The Crash director reveals moment Mackenzie Shirilla's behaviour switched after being caught off guard during interview

The director who managed to secure an 'unprecedented' interview with Mackenzie Shirilla has shed some light on what being in a room with the convicted killer was like.

The 21-year-old is currently serving 15 years to life in an Ohio prison after being found guilty of a string of hefty charges, including two counts of murder.

She ended the lives of her boyfriend Dominic Russo, 20, and his pal, Davion Flanagan, 19, in the early hours of 31 July, 2022, after intentionally driving a car into a building at 100mph.

Miraculously, Shirilla made it out of the mangled wreckage of the 2018 Toyota Camry alive, although she suffered a string of serious injuries, including a lacerated liver and kidney, as well as broken ribs.

It soon came to light that the crash might not have been a tragic accident after all - and Judge Nancy Russo ultimately determined: "This was not reckless driving. This was murder."

Davion Flanagan and Dominic Russo were killed in the horror 2022 crash in Ohio (Netflix)

She referred to Shirilla, who was then 17, as 'literal hell on wheels' during her sentencing in August 2023, while describing her actions on that fateful day as 'controlled, methodical, deliberate, intentional and purposeful'.

The deadly driver did not speak to police about the crash in Strongsville, Ohio, nor did she testify at her trial or address the fatal incident publicly.

However, Shirilla did agree to sit down with the creators of the new Netflix documentary, The Crash, for her first ever interview about the collision that cost the lives of two people.

Director Gareth Johnson and producer Angharad Scott have since explained that it was no easy feat to get the inmate to sit down with them and share her side of the story.

"It would be unprecedented if she spoke to us, and luckily she said yes," Johnson told Tudum, while Scott said it was 'extraordinary' to get in a room with Shirilla after combing over her complex case for months on end.

The pair explained that they were only permitted to speak to the young woman for one hour, while her legal representative was present for the entirety of the interview.

Viewers only discover that Shirilla's lawyer had been on standby out of shot when she finishes reciting her version of events to the documentary makers.

Looking dejected, she had explained she finds each day that she spends behind bars as 'really hard', while adding: "I try to wake up and be the best person I can be every day, stay out of trouble.

"There's not a moment that doesn't pass where I don't think about them or I don't feel the pain in my chest that...It's still, like, a void of losing them."

A heavy door can be heard being closed and Shirilla then bows her head, seemingly deep in thought, before she is asked if there is anything else she wishes to say.

Mackenzie Shirilla, 21, gave her first ever interview during the Netflix doc (Netflix)

The killer then glances to her right in what appears to have been a bid to seek approval from her lawyer. She then asks her attorney: "Did I touch on that...the right...okay so everything is like, you think?

"I don't want to force anything and just say too much or sound crazy."

Turning back to face the camera, Shirilla then adds: "I’m big on the no intent. There was no intent whatsoever there. I have excessive amounts of remorse for Dominic, Davion, both of their families.

"This was not intentional and I will do everything I can to prove that to the world and the families. And that’s it."

Johnson explained he intentionally included this footage - which shows a drastic change in her demeanour as she seeks confirmation of how she is being perceived - in the final cut of The Crash.

"I thought it was important that the audience understood the circumstances that interview was held under," he said.

The killer's lawyer was in the room during the 'unprecedented' chat at the Ohio prison where she is serving her sentence (Netflix)

"She has every right for her lawyer to be there. She is in part of an appeals process [where she and] her parents are very much fighting the conviction."

The director also revealed some further thoughts on the interview with Shirilla while speaking to Time, noting how she didn't offer a lot of new information and emphasised the claim she has no memory of the moments before the crash.

"We still had the opportunity to ask her some hard questions around that,” Johnson went on.

"There's obviously a lack of memory of the event itself that’s a frustration, and it leaves the black hole still in place. We don't really know."

Interestingly, he revealed that he was drawn to Shirilla's 'dark and difficult story' because of 'very personal reasons', as he was also involved in a deadly car crash that killed one person when he was a teen.

Johnson, who was also severely injured during the incident, said he 'wanted to flip my experience on its head and understand the tragic event from the perspective of the family and friends around it' in The Crash.