Mackenzie Shirilla is back in the national spotlight. The Ohio woman convicted of murdering her boyfriend and his friend in a high-speed 2022 crash is now the subject of a new Netflix documentary titled The Crash, which premiered on May 16, 2026. The documentary has reignited fierce debate about the case, the conviction, and what truly happened on that July night in Strongsville, Ohio.
Who Is Mackenzie Shirilla and What Did She Do?
Mackenzie Shirilla was dubbed "Hell on Wheels" for a devastating 2022 Ohio crash in which she drove into a brick building at 100 mph, killing her boyfriend and his friend. Shirilla was 17 at the time of the July 31, 2022, crash in Strongsville, a Cleveland suburb, that killed her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and Davion Flanagan, 19.
On July 31, 2022, Strongsville teen Mackenzie Shirilla was driving her boyfriend Russo and friend Flanagan home from a party when she crashed her car into the Plidco building on Alameda Drive. Russo and Flanagan were pronounced dead at the scene, while Shirilla was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
Shirilla was charged with murder after police determined the crash was premeditated as an attempt at murder-suicide to prevent Russo from breaking up with her.
The Trial, Conviction, and Sentencing
The Murder of Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan case resulted in Shirilla being convicted of 12 felony charges and sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 15 years. As of 2026, she was incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women.
Shirilla was convicted of four counts of murder, felonious assault, two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, one count of drug possession, and possessing criminal tools. Judge Nancy Margaret Russo presided over the bench trial.
Key evidence presented at trial was damning. An expert from a regional crash team testified that his analysis of the data recorder in the Toyota Camry found that at no point in the 4.6 seconds before the crash was the brake used. A member of the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Crash Reconstruction Unit testified that the vehicle was going 97 miles per hour on a 35 mile-per-hour road before it left the roadway.
Mackenzie Shirilla's Appeal Denied in 2026
In March 2026, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld its 2024 ruling to deny Shirilla's request for a new trial. Judge Nancy Margaret Russo declared the petition invalid because it was filed one day after the deadline mandated by Ohio law. The Court of Appeals agreed with Russo's reasoning in its ruling.
With that avenue now closed, Mackenzie Shirilla remains behind bars with no active legal path to freedom in the near term. As of now, Shirilla's first parole hearing is scheduled for September 2037. She will be 33 years old at that time.
Netflix Documentary "The Crash": What It Covers
The Crash is a Netflix documentary examining the 2022 high-speed crash in Strongsville that killed two teenagers and led to the murder conviction for Mackenzie Shirilla. The crash killed 19-year-old Davion Flanagan, who was a recent Strongsville High School graduate, and Shirilla's boyfriend, 20-year-old Dominic Russo.
A number of people close to the case are featured in the documentary, including Russo's father and sister, Frank and Christine Russo, as well as Davion's father, Scott Flanagan, and Shirilla's parents, Steve and Natalie Shirilla. However, the mothers of Russo and Flanagan are not in the documentary, and it is never disclosed why they chose not to participate.
At the original trial, Russo's mother delivered an emotional impact statement, saying her "heart is forever broken" and ending with: "Mackenzie showed no mercy on Dominic, nor did she on Davion."
Where Is Mackenzie Shirilla Now?
As of 2026, Mackenzie Shirilla is incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, serving two concurrent 15-year-to-life sentences. She was 17 when she committed the crime and is now 21. Her earliest possible release date remains September 2037, when she becomes eligible for her first parole consideration.
The Netflix documentary The Crash has brought renewed national attention to the victims' families, who continue to advocate publicly for Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan. Prosecutors said the crash was intentional, describing Shirilla's relationship with Russo as toxic and arguing she deliberately accelerated the car with no attempt to brake in the final seconds before impact. Her defense maintained throughout that there was no conclusive evidence the act was deliberate — an argument the courts have repeatedly rejected. The Crash is streaming now on Netflix.
