SERIALously - 399: What Netflix's "The Crash" Left Out | Proof, Receipts & Timelines | The Case of Mackenzie Shirilla

Episode Date: May 18, 2026

What first seemed like a tragic car accident quickly spiraled into one of the most controversial murder cases in recent memory. After crashing her car at nearly 100 miles per hour, killing her boyfriend and friend, Ohio teenager Mackenzie Shirilla was accused of intentionally driving them to their deaths. But years later, with Netflix revisiting the story and new text messages, prison calls, and claims of medical episodes surfacing, people are beginning to question whether everything about this case is really as clear as it once seemed. Was this a calculated act of murder, or could there be more to the story than anyone realized? Join Annie as she reopens the case of Mackenzie Shirilla..If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow the show for weekly deep dives into the darkest true crime cases! To watch the video version of this episode, head over to youtube.com/@annieelise. .🔎Join Our True Crime Club & Get Exclusive Content & Perks..🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to both of my weekly true crime series 10 to Life & Serialously with Annie Elise wherever you get your podcasts on the Annie Elise Channel!🍎 Apple Podcasts | Where you can also unlock access to 100+ and growing extra exclusive deep dives.💚 Spotify🔴 YouTube🎙️ All Other Platforms.📸 Follow Annie on Socials Instagram: @_annieeliseTikTok: @_annieeliseSubstack: @annieeliseFacebook: @10toLife.⭐SponsorsVeracity: Head to http://VeracityHealth.co and use code AE for up to 65% off your order.Shopify: Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial today at http://shopify.com/annie.Ladder: Head to http://ladder.fit/AE and take a quick quiz to find your perfect Ladder plan.Mint Mobile: Shop plans at http://mintmobile.com/AE.Quince: Go to http://Quince.com/AEfree shipping on your order and 365-day returns..👗 Shop Annie’s Must-Haves! ShopMY: bit.ly/AnnieElise_ShopMy Amazon: bit.ly/AnnieElise_Amazon.🫵🏻 Get Involved or Recommend a CaseAbout Annie: www.annieelise.comFor Business Inquiries: [e-mail].📚 Episode Sources Cleveland19 | Court TV | Cuyahoga County Court Records | Fox8 | Law & Crime | Phone Calls From Prison | Strongsville Police Department | Strongsville Police Department FB | WKYC Channel 3••••••••••••••••••🚨Disclaimers1️⃣ Some links may be affiliate links, they do not cost you anything, but I make a small percentage from the sale. Thank you so much for watching and supporting me. 2️⃣ Sources used to collect this information include various public news sites, interviews, court documents, FB groups dedicated to the case, and various news channel segments. When quoting statements made by others, they are strictly alleged until confirmed otherwise. Please remember my videos are my independent opinion and to always do your own research. 3️⃣ The views and opinions expressed in this video are personal and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company. Assumptions made in the analysis are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the creator(s). These views are subject to change, revision, and rethinking at any time and are not to be held in perpetuity. We make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this video and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. It is the reader’s responsibility to verify their own facts.

The crime we're investigating as an aggravated criminal homicide. I was just kind of shocked, really. I didn't really know how to process it all. It truly was a horrific crash site. There's an occupant inside. We got to bust the window out. I just felt like there was more to the story than just an accidental crash. Hey, true crime besties.

Welcome back to an all new episode of Serial asleep. Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to an. an all new episode of Serialessly with me, your host and your True Crime BFF, Annie Elyse. Now, if you are brand new listening to this podcast or watching this YouTube channel for the very first time, let me just give you a breakdown. My name is Annie, and what I like to do on here is not only deliver and present a true crime case to you, but do it in a way where it is the full deep dive, going down the rabbit hole so that you don't have to. All the details, the social media activity, past relationships, everything that you find yourself, Googling yourself when you're watching a

documentary. I find all that information out and then I present all of it to you. But my goal in doing that is to do it in more of a conversational way, as if your friend or best friend was telling you about this case that they just heard about and that they can't stop researching or thinking about or talking about. So again, if you're brand new, that's what we do over here. If you enjoy it, subscribe and follow the podcast. And, you know, that's how it goes. Every single Monday, a brand new case. And then every Thursday, I do an episode called Headline Highlights, where I talk about everything happening in real time that week in the true crime world. Now, today, we're doing one of the infamous deep dives. And you may have heard about this case. If you listen to true crime or follow true crime,

you may have also seen clips of the trial or footage from the case in your TikTok feed or your Instagram Reels feed because it's the case of McKenzie Shirilla, a name that a lot of people do know, but many don't. You also might be familiar with the name because Netflix just released a documentary about this case called The Crash. And what's really interesting is there's a lot of division with this case. Many people believe that what happened was intentional, that this is, the product and result of a spoiled young girl who had everything in her life, and then the moment she something went wrong, she decided to take it out on everybody else. While some say, no, this was absolutely accidental. She was too young to know how severe this was going to be and what her actions

would truly cause. And there's a little bit of conflicting opinion out there. Now, I will say this personally. I first covered McKenzie's case years ago. And with that, I have done extensive research. I've interviewed a lot of people close to the case. I participated in a documentary back then where I was shown a lot of privileged information before it even went to trial, different things like that to where my belief is that this was absolutely intentional. But again, not everybody agrees with that. And that's certainly okay, which that's my point in why I'm coming on here today. I want to present the case to you with a set of fresh eyes, new perspectives, everything we've learned, things that have come out post-trial so that then you can really decide for yourselves, what do you believe?

Do you believe that this is all just a horrific, tragic accident? Or do you believe that this was calculated and intentional? So let's start here. I want you for just a moment to imagine being a teenager again. And I say again, because I feel like a lot of you aren't teens. I feel like we skew a little older over here. But if you are a teen, you're involved too. But I want you to imagine being a teenager and you're just graduating high school.

It's that super exciting time in your life where you're young, you're full of life, you have dreams, ambitions, there's parties, there's excitement. And like, you just can't wait for what's to come. But then you get word that three other teenagers who live in your area, potentially even our classmates of yours, were in a deadly car crash. And even more than that, one of the worst car crashes that first responders had ever seen in the Ohio area. It rattled the entire community. There was shock, grief, confusion. But above all else, there were a lot of rumors. Rumors that took what seemed to be a very simple yet tragic car accident into something potentially far worse.

So let's jump right in. In the early morning of July 31st, 2022, the peaceful suburb of Strongsville, Ohio, nestled just outside of Cleveland, became the scene of a heart-wrenching tragedy that rocked its tight-knit community forever. Initial reports began to surface about a devastating car accident involving three people, 19-year-old Davion Flanagan, 20-year-old Dominic Russo, and 17-year-old McKenzie Shrilla. Both Davion and McKenzie had just graduated from Strongsville High School just a few months earlier. Early on in the investigation, law enforcement believed that McKenzie Shirilla somehow lost control of the Toyota Camry that she was driving and then crashed into a brick building on Alameda Drive at 534. It wasn't until approximately 45 minutes later at 6.15 a.m. that a passer buyer, a runner who was out for their morning jog, came upon the wreckage and immediately.

dialed 911. When law enforcement arrived, they found all three passengers unconscious, unresponsive, and trapped within what was now just a brutally mangled car frame. The first responders from Strongsville Fire Department worked quickly to help get Dominic, Davion, and McKenzie out of the car. Unfortunately, though, both Dominic and Davion were declared dead at the scene. McKenzie, who was driving the car, was critically injured and flown to Metro Health Medical. center. Investigators waited for the results of her blood testing, which would show if drugs or alcohol played a role in this crash. The victim's families and the community were completely grief-stricken and, frankly, just sick about this. Dominic and Davion now had their potential

dreams and futures abruptly cut short. Dominic had started a successful business and always talked about all of his big plans for the future, and Davion was a fantastic football player, well known in the community and had plans to open up his own barber shop after high school. But now, all of that was gone in an instant. The community's sadness and loss eventually led to many questions. Why was this a one-car accident? If McKenzie lost control of the car, how did that happen? What was going on inside the car leading up to this?

Was McKenzie intoxicated or under the influence of some type of drug? Why were all three of them even over on Alamina Street in that part of town in the early morning hours to begin with. It's not near where McKenzie, Dominic, or Davion lived, so where were they going? And how could this possibly happen? Mackenzie underwent extensive medical treatment for her injuries and somehow survived miraculously. However, she said that she couldn't remember what happened leading up to the crash. She said that she had blacked out. Now, just for a moment, I am going to draw on my personal experience for a second. A lot of you know who have been with me for a while on here, that you know that I was in a horrific car accident when I was 16 years old.

I wasn't wearing my seatbelt. I flew hit the windshield, knocked out some teeth, ended up having brain surgery from how awful this car accident was. And I can say, even now, I still do not remember anything from that accident. And I wasn't the one driving, but I was in the accident. And I'm still blacked out. I remember leaving the house that morning. I don't remember the accident. I don't remember the moments coming out of the accident. The first memory I have is when first responders were already there on scene and they were cutting me out of my clothing and getting me out of the car. But I don't remember anything else.

So there has been a lot of speculation if McKenzie was in fact blacked out during the accident or not or even has a recollection of the memories leading up to the accident itself. And if that's true or not. and I, while I don't know in her situation, if she's lying or if it were true, and we'll talk more about that as we go on, but I do want to mention that it is entirely possible to black out even the events leading up to the collision itself, because for me, that is what exactly what happened. So while law enforcement began going further into their investigation, many people in the community began to talk, and the community had strong yet mixed feelings about what they thought happened here. Some people thought that this was just a tragic. accident, but others who knew Mackenzie and Dominic and knew them more closely began to believe that this wasn't an accident at all, and instead it was something far more sinister. McKenzie and Dominic began dating in 2021, and they had an overall tumultuous relationship. They would break up, get back together,

and then they would do it all over again. The pattern just was on a repeat. And I know that that can be sort of a vague statement, saying that a relationship, you know, is tumultuous. But we're going to going to get into their relationship more in just a little bit here. So stick with me because a lot of information has come out since I first covered this case. Davion was one of Dominic's close friends. According to news reports, Davion, Dominic, and McKenzie were hanging out at a party and smoking a little bit of weed the night leading up to the crash. And McKenzie and Dominic offered it to give Davion a ride home. McKenzie was described by people who knew her in high school as selfish and entitled, and she never had to really take any accountability for her actions. She always just

kind of got away with everything. After McKenzie began to recover from the accident, many of the posts on her Instagram and TikTok really upset people as well. And we will get into specifically what she posted here shortly. Don't worry. Most of her social media has now been deleted, so I couldn't find much except for a few screenshots here and there. However, people in the community who knew her from school commented on social. media about McKenzie's behavior, and all of those comments are still public. Some of the posts said that her parents knew about her drug use and that her mom would like some of the pictures that she posted when she was smoking weed. And some pictures sparked outrage because

people thought that she just was moving on with her life, as if nothing ever happened with no remorse at all. There were also some pictures McKenzie posted with her and her friend dressed as a weed for Halloween, which also caused a huge stir online. Several classic classmates weren't surprised that this horrific tragedy resulted from McKenzie's actions, even going as far as to say that she probably would have killed someone one day anyway, and that she only cared about herself and herself only. Other people felt like McKenzie had definitely done drugs and that that is what caused the crash. And the police seemed like they weren't doing anything about it.

And now this was another situation where McKenzie would just get away with her selfish and dangerous behavior once again. While all of that online speculation and discussion over what happened that tragic night, wouldn't matter for much longer because a few days after Halloween, everything changed. It turned out that the police were not letting McKenzie get away with anything, and they had been conducting a thorough investigation this entire time. On November 4, 2022, McKenzie was arrested. According to court documents, McKenzie faced a total of 18 charges. Counts one and two, aggravated murder,

counts three, four, five, and six, murder, counts seven, eight, nine, and ten, felonious assault, counts 11 and 12, aggravated vehicular homicide, and all of these charges were related to that crash on July 31st, 2022. Count 13, trafficking, count 14, drug possession, and both of these charges were for the magic mushrooms that were found inside the car. Count 15, possessing criminal tools, and this was for a digital scale that was found in the car. So there were 15 charges in total related to the car crash and to the deaths of Dominic and Davion. The other three charges were for allegedly breaking into the Columbia Church of God in Columbia Station on July 19, 2022. Those charges were count 16 breaking and entering, count 17 vandalism, count 18, desecration. Mackenzie's blood test

from the hospital revealed that she had THC in her system and that she was likely high at the time of the accident after their investigation and talking to witnesses who saw her that night. Even though mushrooms were found in her car, this was apparently not in her test result. McKenzie's bail was set at $500,000, but she didn't get bailed out of jail and remained in juvenile custody until it was time for trial. The body cam footage of McKenzie's arrest was finally released in 2025. And I have to be real with you. It's an absolute doozy. And I don't use that word lightly. I personally hate that word. And I don't want to give too much away before I show you guys some of the clips, which for those of you who are listening to the audio version of this, you'll be able to hear

what's happening. But I do encourage you, pop over to YouTube, watch the visual as well, because I think that will provide more context. But what I have to say is that McKenzie shows absolutely zero remorse. Zero remorse for any of the crimes that she was being charged with. I'm McKenzie. Step out for me. I'm Detective Hazzu. I'm the one who's been investigating the crash. You're under arrest for aggravated murder times too. Okay. Nobody's going to ask you any questions. Nobody's going to bother you. Can you have your key, please? Could you please be careful taking this one off so it doesn't break the bracelet? You got it. You got it.

I'm gonna take your handcuffs off and like all the jewelry and everything come up okay I can't wear any of it no I need to take it off all you're in jail right now I can't wear these no unfortunately everything's gonna have to come off right now once we know when the detective comes back and we know for sure what's going on everything's gonna be bagged up here it's not going anywhere Sorry, this isn't just like one of those, which is really hard to get off. That's fine, take your time. Her first response to being told that she was being charged with murder

was to take care of a bracelet. Take care of a bracelet so that it didn't break. And then, after being told that she could not wear any jewelry in jail, which obviously should be common sense, right? But I guess it's not all that common. Who knows? She started to break down. That's what rattled her.

That's what made her upset because she couldn't wear jewelry into the jailhouse. I mean, again, it just kind of goes back for me, at least, into this spoiled, entitled, young girl thinking that the world revolves around her. But anyway, back to her arrest. You guys know, I'm always skeptical of anything that just, like, overly promises energy, focus, cravings control, I mean, all of it, because it either usually tastes weird, maybe it makes you jittery, or it comes with, like, some terrifying warning label that sends me spiraling on WebMD at 2 a.m.

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occurred on July 31st, 2022. Mackenzie was 17. Her birthday is on August 2nd. So she turned 18 just two days after everything happened. She had a hearing in April of 2023 via Zoom, where McKenzie pleaded not guilty as the judge continued her bond at $500,000. But again, McKenzie remained in custody. During the hearing, the prosecution told the court, the evidence in this case overwhelmingly indicates that these were intentional and purposeful deaths. On July 19, 23, almost a year after the horrific crash, McKenzie had her first pretrial hearing. During the hearing, McKenzie did not accept a plea deal that the prosecution was offering, and her lawyer indicated that they were prepared for trial. In the U.S., you have a right to a trial by jury or a bench trial. If defendants

want to waive their right to a trial by jury for whatever reason, they can. And this can be a defense strategy if, for some reason, they are worried about what a jury verdict would be. Some defendants may feel like they would have more of a fair shot if the judge were to decide their verdict based on the law, fearing that potential jurors would make their decision based on emotion and not the law necessarily. However, that isn't the only reason that people waive trial by jury. There are a number of reasons why people choose that route. Additionally, defendants do not have to provide a reason to the court for, their decision to waive a jury trial. So with that, that's what McKenzie chose, and her bench trial

was set for August 7th. The first day of trial began on August 7th, just five days after McKenzie's 19th birthday. During opening statements, the prosecution detailed all of the moments leading up to the devastating crash. 615 in the morning, Strongville Police and Emergency personnel received the 911 call. They revealed the black box inside McKenzie's vehicle. They revealed the black box inside McKenzie's vehicle had been clocked at 100 miles per hour. Blackboxes aren't the official term. It's an EDR or event data recorder, but these devices record driving and vehicle data from immediately before, during, and after an automobile crash. And that wasn't all. They also had cold, hard evidence to prove this. Because when the accident occurred, a nearby building

security camera caught the entire thing on video. In the video, you can see McKenzie's car going extremely fast before disappearing off the screen and ultimately crashing. The prosecution also said that this didn't just happen based on reckless driving either, and they would present a witness who overheard McKenzie's threats. That he observed at that time the defendant striking Dominic Russo with both hands, and that he overheard her make a statement, an admissible statement, and she said, Dominic, I'm going to crash this car. We find that it is especially

and important to her state of mind just two weeks later when she used a car to kill Dominic Russo. Despite this, McKenzie's lawyer, Mr. McDonald, of course, had a much different perspective. He argued against the insinuation of intent. Instead, he said

that this was a tragic accident rather than a premeditated act. How can you come to any conclusion other than, if anything, she's reckless. Is it just kids being kids? Is it Dominic grabbing the steering wheel? Is it McKenzie? Maybe speeding and say, oh my God, dark out, it's light. I'm coming up to this. I better do something. And she goes like that to avoid an accident, not acting purposely, but in fact, trying to avoid it. Is it sudden, sudden acceleration panic? Those are all possibilities.

Mr. McDonald also said that the side airbags going off in the final seconds before the crash could have contributed to the severity of the event. He said, and I quote, it occurred in about four and a half to five seconds before. It's a significant force that makes a huge sound. There's talcum powder or some type of powder that is let go. So if they only have five seconds of recordings and those five seconds are all what happens after the airbag is deployed, how can you come to any conclusion other than, if anything, she's reckless. During the course of the four-day trial, many first responders and other witnesses were called to the stand. It turns out that there was more to the crash than just that video of McKenzie flying by at 100 miles per hour.

There was another building that captured footage of McKenzie turning on the street before pressing on the gas. In this video, you can see McKenzie driving at a completely normal speed, breaking as she prepared to turn as well. Her blinker was on and was signaled to the correct direction that she was going. This video was key to the prosecution's argument that this was intentional and wasn't some wild situation where she was driving completely out of control the entire time. Even worse, experts spoke about the EDR box in McKenzie's car and said that through their investigation, they were able to determine that McKenzie had the gas pedal pushed all the way down and made no attempt to ever even use the brakes. The crash team analyst also said about

one second before the crash, the steering wheel made a hard right turn of 142.5 degrees. It also showed the impact from a sign in the grass outside of the building, which may have triggered the airbags before slamming into the brick wall. McKenzie's attorney questioned the analyst about the wheel moving in an attempt to insinuate that it's possible that one of the victims moved the wheel by saying that it's basically impossible to know who pulled that wheel and caused the crash. He also suggested that because it was dark, maybe it was hard for McKenzie to see. But even in his defense, he conceded that McKenzie's handling of the car was in fact reckless. When the prosecution reviewed the crash scene photos and the photos of the victims during

their autopsies, everyone in the courtroom was extremely emotional. including McKenzie. Dominic's mother, Christine Russo, testified. The courtroom vibe changed instantly when she began her testimony. Everyone could tell that she had once cared deeply for McKenzie. After all, McKenzie had even lived with them for a while. But the love story that she painted between McKenzie and her son, Dominic, was far from Rosie. It seemed like they were always at odds with threats and arguments overshadowing the good times.

She also brought up a text message that McKenzie sent her after the crash where McKenzie said, I remember turning onto the street and then my vision fades to black. It really kills me not being able to remember anything. I promise you I would tell you. I've been asking my therapist why I don't remember and she said it's because of trauma, but I'm going to try to get hypnotized and make myself remember. Then Dominic's older brother, Angelo Russo, took his turn. The Ra of emotion in his voice said it all. He talked about how McKenzie and his brother were constantly on and off again, saying I witnessed a lot of negative behavior from her to my brother, and that just kind of pushed me away as a big brother figure because she just wasn't fair to him.

One of Dominic's friends Christopher Hensch Martin was also called to the stand to testify. This was to testify about an incident between McKenzie and Dominic in a heated fight where she threatened him. According to court documents, on July 17, 22, approximately two weeks before the deadly crash, McKenzie was driving her vehicle on Interstate 71 with victim Dominic Russo as the passenger, when she threatened to immediately crash the vehicle. McKenzie was upset over a disagreement between the two of them, which resulted in Dominic seeking the help of his mother, Christine Russo, drew a phone call asking her to come and pick him up. Dominic's friend Christopher Hensch Martin went to pick up.

Dominic and remained on the phone with Dominic during the incident. While on the phone, he heard McKenzie state, I will crash this car right now. McKenzie exited the highway onto Route 82 between Pearl Road and Bagley Road. As the friend pulled up to get Dominic and McKenzie's car pulled over to the side of the road, the passenger door opened and the friend observed McKenzie striking Dominic with both of her hands. Dominic then exited the vehicle and left with his friend. The prosecution also brought up another incident in July of 2022 between McKenzie and Dominic. According to court documents, in July of 2022, within the same month as the deadly crash, McKenzie again made multiple threats toward Dominic.

Videos recovered from Dominic's cell phone revealed the altercation involving McKenzie, where she can be heard repeatedly degrading Dominic, threatening him and damaging his property. It is understood from the videos that Dominic was not comfortable, letting McKenzie inside of his home at the time, and he made multiple attempts to reason with McKenzie, to calm the defendant down and communicate with the defendant in a better manner. McKenzie refused these attempts and can be heard banging on Dominic's house door, demanding to be let inside. Mackenzie called Dominic a multitude of degrading and highly inappropriate names. Despite Dominic's efforts trying to reason with McKenzie, she refused to listen and continued her erratic

behavior. Exceedingly important are the threats made by McKenzie to Dominic throughout the incident. She threatened to key Dominic's car if he would not let her in, and she verbally counted down multiple times in an attempt to force Dominic to let her in. She repeatedly told Dominic that this was his last chance to let her in. And she stated, and I quote, you're going to come open this door right now or there's going to be a serious fucking problem. She threatened to break the handle off the door and can be heard hitting and damaging the door as well. Mackenzie stated and I quote, Dom, I'm going to give you one last second or else I'm keying your car. Dominic then had to call his mom for help and stopped recording. Now that phone call that I just described has actually been made public.

The original call was about nine minutes long, but honestly, it doesn't really take the full nine minutes to see that McKenzie was threatening him. She was antagonizing him. But I forgot. You can never eat your word. Because you are a little fucking weak bitch. You broke up with me earlier. You really broke up with me earlier. This is your last chance to open the door or you are not coming out of this house all night because I will not leave.

You literally broke. You literally broke up with me earlier. Like, what is the point you're trying to, like, you broke up with me, like, early. No, no, I didn't. I didn't. I didn't. I did it. You said, we're not today.

You really said that shit. Like, you really both of the thing. really like what are you trying to make like why would I just let you in mind if you break up with me and you don't need to break my shit like if I need to key my car setting to break the door is like you're going to key my car

if you finally don't let me in the house yeah if you do not open like I'm you think I'm joking you think I'm joking you think I'm going like I'm dead ass what do you dead ass about okay I'm going to give you one last chance to open the door

I can't open the door I can't sleep here in fire I'm like we're gonna go to dinner to fuck I'll see my grandparents I can't I can't see Don't open the door I'm gonna let you know that right now And then what would happen

What are you trying to say You're not coming to dinner You're not going to dinner What do you mean? You know exactly what I mean It doesn't you don't know exactly what I mean You're gonna come open this door right now or there's going to be a serious fucking problem.

I can't know. Like, you can't keep making all your threats like I can't open the door. Now, me out of a place that you say is my home. Hensi, I didn't pick you out. You took all your shit and did. Instead, we were done. We did not say we are done. Dom?

Okay, ready? I'm going to count the time. The door's going to open, okay? You're going to open the door and stop hiding behind the door. Like a little fucking bitch. If you hang up on me, we're done. I'm leaving. Kenzie, there's nothing I could do.

Like, there's, I can't, I'm not... Or is. Stop being a little bit. I can't let you in my house with how you're acting. Like, it's as simple as that. Like, there's no way, like, there's no way I should. Like... I can't keep the handle lock.

Huh? I'm just going to break the handle lock. It's already moving. I can break the lock. Like, you're really going to break into my house? Yes, I will. I will break into my house. You're right.

I will break into it. Just, it's not, not your house. My house. Tom, now open the door. Now open the door. You have 30 seconds. left on the phone call to open the door. We're done. So if you're wondering how all of these prior acts were able to be brought into trial in the first place, since it's technically 404B evidence,

it's because the prosecution filed motions to allow it in, saying that it went to McKenzie's motive. According to court documents, the prosecution believed McKenzie's past threats and aggression toward Dominic provided an important perspective of how McKenzie responds in situations where she is displeased or in disagreement with others. Further, the evidence shows that she was aware of her ability to cause harm to the victims, especially by means of her own vehicle, and how she could use the power of threats and control to ultimately reach the outcome that she desired. The other acts evidence confirms that there was no mistake or accident in deliberately crashing her car

and ending the lives of the victims. Dr. Esther Seng, a Metro Health System trauma surgeon who worked on McKenzie's medical report, was also a witness in the trial. She told the court that McKenzie told their team at the hospital that she did not remember what led to the crash. The prosecution also asked the surgeon to read part of the medical report. She said, and I quote, patient then became tearful, processing heavy loss and a depression since her accident. Patient shared feelings of grief, guilt, and shame. Patient stated she wanted to die and that it was her fault for killing her boyfriend. One of the prosecution's theories was that McKenzie was afraid that Dominic might break up with her or really leave her.

So instead, she decided to kill him with her car like she had threatened to do in the past. And poor Davion, who was just innocently trying to get a ride home, was collateral damage. And McKenzie didn't even care if he died to. However, some people who were at the same party before the crash didn't recall anything crazy going on between Dominic or McKenzie that night. So either something must have happened in the car or she planned on going through with it that night anyway. But the prosecution had even more damning evidence to prove this was in fact a premeditated planned murder because there was evidence that McKenzie had been to that area of the crash just three days beforehand. and they showed the courtroom data of her cell phone being in that vicinity.

They suggested this as proof that she was familiar with the scene before the day of the crash and believe that this was her attempt to scope out the area and come up with a plan. It was also brought up that maybe McKenzie was trying to kill herself along with Dominic and Davion in the car, but just happened to survive. Okay, can I be honest? I used to walk into the gym, and I would immediately feel overwhelmed. like, am I supposed to be doing hip thrust, dumbbells, lifting? Why are there 17 different cable attachments? I'd end up doing some random workout over and over and over with zero actual plan.

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train at home, train in a gym, whatever. And somehow, it costs less than a dollar a day, which is insane, considering like one personal training session literally cost the same as a small car payment now. So remove the guesswork with ladder and get a real coach in your ear telling you exactly what to do for every workout. No thinking, everything planned for you. If you have an iPhone, head to ladder.fit slash A.E and take a quick quiz to find out your perfect ladder plan. Use my link and get a free seven-day trial with no credit card and $10 off your first month if you join. That's ladder. I don't know about you, but every time I look at a phone bill from one of like the bigger wireless

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However, McKenzie's attorney said that she was not suicidal in any way. Mackenzie's mother took the stand near the end of the trial. She had a very different angle on what might have caused that tragic crash. She said that McKenzie has a condition called POTS, pastoral orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, a condition which causes dizziness. When the connection between the crash and McKenzie's condition was brought up, her mom said that it could be.

Mackenzie's aunt also testified with a much different story of what McKenzie and Dominic's relationship was like. She believed that the two were honestly head over heels for each other, despite all of the rumors and talk about them having a rocky relationship. Many people felt that McKenzie's mother's testimony was another example of her mom trying to excuse her daughter's bad behavior. Shurula is also facing charges of felonious assault and aggravated vehicular homicide. The judge says she'll deliver a. verdict on Monday at 1 p.m. And then the verdict was in.

There is nothing that I can do or say today that will return these two young men to their families. There is nothing I can say or do that restore McKenzie Sherella to the life she had before July 31st, 2022. And there is nothing that I can say or do to restore the lives of these three families before the faithful moments on that day. This trial is a culmination of decisions made by one person to defend them. Those decisions have forever altered the futures of three families, and of you also, we can see. And your decisions forever robbed Dominic and Davyong of the futures that they had before, no. If there is one thing that can be taken away from this case, as painful as it is, is this.

Every decision we make is important. every action will make it's important. Regardless of whether the decision is a good one or a bad one, or the actions are good or not, the result is the same. The consequences ripple through time and affect many more people than one might think at the time of the decision. In criminal cases, the state carries the greatest burden under our law,

proof beyond a reasonable doubt. As I previously stated, I consider all the evidence presented. And at this point, I would like to comment specifically on Exhibit 802, the crash video. This is the type of evidence you can never unsee. You can never forget the visual or audio of the specific event, just chilling and tragic. As you review that exhibit, you know that you are watching the oncoming deaths of two people, and there is nothing the statement. The video clearly shows the purpose and intent of the defendant. She chose a course of death and destruction that day. Exhibit 802 crystallizes the dendee decision-making of the defendant.

She morphs from a responsible driver to literal hell on wheels that she makes her way down the street. McKenzie alone made decision to drive the car, to drive an obscure route, a route, she visited a few days before and her route not to be taken by home. McKenzie alone chose the time to make the drive early in the morning, when any reasonable person would expect that few people would be nearby to leave the sit or offer life-saving assistance. She made these decisions despite knowing as any reasonable person would that her mission of death could have involved others,

not even in the farm farm farm, other people, other forests, pedestrians. She had a mission and she executed it with precision. The mission was death. McKenzie alone decided to push the pedal to the floor and demanded the ultimate speed of that vehicle to 90 to 100 miles per hour. She alone decided what was to be. McKenzie decided death was the ultimate goal that day. Bines and defendant McKenzie Sherrill guilty of murder

to win Davian Flampton, annihilation of a hard-wise code section, 2903.02A, instruction count two in indictment. Count three, murder. The court having had count three tried to in pursuant to waiver, fines a defendant, McKenzie Shirel,

guilty of murder to win Dominic Gruso in violation of Malari Vice Code Section 2903 2903, 02B, is charged in count three. Count four, murder. The court having had count four tried to have proceed to a name on. finds the defendant McKenzie Sherilla,

Chirilla guilty of murder, to win Dominique Brousseau, violation of a Harri-Bise Code Section, 2903.02B, is charged in count four. Count five, the lonious assault. The court having had count five tried to have pursuant to waiver,

finds a defendant, McKenzie Sherilla, guilty of felonius assault, to win Dominic Russo in violation of a harry-vice code section, 2903.11, revise code is charged in count five of the indictment, count six, maloney's assault. McKenzie was found guilty on all counts. In the video, you can see McKenzie's family seated in the front row behind her, visibly upset and shocked. As McKenzie was leaving the courtroom, you could hear

her family speaking loudly to talk to her. Love you, baby. At McKenzie's sentencing, the judge heard a victim impact statements from the victim's family. Your Honor, my name is Janie Flanagan. I am the mother of the victim, DeVion, Flanagan. I want to share a small part of what we lost on 721, I'm sorry, 731.2. My son Davion is and always really so much more than part of him. He was precious. He was an amazing soul without heart of it. He gave to the world what he wanted most in his own life, love. The kind of love that would rescue a friend in the middle of the night,

no questions asked, the kind that would protect others and honor them. He made friends easily with his infectious smile. He was a gifted athlete. He had plans to go to barber school and open his own shop. My son did not have a clique of friends, but instead was a friend to all. He would go out of his way to show love and kindness to others, including those that were often cast aside by society.

The less fortunate, the developmentally challenged the hurting and the unvalued. Devion made sure that everyone that crossed his path knew that he truly saw them, that he valued them, and then they were worth his time. Devion and my kids have had more than their fair share of heartbreak, of hardship, and of loss. Debian was adopted with his sisters from foster care. Their biological siblings, we are honored to be chosen or to have been chosen to be the parents. Their forever family. I am devastated by the loss of Deveo.

the world lost a truly special man. My girls lost their best friend, their protector, the one and only trusted family that has been by the side from day one. This alone, he alone, understands the pain and loss that they have gone through and was always there for them. This fact alone breaks my heart, my girls, or my family. so many dreams shattered of future stolen.

We will never get to see the amazing man that he was surely to come. He, his life was precious. Like I said, he was so much more than karma.

I pray daily for strength and perseverance for myself and for my family. I also pray that McKenzie will find true more in our heart and true repentance.

We thank all of those that work so hard to help us bring justice for our son. We are forever thinking. Davian, we miss you terribly, but as Christians, we agree with hope. We will make sure your memory lives on and we ache the date that we are not going to get into turn to be in. Hello, could you start with your name? Hi, Your Honor. My name is Devon, Flanagan. Davidon was my older brother. The passing from Davido Markele-Man has been very difficult for me.

We have gone through everything together since day one. Davido was a big brother to me and my aunt had been equally. We all got adopted together and did not as well. After Davidon passed away, a large trauma and passed many more than angels in my life. Caused it to be difficult to grow up in this time. But it's too many. The animal was not just a big brother to me for a long in many ways. He was a person in trust in him because he made him go safe.

He taught me the importance of charity each moment and enjoying life. The memories we have are strong, but leave him because he tells me the value of life. That's how God works for ways we can't understand but it's worked in the end. I don't want this thing for anyone else. I don't want people to have to go with this. As an eight-year-old, I hate the fact that he was gone because someone decided to think with you life. Now that David Ann has gone, I feel stuck.

I feel as if I can't move forward. I feel lost. He was the one who paid me out when I fell. He was my best friend and the only person that has stayed with police and felt like to be able to be able to be able to be able to send him. I would like me to give him the longest possible sentence. And now her for about three years and actually she's always taken a piece away out. She'll be eligible for full while in my middle will be gone forever.

Thank you, Your Honor. Thank you. Respect Christine. Ms. Lombinick's father. No one wanted this to be murder of. For the punishment, when counsel you should roll with this accident. But this was not a card incident. The evidence on the son is proved that the Kenses show a murder in my son, Dominic, as well as day.

There's no fix within this case as the sure looks for what can't require. I want to thank the Postal Police Department in the state of Ohio for seeking the truth behind this crash. Thanks to them, we all know what happened in that car that day. What we don't know is why. I wish I could change this every day. I lost every children in that crash. And I'm going to go smile each day that I don't think about myself. With Las Vegas, my house brother wrote it.

The cries heard from this girl family and frogs after the verdict are nothing more and lack of remorse. McKenzie's children with that choice. Down in day beyond it, not. We are all left here immortal. But what they've come and then Candia lost can have been remedied in any way and by any person who wrote sentence. So I 31st, 2012. Coe, that was his mother, hysterical, the loss of my son made that. I didn't want to listen to the house ago.

The first thing said to me was, Oh, please don't listen to what everyone's saying on Facebook. Yeah. My son is dead. Friend is dead. Checking them and endorsed. Social media is important. Social media is important.

Social media may gain, in spite of the life of McCarthy, and it may gain by this approach and fragile. No one can imagine the pain of a lozomy child, unless they've lost on themselves. The pain is forever born. Time does not heal this wound. But Henzy, took him to prison because you did this.

Be thankful that you're still alive and in the future, but of that new being. Dom and Davian will rob their futures. Her hopes and their dreams. Henzy showed no mercy on Don Lincoln, though she undaily. you out. Oh, we got it. This time, and I've never seen. Thank you. To hear their pain is so unbelievably heartbreaking and just unimaginable. When I was researching this case, I found a GoFundMe for Dominic's grave site. The GoFundMe was from his sister, and it read, Hi, everyone, I'm Dominic's oldest sister. Dom tragically passed away on July 31st, 2022. He was 20 years old, and our hearts were left shattered

to pieces. Since then, myself, my sister, and mom find comfort in keeping his gravesite a site a site to see for everyone to come and enjoy. It started as his parents and siblings trying to hide the dirt after his burial, and it blossomed into this beautiful memorial site that keeps us working together in honor of Dom. My mom tends to it every day for hours, whether it's printing pictures for everyone to look at, adding solar lights, adding decorations, keeping up the landscaping around it, adding an extreme changing hundreds of flowers, laminating letters and pictures, finding trinkets to add to it, or beautiful statues, etc. This is what we do it for, for Dom,

and it's an honor of our beloved brother and son. Friends and family leave memorabilia, notes, pictures, things like that that remind them of Dom. Somehow yesterday, his grave was set on fire, and everything burned to the ground. Nothing was salvageable except a cement cross. Most of the items were irreplaceable, such as flowers and ribbon from his funeral, letters from his nieces and nephews and friends and siblings and parents, stuffed animals, things that can't be replaced. The items cost us thousands of dollars and will cost us thousands to replace. Most items were very expensive.

We spent on the flowers alone originally around $1,200. Each solar light decoration can range up to $50 a piece. We are asking for any donations from friends and family so that we can get his graves'es. back to how it was, and before July 31st of this year, which marks his one-year anniversary. Dom's grave means so much to us. Words can't explain. We miss and love you so much our Nucci baby. Until we meet again, your sister loves you. Since then, the GoFundMe has been updated, stating, quote, hi everybody. Just wanted to say thank you for all of your generous donations. We were able to recreate Dom's grave beautifully. Any further donations will go to purchasing updated memorial items such as flowers, etc. in the future. Thanks again. We love you so much, Dom.

So when it came to sentencing, the state gave their recommendations for sentencing and reasoning. There's very little that I can say after hearing from those who love Dominic and Davion in regards to the impact that the defendant's conduct had on these family's lives. and we have received a series of letters that has been submitted on behalf of the defendant. In summarizing these, they describe her as a good student and a loving and caring person and that she could never do something like this. And they continually, despite the verdict, refer to this as an accident and an unfortunate accident and tell you that she is also a victim.

And there are just a few things that I think is important for the court to consider in determining a sentence today. Part of the evidence in this case and introduced in trial was evidence from the defendant's cell phone. There were search warrants executed on her various social media accounts, her school records, her medical records, things of this nature. And I think that who she actually was is directly contradictory to what is painted by the letter submitted on behalf of her today. I'm not even cool. I'm just one of those girls that can do a lot of drugs and not dying. I'm sorry. I'm going to figure like a pin, I'm daughter figure like a doll. Don't care if you think I'm dumb, I don't care at all.

Can't he best, sweetie, I want to be adored. I'm the girl you die for. I'm the kind of girl that can do drugs and like not die. I'm the girl you die for. Both of those videos were posted on her TikTok. Shortly after the crash, Strongville police were notified that they had received concerning emails from the community that the defendant and her mother were seeking employment with the Los Angeles.

lot of the agency. Kenzie Sherilla said to Vitale, thank you for the comment. I would love to work with you guys. I've been emailing you guys a lot. Such a great opportunity. Thank you. Is there a date? There is not a date on this, Your Honor. Based on the investigation, it was delivered to the police while the defendant was still in the Metro Health Hospital. So it was during that time period, she was in the hospital for several weeks. Shortly after being released from the hospital, the police were provided additional videos of the defendant from her wheelchair as she attended a concert down in the flats. And again, Your Honor, I'm introducing these to the court to show the shocking lack of remorse. This was something that was being exhibited while the investigation was still going on before she was charged and arrested in November of last year.

And these were the sort of things that were coming to the police and the shocking lack of remorse, coupled with the fact that the defendant was reported driving of an automobile shortly after this event that she was seen in Strongville again dragging a car. In spite of the fact that as her mother testified, she got dizzy sometimes from a condition that she had to take salt pills for, in spite of the fact that it was in fact her mother who provided her. with the car that she used to take Dominic and Davion's life. And I'm just going to say it. I literally cannot with any of this bullshit with her. I literally cannot with this. The Instagram post while McKenzie is in the hospital days after the accident, with her and her mom responding to a modeling agency in L.A.?

Are they out of their minds? I mean, maybe, but I think we know now where McKenzie may have learned some of her behavior, which, no shade, but just saying. Mackenzie's mother also gave a statement before sentencing, and honestly, when I was watching this, I could not believe it. I contemplated if I wanted to include the whole thing, but I think it really is important because it gives so much insight into what all of these claims about who McKenzie is and how she acts were really about. Can you start with your name? I just want to say, my laundry address them at all. Sure.

I just want to say to the families. that I'm broken, sad, and lost in my heart first and hurt everyone. Okay? Leave him, most of me, friends, and down, like, you're welcome to go like that he's a part of our family. Okay? I'm so sorry that you're saying that they're heart broken. Okay? And then, Your Honor, this was a terrible, tragic nightmare, accident, too had happened. She has no memory of it, and she will never emotionally or physically recover of it, from it.

She'll have died to it. And we're asking that you please not know this sentence. I give him whose family and we all love each other. That morning of the accident, she called, I got a phone call, that there was a car accident. So went to the hospital, and I didn't even know when it was in the car. The name came up and confirmed him. And I was still in crying.

This does so much. We loved him. I called down, like over and over again, friend. He was going to answer the phone. And he didn't answer the phone. So that I tried to call his mom, and she didn't ask the phone either. And I still didn't know who was in the car. I didn't even know she was alive.

I didn't know what was happening. So then we were in the waiting room. And then his mom ended up, she did call me. So he answered the phone, and I was like, oh, my God, like, I don't even know who was in the car. Like, what's happening? Was that dog? And she said, what do you mean? My son is dead.

And I was like, I'm so sorry. And then she said something like, and now I have to wait to your kids out of the hospital. And then I didn't hear her arrest. I just, I was like, I was like, I. We loved him so much. I hung up the phone. I did not talk about social media. I didn't even know what was going on yet.

Okay? So then that was in the hospital, Ben Vitalee, folks, I commented on that because somebody had called her a murderer. Okay? And she was not a murderer. She wouldn't have her phone, which is the police have still had it.

Okay? So I jumped on, and I was like, no, she's not. her. She's more sad than her than most of these people commenting. She's been trying to get done with you. You did that point just with the accident. So I commented on really had met because of the modeling opportunity. I don't even care about that. I don't want them to refer to her as a murderer. And I don't even know how that comment you've got on the phone because the police still had her device. And she could not access her phone or social media. That's why I did it.

And I had told down, asking if they shut down social media, there was people calling her a murderer and making death threats and organizing groups to take her out when she got out of the hospital and stuff. So I didn't even want her for it. I don't care about her one. I don't care about social media. I just wanted to call her a murderer. And she did come to, and she did come out of surgery with multiple surgeries

that she wouldn't see all these people calling her a murder because she would never, ever, ever, her love for life. Okay. The Halloween, for three months after the accident, she would only look at his folks. She would only get this next to age.

She would only listen to the music he wrote, okay? She was laying back for three months. He was a shrine of him next to her photos and things that he liked, and this flower that lights up that he got her because he wanted it to be fresh and alive forever.

It took a little, you didn't be some flower. Okay, she's got this. I knew that next to her. So she was crying for three months. So her friends asked that she wanted to go out, turn her to Halloween. And it was an OU. And she didn't even want to go.

She said, I don't know. Should I go? She couldn't even walk yet, barely. So I told her, I said, baby, please go. It's Halloween. You've been waiting for three months crying. Holy listen to his music. Please go.

I have just a moment of fun. A moment of fun. So we told her to go. My husband drove her. I brought her back home. She just needed a second of fun from losing her full world for full world. So that was fun. We told her to go.

And that concert, she went to with Dawson Clause and Abby. They picked her up. They brought her there. That was Don McKeowney and Abby all decided to go in his concert together while they were in the hospital. That was formed down. Everything she did after the accident was either an honor of him to be close to him or just to be flying. anybody that she can. She's like devastated and she was the air that she breathed.

And they went with his cousin. We spent all kinds of time with him into the accident. What was the other thing? I'm hearing an awful lot about your daughter. I'm not hearing very much. They all love each other. They all spend every day together. You know what I mean?

And isn't that part of the problem, Mrs. Sherillard? Sorry? Isn't that part of the problem that they all trusted each other? Isn't that part of... It's not a problem at all at all. It's a problem with how they all ended up in the car together until them ended up dead. I understand what it goes like.

I'm saying that it was a tragic accident. Well, we're going to have to disagree on them. Right. And I respect your position, that you disagree with me. But anyway, I just wanted to address those. We told her to go to those things, and that she didn't help me. Down to the family.

So look at that. Don't look at a little. Look and not look on their really different eyes and care. This is that, those things are not relevant to myself saying. Not at all. No, I agree. If you have a moment, all you would need is five minutes of a conversation to around with her to learn who she is.

Then you don't need five minutes to learn who she is and what she's people are not doing and doing and you look at yourself. The freaking audacity. I mean, I don't even know where to start, but let's break this down. First of all, that was the most insincere apology made to the victim's families that she could have possibly come up with. Second, why the hell was she referring to Davion as a new friend? I'm glad the judge called her out on this and said, well, does that make his death less bad? Instead of a statement on behalf of McKenzie, I believe she made these things 100 times more worse for her.

Her entire little speech was trying to argue what the prosecution just said about her, instead of, I don't know, saying just about anything else, it is truly unbelievable. Mackenzie spoke and begged the judge for mercy. The family. Oh, God, Adavia, so deeply sorry. I hope one day you can see how I never left with had my word for breakfast. I wish I could remember what happened. I'm just so sorry.

I'm heartbroken. I loved Dr. Dapia. We were all ranched and done with my soulmaker. I wish I could take it. oh, you're paying away, and I'm so sorry. And to my family, thank you for the support and all the love you guys give. Thank you. I love them all so much. Lately, I've really been trying to clean up my wardrobe quite a bit, like not in like a capsule wardrobe influencer type of way, because let's be real, like I still am emotionally attached to,

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When it came time for sentencing, the judge did not mince words and the judge absolutely slammed McKenzie. Today is the sentencing of the defendant for the purposeful and intentional murders of Davy on Flanagan and Dominic Rousseau. And in a way, it's a second time their families are gathered again to grieve. It's also a day when McKenzie's family will grieve for the future of their daughter. All three of these families and the friends of these families are suffering. And all of their lives have been irrevocably changed because of the actions of the defendant. The unintended and collateral consequences of a selfish, intentional, and cruel decision by McKenzie will ripple forever in time. It's literally changed history because it's ended two lives.

Two young men are dead. Their deaths were horrible, terrifying and tragic. I will say again, if any reasonable person reviews Exhibit 802, there can be no doubt in your mind what happened this night. There can be no doubt of the absolute terror of the two people in that car. The defendant controlled all the events. She chose the day. Specifically, she chose a day just before her 18th birthday.

She chose to drive the car, the time to drive the car. She chose an obscure previously scouted route through an industrial park way. She chose the target to hit and the victims. She chose the means and the method to follow through. She planned and purposely executed the events of July 31st, 2022. The review of the evidence supports the factual findings, the forensic testimony, the testimony of the first responders, the testimony of the emergency room doctors who treated the defendant, the testimony of the coroner's medical examiner, the testimony of those who knew the victim, and the defendant, and the testimony of the BMV official who provided evidence that not only did

the defendant deny any medical condition when applying for her license, which her mother co-signed and attested to, but also that just after the accident, McKenzie renewed her driver's license and again denied any medical condition. In fact, the defendant was so concerned about driving that, as the state mentioned, during the investigation, she asked if they could just suspend her license for 10 years. it is hard to fathom how a person could be concerned about their driving privileges, having just been responsible for the deaths of two people. There was no medical condition that caused this as an accident.

There was no mechanical failure of the car. The record is clear on the facts and the evidence. Her mother's uncorroborated statements without any medical testimony or records is not persuasive. It is also important to remember that even if McKenzie intended to also die in this crash that is irrelevant. A failed suicide attempt is not a defense to murder. And even in a murder-suicide attempt, when a perpetrator executing the plan survives, the other death or deaths are still murder.

There's only one person who's responsible for the pain of everyone in this room, and that person is you, McKenzie. Nobody else is responsible. This isn't the fault of Dominic's family or Davion's family. or your family. And I know that each of you have asked your questions to yourselves, what if? What if I had done this or that? The truth of it is, none of us can control the intentions of another. And when there is a purposeful intent to harm or kill someone, it is the perpetrator alone who bears the responsibility for the choice and the consequences

and the harm that follows. The difficulty for sentencing today, honest, is whether or not I believe you should get consecutive sentences. I'm troubled that should I give you a concurrent sentence that people will believe that somehow I'm being disrespectful to one of the victims. And on the other hand, I have to weigh the punishment. There's a very good likelihood, McKenzie, that you will spend the rest of your life in prison.

That won't be up to me. that will be up to the parole board, and that will be up to you to a great extent. Mackenzie was sentenced 15 years to life, meaning she will be at least 34 years old during the first time that she is eligible for parole. And unless McKenzie shows true change, takes accountability for her actions,

or does some serious self-reflection to realize the devastation that she caused to her victim's families, she will be lucky if she gets out the first time she's up for parole. So that now leads up. into some major updates in this case. After her trial, McKenzie got a new legal team, and they were doing everything in their power to prove that McKenzie was innocent. They claimed that she had a medical

episode that occurred at or around the time of the car accident, what they're calling, quote, the incident. And they're saying that that medical episode caused her to ultimately lose consciousness, which then resulted in the crash. They also claimed that key evidence in the case had been been missed during her trial. Evidence that they say proved that Dominic was actually the one threatening McKenzie and not the other way around. Now, this proof that they had, it was text messages from McKenzie's phone. And one of the text messages is from July 17, 2022. It was sent at 12.45 p.m., so just afternoon. And it said, quote, can you come get Dom? He just grabbed my steering wheel on the highway trying to spin out my car and hurt me, end quote. Then that same day, just a few hours later,

at 427 p.m., Dom texted McKenzie saying, quote, I'm sorry. To which she responded, that is not enough to fix it this time. So with these messages, her new legal team is saying, no, no, no, no, look, he is the one who put her life at risk in the past. He is the one who would antagonize her. We have a history here. We have a pattern, which, to be honest, I think there was probably talking about. in both directions in this relationship. In October of 2024, McKenzie's defense team then filed its post-conviction relief petition, otherwise known as a PCR, and in this, they requested a new trial. But get this, you can't just file those things whenever you and your defense team are, you know, feeling up to it. It's something that has to be done in a timely manner. And McKenzie's defense team? Well, they were one day past the deadline that is mandated by Ohio law.

So, Judge Nancy Margaret Russo, the same judge who found her guilty during her trial, denied this petition. Which, look, I can understand the frustration with that. Technically, yes, you got to follow the rules. If it's mandated by state law, there's a deadline. I also can see the argument where people will say it was only one day late, like, you know, don't be so rigid. Let it go in, all of these things. But then I think when you do that, you have to make allowances for two days late or three days late. I don't know.

So I understand the frustration here, but I also understand why the decision was made. So then McKenzie's parents broke their silence. Now, up until this point, they were not doing interviews or any public appearances whatsoever. Now, why they finally decided to? Who really knows? Maybe it was a hell Mary. Maybe it was trying to humanize the situation. It's really unclear.

And I want to play some of it for you. Because if nothing else, I feel like it's fair to say, this family sure has the audacity. Okay? Now, again, if you are listening to the audio version of this, it will be clear, but there will be captions and video on the YouTube version. I struggled with this because how can I feel bad that these two boys died and feel grief with these families and be absolutely overjoyed that my kid is alive? Show me one piece of evidence, one, that says she did this on purpose. Show it to me. Here it is. That's it. Then she's right where she belongs and she's guilty of it. But there isn't any. There's no evidence what was going on in that car other than the information they gleamed from the black box information.

And these poor families think she did it intentionally and she didn't. And they don't know. There's information they didn't see. There's information they didn't have. There's information we didn't see or have. Should she be in prison for murder? No, absolutely not. Should she be in prison for aggravated vehicular homicide? I don't even know about the aggravated part because I don't think you can still say. why I was going on the car. Should she be, should she have been charged with reckless vehicular homicide, two counts? Absolutely. Absolutely. If it was medical. What kind of hopes, what kind of expectations do you have for McKenzie's future?

That the truth will set her free. That's what I need to have happened. The truth, that there was no intent that part, the truth will set her free. So when I first saw this interview, my jaw was on the floor. Honestly, I don't even really know why. I mean, I mean, McKenzie's mom had proved to us before that she just rambles and makes excuses for her daughter. So I don't know why I expected her to change or for there to be a different tone to this conversation or what. But it did somehow still surprise me. And I think if I were McKenzie, I'm just, you know, putting myself in her shoes for a moment. I'd be telling my mom, you know, zip it, stop talking, go into hiding.

I don't need you speaking on my behalf anymore. Because at this point, if she keeps it up, she may ruin any chance of McKenzie ever. getting out on parole. And while we're on the topic of the whole Shirilla family, we also have to go over another thing. I never had too much hope that McKenzie would show actual remorse. I think she's entitled. I think she thinks that the rules don't apply to her. And I just never expected to see genuine remorse from her. Because to me, McKenzie has already proved that she has always seen herself as the victim and that she probably always will think that way. And in the summer of 2025, there were some jail calls between McKenzie and her mother that were released.

One of the calls was from August of 2023, and it was about a court hearing that McKenzie had been through. And instead of just describing this call to you, I'm going to play you some clips again because I feel like it is much better hearing things through their mouths and how they deliver the statements. So take a listen. How do you think I did, okay?

Yeah, that prosecutor was pissing me off, though. I don't know what was like, I was getting so pissed off. Like, I wanted to, like, get up and be like, shut the fuck up and, like, tell him to sit, like, so bad. He was pissing me off. He was so rude to. I was running for anything. We've got nothing to hide. He could ask me anything you want.

Like, butter, bread and cookies. Yeah. Yeah, I'm excited to see how that you. Please have somebody get that work for you. I don't know. I'm going to. It's just irritating as fuck. Yeah.

Like, I don't like how I can't come out of my room. Why the fuck am I on a seven-day hold? That just pisses me off. It's just part of the procedure. There's nothing you can do about that. And I'm so scared about me and I lost the love of my life and a good friend. And now I have to just deal with this grief the rest of my life and deal with being scared to drive and stuff. Like, that's just like...

I know. I know, honey. There's nothing I can do about that. Can you just pay my bond and get me out of here, please? Like go to a bail bondman and see if they can take the attention. God, why aren't you listening? I'm going to hang out. I am listening.

I spent thinking of somebody when you were talking. I don't know how much an appeal is. Okay? So can we just wait until Monday? Okay? Yeah, let's just wait until Monday and when I can just probably, I'm probably, they're probably going to take my bond away at Monday. That's what I mean.

So let's just wait. We'll see. That's what you mean. That's what you mean. They're probably going to say there's no more bond on Monday. No, we don't know that that's true or not. I don't know the full situation, fuck, because you're just going to have to wait. This is just wrong.

What the fuck they're doing? It's so wrong, and they're just trying to juice it. I know. Yes, I'm getting very irritated, like, and I need to get the fuck out of jail. Because they're just trying to fuck me over, bad as fuck. McKenzie also brought up her medical condition, claiming that it had now gotten worse ever since being in jail, and that now she was having even worse episodes than she ever had before. First of all, when I got diagnosed, nobody ever told me that could, like, anything about driving.

Put that on the license. Exactly. That was never said. Uh-uh. Nope. And if we do have to, then we will. I wasn't tired of having. Like, I don't care.

Like, why would we lie and just not do that? If I knew that, it could affect my driving, I probably would never drive. Well, no, no. People are allowed to drive with that, so don't say that. Ever since I got in here, it's been bad again. Like, I don't know what it is. Like, I blacked out the other day, and, like, it was so weird. It was, like, not normal.

Like, it wasn't, like, bad how it usually is, but it was also, like, not, like, good. I don't know how to explain it. It was, like, the first time I ever had a blackout like that. Like, it was, like, weird as fuck. I don't know how to explain it. Well, just make sure you're eating, okay? When you get your comment, if you can do your commentary, make sure you get some chips. Now, like I said, those calls were back in 2023.

So who really knows whether she was exaggerating those blackouts, exaggerating the symptoms just trying to look better for her trial. Who knows? But it does seem to me at least like she still is standing by the idea that she had some sort of medical condition. And I'm really curious to know what you think about that, though, because when this case first exploded, it felt like, honestly, the overwhelming majority of people believed that McKenzie was guilty, that this was intentional, entitlement, audacity, all those words, right? No question. But now, with some of these text messages coming out. And McKenzie and her medical condition claims, do you feel the same? Do you feel like there's room for, you know, questioning that and that maybe it's not as black and white as people thought?

Do you think that those text messages are enough to potentially change the outcome of this case? And do you believe that there's a world in which some other scenario occurred, and that's what caused the crash, that it wasn't McKenzie's doing, whether it was one of the passengers grabbing the wheel, or some sort of genuine medical episode that triggered it. I don't know. Let me know in the comments. Like I said at the beginning of this episode, I still firmly believe what I believe about this case.

Yes, I don't think that those text messages are great, but again, I think it just shows toxicity from both sides. I still think that even if it was a medical episode, I would imagine that there would be a level of remorse. Even if when I've gotten into a car crash in the past And if, like, I had someone in the car and I just rearend somebody, you're remorseful, even if it's an accident, you know? And so even if it was this thing that she had no control over, where's the remorse and the

accountability with that to say, like, I'm devastated. I can't believe this happened. Like, my illness, I need help. I don't know. It's just not quite landing for me. But maybe I'm rigid in my views. Who the hell knows? So curious to know what you guys think about this case.

Maybe I will also throw a poll up on Spotify. just so that we can gauge what everybody's thinking. But take a quick second. If you're watching this on YouTube, leave a comment that says, I think this was intentional or I think this was an accident. And we can gauge the responses. And for all of my podcast listeners,

if you're listening to this on Spotify, you can vote on the poll. But if you're listening on Apple, leave a review for the podcast and let me know in the section where you can write a review. Let me know what you think about this case. So thank you so much for listening.

Let me know, too, if you watched the Netflix documentary, The Crash and what your thoughts are now after seeing that as well. But I always like to come on here and cover some of the documentaries that I'm familiar with already with the case that Netflix covers because there's only so much information you can squeeze into 90 minutes or even like three 45 minute episodes. And I feel like sometimes a lot of the minutia, you know, the details get lost within it. And so that's why I'm here. To give you the deep dives, to give you all of the information that maybe isn't shown because it can't be squeezed into a 60-minute episode.

So, so again, if you're brand new, and this is the first episode of mine you've heard, and you appreciate the case coverage, and you feel like it's your style, your vibe, make sure that if you're listening on the podcast, you press the follow button so that you don't miss future episodes. And if you're watching this on YouTube, press the subscribe button so that you don't miss future videos. All right, everybody, thank you again for tuning in today. And until the next one, be nice, don't kill people, just be a good human, and drive the speed limit. All right. Thank you. Bye.