i wish it could work but i don’t think its going to at this point especially with the threats.
“We should just breakup so we can both find happiness somewhere else.”
Mackenzie’s family posted text messages between her and Dom on Instagram
Mackenzie’s Instagram is still relatively active, with family members posting on her story under a highlight which claims to be proof she was ‘wrongfully convicted’.
She shared texts she seemed to be implying showed that Dominic was also 'toxic' in their relationship. The texts show her texting his family asking to keep an eye on him as she claimed he was acting 'crazy' along with multiple texts of her claiming he was 'mean' to her.
She also shared an excerpt of the documents from her unsuccessful appeal to overturn her conviction, featuring a doctor who claimed it was possible she had a medical incident that caused the crash.
She shared a portion of this from Kamal Chemali MD, a Professor of Neurology from Cleveland who examined her medical records and claimed that the evidence is 'consistent with Ms. Shirilla having a medical episode' to a 'reasonable degree of scientific and medical certainty'.
He pointed to her lack of concussion or head trauma, combined with her lack of memory of the crash, alongside other factors such as her lactate levels and low blood oxygen as signs that he believes she likely had a ‘seizure episode with a loss of consciousness.’
Mackenzie Shirilla timeline
17 July 2022
Mackenzie Shirilla and her boyfriend Dominic Russo get into an argument. A friend allegedly overhears Shirilla tell him: “I will crash this car right now.”
31 July 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.”
4 November 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 possession charges.
7 August 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 confirm the diagnosis.
14 August 2023
Shirilla is found guilty on all counts. Judge Nancy Margaret Russo calls her ‘hell on wheels’, and the court concludes she intentionally crashed the car in a premeditated act.
23 August 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 the Ohio Reformatory for Women.
22 May 2025
Shirilla’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’.
15 May 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.
18 May 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.
Topics: Mackenzie Shirilla, Netflix, True Crime, TV and Film, Documentaries
Michael Slavin