Mackenzie Shirilla's latest appeal for a new trial has been rejected
An Ohio court has denied Mackenzie Shirilla's appeal for a second time.
Shirilla, who was dubbed ‘hell on wheels’ by the judge at her trial, is currently serving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life for the the murder of her then-boyfriend Dominic Russo and his friend Davion Flanagan in 2020.
Shirilla crashed her Toyota Camry into a brick wall at speeds of 100mph, and both were pronounced dead at the scene.
The case has been in the headlines again recently due to the release of Netflix documentary The Crash last month.
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Throughout her trial and incarceration, Shirilla has always claimed she is innocent and her legal team have filed appeals in the hopes of getting her a fresh trial.
However, on Tuesday 23 June, the Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal.
The court ruled that it would not hear the appeal due to the appeal being filed past the deadline.
The law in Ohio states that convicted defendants have 365 days after the trial transcripts are filed to challenge their conviction.
In Shirilla’s case, the transcripts were filed on 23 October 2023.
However, her lawyers missed the deadline by a single day, filing the appeal on 24 October 2024.
Shirilla’s legal team argued that the late filing was due to the fact 2024 was a leap year.
In April of this year, Shirilla’s new lawyers filed another appeal, arguing that a separate transcript had been filed weeks after the original October one and therefore the deadline should have been pushed back.
The legal team also claimed Shirilla didn’t have effective assistance of counsel during her 2023 trial.
But the appeal has now been declined, with the Ohio Supreme Court stating ‘that the trial court correctly determined it was without jurisdiction to consider the petition’.
Shirilla is currently serving out her sentence at Ohio Reformatory for Women, where she’s reported to have landed a job as a food service worker.
The prison's spokesperson, Tara Nickle, didn't disclose what the convicted murderer will be earning, in general, US inmates can make up to $24 (£17.92) per month.
During her time inside, Shirilla has reportedly racked up a string of conduct violations.
A report on Shirilla's conduct in prison, obtained by the New York Post, claim she has had some 23 violations since being given her sentence, as well as outlining an incident in which Shirilla was allegedly caught in a compromising position with another inmate, with the inmate's 'hands in IP Shirilla's [sic] pants in her buttocks region'.
Shirilla’s first parole hearing is scheduled for 2037.
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 confirms 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, US News, Crime
Claire Reid