Former prison inmate reveals what the ‘real Mackenzie Shirilla’ was like behind bars

Mackenzie Shirilla’s life in prison has become a hot topic of debate amid the ongoing renewed interest in the 21-year-old’s case.

Mackenzie was the focus of Netflix’s newest hit true crime documentary, The Crash, which examines the 100mph crash where she killed her two passengers, Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan.

While she was 17 at the time of the crash, she was ultimately tried as an adult, being found guilty of two counts of murder and sentenced to between 15 years and life in prison as a result.

Though her appeal to overturn her conviction does feature a doctor stating that she may have had a medical incident, it was rejected after it was submitted a day late.

As a result, Mackenzie will next be up for parole in 2037. A former prisoner who claims she spent time in Ohio Reformatory for Women, where Mackenzie is being held, has spoken out about what she claims the 21-year-old was like in prison.

Kat Crowder went viral on TikTok for her videos about what Mackenzie was like in prison, posting under the name ‘BoujeeBehindBars’.

In a video that has since garnered over 30 million views, Crowder said: “When I was in prison with [Mackenzie] it was at the beginning of her sentence, and the Mackenzie that came onto Netflix was not the same Mackenzie that I witnessed in prison.”

Crowder accused Mackenzie of thinking she would be the ‘princess of the prison’, claiming: “Mackenzie Shirilla did not walk around that prison yard with an ounce of remorse… the way that she talked in this documentary is note even how her voice sounds, I’m just being honest.”

She continued: “When I was in there all she cared about was doing her makeup and walking the yard with her one or two friends.”

In another video, Crowder claimed that the 21-year-old ‘never cried in prison’ when she served time alongside her, and went as far as to allege that she was on ‘prison sugar daddy websites’.

Crowder also appeared on NewsNation where she was asked to expand on why she thought Mackenzie was different in the doc to how she actually was in prison.

The TikToker and former prisoner said: “When Mackenzie first walked out in the documentary my jaw dropped because that was not the person I saw in prison when I was with her… she wal ked around with a very light demeanour every day.

“It was never this dark, smug, tough girl act that she was [portraying] in [The Crash].”

While Crowder admits you ‘never know what someone is thinking’, she added that there were ‘never any behaviours that looked like somebody who was remorseful’.

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.