Sword and Scale - Episode 274

Episode Date: October 6, 2024

In the early morning hours of July 31st, 2022, many teens in Strongsville, Ohio were sleeping off the previous night’s rowdy graduation parties. 17-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla, 20-year-old Dominic R...usso, and 19-year-old Davion Flanagan were trapped in a mangled car wreck. When daylight finally illuminated the carnage, everyone assumed the crash had been the result of teenage drunk-driving. The more the police investigated, the more questions arose. What started off as a tragic accident quietly evolved into a murder investigation.

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Starting point is 00:00:52 AIB. For the life you're after. Allied Irish Banks PLC is regulated by the Centre Bank of Ireland. Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. Frady, we got at least two occupants in here. No one's moving. Oh my God! Hello and welcome to Season 11, episode 274 of Sword and Scale.
Starting point is 00:01:29 A show that reveals that the worst monsters are real. Football. Football It's a simple game really. Pass the ball out, score goals and make sure you score more than the other team. Simple. What makes it really interesting though is the fun you can have before and during games on the NoviBet app. Want to build your own bet? You bet you can. Looking for enhanced odds on all Premier League and European games? NoviBet has you covered. And with free bets and promotions every day. Plus, all new customers get 50 euro in free bets when they sign up. And all from the comfort of your own phone. Download the NoviBet app now. NoviBet.
Starting point is 00:02:35 There's more than one way to win. New players only. Tz and Z supply. 18 plus. Betterresponsibilitygamblingcare.ie. Have you ever been unfortunate enough to have seen HBO's show Euphoria? No? Good on you. Well, if you haven't, let me break it down for you, unfortunately. It's relevant. It's relevant. Just follow along. Trust me. Euphoria is a show about a bunch of American high schoolers and all the drama in their lives, which is always a lot. So plenty of material.
Starting point is 00:03:32 The show dives into each teen's dirty laundry, connecting them together along the way to create a shocking representation of American teenage life in the 2020s. It's a show that seems to almost rely on shock value, in an age where it's difficult to shock most people, even if they're sitting on an electric chair. It's meant to be an over-dramatization, and viewers know that. What some people may not realize is that though it's shocking and hyperbolic, it seems to accurately represent many American teens these days. Just maybe the shockingly adult content and euphoria is depicting reality. Art imitating life and vice versa.
Starting point is 00:04:29 But forget about the cast of Euphoria for a second because we're gonna replace them with some real life examples, real life people. This case is much more shocking and much more horrible than any story HBO could come up with. And it takes place in a little place called Strongsville, Ohio. It was the summer of 2022. The feeling of freedom and newfound maturity was still fresh in the minds of all the new
Starting point is 00:05:19 graduates of Strongsville High School. Ohio tends to only have a few good months of really nice warm weather out of the year, otherwise it's just a miserable place. You know the feeling of those hot, muggy summer nights? Yeah, Ohio doesn't get too many of those, not like Texas. During the very last weekend of July, the new graduates continued to take advantage
Starting point is 00:05:46 of all the quote unquote grad parties their friends had invited them to. In other words, they were going to your average house party, the kind where no parents are around, the kind of risky business type shenanigans occur. I don't know why that movie stuck out with me so much as a kid. Probably because it was about dirty adult things. I don't know. For Paul, a new graduate, this weekend was the perfect time to host a party of his own. His parents were out of town and, though he says it wasn't a party per se. There were seven rowdy teens in the house all night with no supervision. That kind of sounds like a party to me. So it was already pretty late.
Starting point is 00:06:33 I was pretty tired. Most of us were pretty tired. Kind of didn't really want to hang out that night, but my parents weren't home so we were going to anyway. And I had six people over so in in my opinion, that was not a party. There was no party activities going on because I don't have enough friends to throw a banger, I'm gonna be honest.
Starting point is 00:06:54 So at around 11, Rosie, Nina, and Landon show up together. They show up first because Rosie lives nearby, so she picked them up, so They show up first because Rosie lives nearby so she picked them up so they showed up and then Kenzie, Dom and Davion they were late they were late to coming here they came around midnight maybe some around that time because they were already at a grab party but they were already there they weren't there for long I don't know what they did there. They weren't there for long. I don't know what they did there, but they weren't there for long. Here's Landon, one of the kids who arrived earlier
Starting point is 00:07:30 in the night. He's talking about 19 year old Davion Flanagan, a boy who arrived closer to midnight alongside the other two kids, 20 year old Dominic Russo and 17 year old Mackenzie Shrilla. We weren't like the closest back in elementary. old Dominic Russo and 17 year old Mackenzie Shrilla. We weren't like the closest back in elementary. I, yeah, we weren't the closest. I'd say about middle school.
Starting point is 00:07:52 That's when we got really, we got really close in middle school. And then high school year, he decided to join football. So that brought us even closer. Think what made us the closest was COVID. COVID made us really close. We would stay up all night, me, him. They would all stay up, play mom warfare all the time,
Starting point is 00:08:10 and just talk about school, talk about football, all that stuff. That's where, I guess that's where we got really, really close at. And that's when we started hanging out every day. I started treating him like a brother to me. He was one of my best friends. Landon was closer friends with Davion than the host of the party, Paul.
Starting point is 00:08:29 Paul knew 17 year old Kenzie the best. She was the one that he had invited. But of course, she knew she was welcome to bring along her boyfriend, Dominic, and their friend Davion, who lived with them at the time. So I started being I started being actual friends with Kenzie. and their friend Davion who lived with them at the time. dying. But yeah, she just made me, she like made me actually confident in myself that year. So yeah, that's when we kind of became friends. I was never really friends with Dom, but like, she could bring her boyfriend anywhere. I don't
Starting point is 00:09:15 mind. And then Davion, you probably know this Davion lived with them. So they could bring Davion. Everyone loves Davion. Like whenever he walked in the room, no matter if he was down or not, he was making you smile. He loved the kid to death. 19-year-old Davion Flanagan was popular and well-liked. At home, though, he was starting to have some issues. He and his sisters were adopted by the Flanagan family when they were young kids, and as teenagers tend to do when they reach a certain age,
Starting point is 00:09:48 Davion started to butt heads with his parents. So he came to me one day and he was asking me, he was like, hey, could I stay at your house for a week? And I was like, yeah, like no problem. I got a whole extra room for you. Don't worry about it. And when he came, he stayed there, ended up saying, he ended up deciding it was gonna be a lot more long-term. And I knew he got kicked out,
Starting point is 00:10:14 we would always be out, we'd always go out. I mean, somebody would take my mom's car, I got caught for doing that one time, but we would take my mom's car, I would take my car, my dad's car, we'd go out and we'd just drive and just talk, talk about life, talk about his struggles, talk about my struggles. He was a very, very, very mentally down person.
Starting point is 00:10:32 He was down mentally bad. Like he, everything in his life, he thought he was going against him. He felt like nobody was there for him again, like no one had his back a lot of the times. And he knew that I had his back forever. Like he knew it all always have his back. But he just felt like,
Starting point is 00:10:48 I can't remember what he would say about it, but the adoption and being adopted. Yeah, it was a big factor in that he felt like he just didn't belong in the house. I know Dom knows Davion. They know each other through parties like that. Kenzie and Davion have always been close. Like they know each other.
Starting point is 00:11:04 I know they've known each other since middle school. Right before I found out they were living together, I knew that they were kind of hanging out, they were kind of talking together because another reason why they were cool is Dom had a studio in his house. Dom liked to make music and Davion loved freestyle. Davion loved making music. That was his dream was to be a rapper. So Davion would always go over to Dom's house, record in the studio. I know Proctor has a studio so they had all, you know like a studio, like Proctor doesn't have a full studio, he just has like a little mic on a computer and stuff. But Dom actually has a whole room with a microphone and like stuff on the wall that keeps the sound in. How's all the special
Starting point is 00:11:40 programming and stuff. And so I knew they got really close off of that, like trying to make music together and stuff like that. So I think ultimately that's how Davion ended up staying at Dom's because Davion knew he would go over there and be able to use the studio whenever he wanted to and just be cool with Dom. 20 year old Dominic Russo was a quote unquote businessman and rapper.
Starting point is 00:12:05 I don't know what the fuck that means, but that's what he was. While his girlfriend's 17 year old Mackenzie Shrilla worked long hard hours as a stay at home girlfriend when she wasn't posting content to further her Instagram modeling career. So really just a solid pair of entrepreneurs here. They got at my house at around midnight. We chilled there for a while and then around like 1 a.m.
Starting point is 00:12:34 I kind of was calling, I wanted to call it a night because my car broke down. Wasn't having much of a good night obviously. And right before I went to sleep, Kenzie said, you should go to sleep because I'm probably gonna go to sleep too. So I was like, okay, that's not that bad. So then I go upstairs at around one, they're still up and they're still watching.
Starting point is 00:12:55 I remember hearing South Park playing really loudly. And then I went downstairs again at two, three a.m. to pee sometime like that. And then I went downstairs again at two, three a.m. to peak, sometime like that. And I saw Kenzie sleep on my couch in my front room. I remember walking in and that man was cuddling her. She was sleeping, her head was on his lap. She was wrapped up in this big fuzzy gray band blanket on the front couch in the front room.
Starting point is 00:13:22 It's a big L-shaped couch. Cause I was sitting in the corner and Dave was sitting down by my legs. Kenzie was sitting here and then Dom was sitting at the end here. And so she ended up sprawling out and he was sitting there cuddling her head, petting her head, making sure she was sleeping good.
Starting point is 00:13:35 Me and my wife were laughing all night. I know Paul, he wasn't around all night. He was upstairs. He wasn't even around all night. He was upstairs. He wasn't even around all night. Me and Davion were in the front room watching. There was a great white documentary about green white sharks in the front room. I know back in the back, all the girls were back there. I think they were watching High School Musical or something like that. Cause they were all screaming, laughing. But me and Davion were up there. I remember Kenzie got mad at
Starting point is 00:14:04 me because I ate all of her popcorn. She walked away and I ate all screaming and laughing. But me and Davion were up there. I remember Kenzie got mad at me because I ate all of her popcorn. She walked away and ate all of her popcorn. The teens smoked weed and apparently discussed doing shrooms that night, but decided against it. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. Eventually people started to fall asleep and when Kenzie, Dominic, and Davion awoke
Starting point is 00:14:24 early in the morning, they gathered their things and left. Kenzie and Dom walked out together. Dom grabbed all of her bags for her. Dom came and dabbed me up. Kenzie was like, hey say bye to everyone because Rosie and Nina and them were sleeping in the back room. I was up in the front room still.
Starting point is 00:14:40 And she was like, hey say bye to everyone for us. We were like, okay we will. And that's when Rosie came walking up, gave Kenzie a hug, gave Dom a hug and was like bye say bye to everyone for us or like okay We will never rose you came walking up gave Kenzie a hug you'd down my hug was like bye I think I know there why should they leave so early They usually do that. That's like a common thing with everyone like I mean how many times have we had people around? I was like it's just a common thing with us younger teenagers. I guess like as soon as you get up It's like you're gone. Like we're just leaving like 530 in the morning off Yeah, you're gonna go to work at five o'clock in the morning.
Starting point is 00:15:05 Really? The couch is clear. I'm like, wow. It's like, we'll end up a little sleep and then as soon as you wake up in that early morning, it's, I wanna go back to my bed. So that is common. One thing struck Landon as odd.
Starting point is 00:15:23 As the trio left, Davion said something not quite out of character for him, but something he didn't say very often. I was like, I love you too. And that was the first time he said that to me since he lived with me. So that's what kind of threw me off. I was like, all right, I love you too. You know what I mean? Like come here, give him a hug, and he walked out the door. They got into McKenzie's black Toyota Camry and headed home. It wasn't 10 minutes after the trio left Paul's house that tragedy struck, and it hit them with a swift
Starting point is 00:16:07 vengeance. It was just after 5.30 in the morning. They drove for only a few minutes and found themselves on Progress Drive. And at the end of that road was a building called PLIDCO. P-L-I-D-C-O. It's a piping company. Instead of turning either right or left onto the road that paralleled the PLIDCO building,
Starting point is 00:16:33 the Camry went straight, barreling through the company's large sign and into the corner of the massive brick structure. Davion was on his phone, to a snapchat just moments before impact. The three kids sat there in the mangled car until the sun came up. With the help of the morning light, someone noticed the partially hidden wreck. Yes, are you familiar where Progress coincides with Albion Road there in Strongville?
Starting point is 00:17:19 Yep. Yeah, just across the street from Progress. The building, there's a car that smashed up against the building. I didn't go up to it because I was on my motorcycle. I didn't like this stuff, but they ran the curb. I can see the, they smashed the sign and hit the building. The car's crashed. Did you tell someone was in it?
Starting point is 00:17:42 I didn't go up to it. I was on my motorcycle. How long ago was this? Two minutes. Radio. This car is splitting too. Radio, there's an occupant inside. Send us a squad now.
Starting point is 00:18:02 We got to bust the window out. Send us some squad now. We gotta bust the window out. Send us some more units. Any more units of progress now, Amita? No! What are you doing? Sir, you're on squad. One. 60 on west road.
Starting point is 00:18:20 I'm just training now, Amita. This is not a fresh accident either. She's been here for a while. Radio, we got at least two occupants in here. No one's moving. Oh my God. in here no one's moving oh my god oh my god times three guys radio three occupant no one's breathing. Oh my god, dude. Who can hear my voice? Driver is in condo.
Starting point is 00:19:23 Radio, the driver is breathing unconscious. Radio, they're gonna need full extraction on all three. Come here, call him to plate. Let him call it in. Holy shit, man. Not good, not good. Let me see your knife, I cut this thing out. This is bad guys. She's alive we gotta get her out somehow. Oh my god. Oh my god.
Starting point is 00:20:01 Sarge we're good to try to get her out. Oh dude, I don't know if we can. She's breathing, she's breathing. Her head's wedged. Let's see if we can get some IDs, guys. I don't feel anything. She's breathing, I saw her stomach, her stomach's moving.
Starting point is 00:20:21 Oh yeah, yeah. We got two that are gone. Should we, what about the more for reconstruction? Holy smokes. So last thing you expect to see came, how do we find a track, guys. Come through here.
Starting point is 00:20:50 Left the roadway behind your car. Come through this time. Is she talking? Yeah. Here. She's bicing her heel. She's talking a little bit. Advise fire to step it up.
Starting point is 00:21:15 Driver, 17-year-old female, still breathing, wedged in there. Two are going to be DOA. They're all young. Okay, got it. Possibly teenagers. Oh, Jesus Christ. Life flight? Life flight has to come. We'll help set up a perimeter for it, right? They'll guide us. Come here, hold the phone. Hold it open.
Starting point is 00:21:40 We want the driver out. She's still breathing, fellas. So, last thing I thought we'd be going up to, and this is the worst crash I've ever seen. I've been on a whole bunch of whoppers. Mackenzie was barely conscious, slumped over to her right because of the extensive damage to the car. The dashboard was crunched up and was trapping her.
Starting point is 00:22:05 They didn't have identification for the other two just yet, but they did know that they'd need the help of the fire department and the jaws of life to remove all three from the crumpled hunk of metal. Did you try to get the pockets of them? No, I didn't. Okay. Alright. Okay. And his head fell. In case you couldn't understand that, the officer whose body cam footage we're listening to said they're bleeding out
Starting point is 00:22:52 of the ears before another officer replied the driver has a chance. Just a few minutes later fire trucks arrived with their hydraulic rescue equipment and they got to work right away. I just emailed Samantha Colorado. She's being scrambling, not making sense. What's your name, dear? What's your name, my friend? I'm Kenzie. Okay.
Starting point is 00:23:11 That's our driver. I got a message. She said one of her friends is named Don. I don't know which one it was. Don, this is the phone number. Thanks. I'm gonna go get it. I'm gonna go get it.
Starting point is 00:23:19 I'm gonna go get it. I'm gonna go get it. I'm gonna go get it. I'm gonna go get it. I'm gonna go get it. I'm gonna go get it. I'm gonna go get it. I'm gonna go get it. I'm gonna go get Don. I don't know which one it was. I don't know which one it was. Don, Don, this is him.
Starting point is 00:23:29 Don't tell her. Don't tell her. I need to get IDs. We need to get IDs on all of these people. Yeah, I got to find them. I need to get IDs on all of these people. I need to get IDs on all of these people. Nope.
Starting point is 00:23:40 Okay. Any wallet on him, fellas? Yes, I'm just gonna write it. I'm gonna grab it Yes, I'm going to grab it. Unless you guys want to grab it. Copy, 19 year old male valentines. Okay. This is Davion Flanagan, I'm assuming. This is him.
Starting point is 00:23:55 Goldberg, man. Put his ID on top of him. Dominic, who had been in the front passenger seat, passed away on impact. The right side of the car took most of the damage. Davion, who was originally sitting in the back seat, was found partially on the lap of Dominic. The Camry sat in a grassy area right next to the building they had sideswiped. How do you get this split in half from hitting the building here?
Starting point is 00:24:24 It looks like this is where it split. they had side-swiped. How'd he get split in half from hitting the building here? It looks like this is where it split. And to be honest with you, when you're coming there, you can barely see it from the sign. You can't barely see it. And how the person just called and kept going, I'll never know. You know what I mean? Like, oh, that car looks really bad.
Starting point is 00:24:40 Life flight's here, I think she's here for her. It was still early in the morning, just after six. As Alameda drive descended into organized chaos, Paul and his friends were still sleeping off the party. Mackenzie, Dominic, and Davion's parents were all asleep in their beds too, blissfully unaware of the terrible news they were about to receive. Whether you're topping up your car or topping up with a much needed coffee, make sure to check out the low prices at your local Maxall and bag yourself great deals on everyday essentials like Kellogg's Rice Krispies, 310g, just €2.75, Charleville Slices, 160g, only €3, and Roma
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Starting point is 00:26:12 And with free bets and promotions every day. Plus, all new customers get 50 euro in free bets when they sign up. And all from the comfort of your own phone. Download the NoviBet app now. NoviBet. There's more than one way to win. New players only. TNC Supply. 18 plus, betterresponsibilitygamblingcare.ie. What's the easiest choice you can make? Window instead of middle seat? Picking a vendor who sends a great gift basket? Outsourcing business tasks you hate. What about selling with Shopify?
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Starting point is 00:27:02 Whether you're selling scented soap or offering outdoor outfits, Shopify helps you sell. Wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com slash try. Go to Shopify.com slash try now to grow your business no matter what stage you're in. Shopify.com slash try. Early in the morning of July 31, 2022, 17-year-old Mackenzie Schrilla, her boyfriend 20-year-old Dominic Russo, and their friend 19-year-old Davion Flanagan headed home from a party. It was a short drive, and they didn't make it very far before Plidco piping companies surveillance cameras caught footage of their vehicle barreling
Starting point is 00:28:10 into their company sign and into the building itself. While paramedics waited with Mackenzie and the ambulance for a life flight helicopter to land, another deputy called the coroner. After making a call and reporting the two fatalities, the officer told the paramedics not to say anything to Mackenzie about the status of her friends. We got a call about a car into a building when we got here the car was split in half and three people were trapped inside.
Starting point is 00:28:44 Put this back in his wallet. Sorry guys. We got here, the car was split in half and three people were trapped inside. Put this back in his wallet. Sorry guys. No problem man. And now two, two are gone. One is being life flighted as we speak. This is going to be just a nightmare of a day for this whole department. Mackenzie was transported to the hospital and the families of all three kids were notified about the accident. Soon, the news spread to the rest of the town, including all of Mackenzie's classmates. Several things then happened in relatively quick succession.
Starting point is 00:29:20 The crash scene and the car itself were both investigated. Police found evidence on Dominic's cell phone and some students came forward with evidence of their own from an app called Life 360. For those of you who have not heard of it, it's a family location sharing app. It's kind of like the Find My Phone app on your iPhone, but it's actually much more precise. It sends out a notification to your inner circle in case you need help or if your phone detects you've been in a car crash. Daveon had this app on his phone and the friends in his circle sent photos of the data to police.
Starting point is 00:30:04 I don't know if you got like good screenshots of the light 360. Yeah, we have those. If you zoom in, like they were driving perfectly fine from Paul's house to the scene. So if you zoom in, zoom in, and like I can put this on like satellite auto, you can see them. So if they're on the road, right? They're just driving casually. And then it's like normal.
Starting point is 00:30:33 Like you're just driving normal. And then you will start to see them swerving this way onto the grass. And then now they're on the wrong side of the road. So if you're on the wrong side of the road, your first thing to think is, let's get on the wrong side of the road. So if you're on the wrong side of the road, your first instinct is, let's get on the right side of the road. They're not though. They stay on the wrong side of the road. So it kind of looks like road rage to me. And if you go down this road, it's bumpy. Like it's not like you're going 25. It's still bumpy. They go over this curb and they're on the curb. They get off the curb.
Starting point is 00:31:03 They get, start to straighten up. They're going better. And now they're on the curb, they get off the curb, they get start to straighten up, they're going better and now they get on the grass. They go over this whole overpass on the grass even deeper, get off the grass on the curb, still driving on the curb, on the grass again, on the grass, stop signs right there, over here. And to me, right here, if you looked at the tracks that you guys probably have pictures of, it looks like the person in the front seat tried to turn the wheel because of the fact they were gonna go straight into a law. So what, and it doesn't say she heart broke once.
Starting point is 00:31:41 It was 90 miles per hour down that whole road. The only time she heart broke off of like 360 is when the collision happened. What? I mean what do you guys think happened? I think that I don't know if they're arguing or if it was just carelessness. It might have just been she was going fast. She could have tried. She was probably just being careless. I mean I know she had some like big, I don't know if it was on her car but I've seen like on her snapchat stores like big ass I don't know if it was on her car, but I've seen like on her Snapchat stories, like big ass like fuzzy steering wheel cover.
Starting point is 00:32:08 And who knows if she just tried to like whip it around the turn going super fast and it just didn't turn, but it probably, like I assume it was just a careless mistake and it was just a preventable thing. I mean, I think that obviously the drug reports didn't come back positive because they all smoke weed. So she was just known for being that kind of girl in high school and as well out of high school.
Starting point is 00:32:30 And her issues? Yeah. They called her baby Kush. Yeah. What's that? Just because she smokes so much weed? She smokes weed. And there's pictures on her Instagram, but I'm sure she took it down now.
Starting point is 00:32:40 Yeah. Her in cars smoking weed. So we're thinking from that standpoint, I also think that if they were on psychedelics and they took a nap, that can also still be a factor because psychedelics is roughly six to 12 hours. And I also think because of Kenzie's and Dominic's history that they were fighting because if Davion was on his phone
Starting point is 00:33:00 at 5.35 before he died, not even like 30 seconds, why would he be responding about a view and not helping the car get back on track? Because if he knew something was up, I think Davey on one of his phone to distract himself from the fighting. Although they were on drugs, they can also still be fighting with being on drugs. I don't know if they're like fighting like I know no one will probably ever know if they're fighting. But like, it could have just been like careless mistake. Like I don't know if they're like fighting like I've known probably ever know if they're fighting like I like It could have just been like careless mistake
Starting point is 00:33:28 I don't think Kenzie even if she was like at road rage if she was arguing I don't think her intention was to kill two people no matter what so I mean I know I don't actually tried to kill her boyfriend or Davey on but I think she was real raging down the road Why far away passed away? his road raging down the road, 100%. When I finally passed away, I called my friend E.J., freaked out, and I drove, sped up to E.J.'s house, and I was talking to him, and E.J.'s like, that's our football group, like that's,
Starting point is 00:33:52 like a dance football group. And so, like, all those football dudes in, and me and E.J.'s house were talking. So then I went back to Paul's house, because that's where Rose and all them were at, and I was talking to them. But then as I was, I went to drop my mom's car back off there, I picked up my truck, truck and I stopped at the memorial
Starting point is 00:34:06 where they crashed at. And as soon as I got there, that's when Proctor is saying, like Proctor, Joey, a bunch of these kids are saying, oh, they're fighting. Kenzie's crazy, Kenzie puts voodoo on him. They're fighting all the time, they're fighting. I'm like, they weren't fighting. I don't know, but y'all just got this out of thin air.
Starting point is 00:34:22 They were not fighting. I can promise you that they weren't fighting. Police officers recovered weed, a scale, and some shrooms in the car. And there were rumors swirling that kids planned to take acid on the night of Paul's house party, but no mention of shrooms. The other party goers had confirmed
Starting point is 00:34:43 that they'd be smoking weed, as per usual. They even sent texts to Dominic and Mackenzie about the amounts each person wanted. These two had quite the reputation for being, as Paul later put it, evil Cosmo and Wanda. The eve of the crash at 10.28 PM. She says she receives a text from one of the people at the party saying, so we want $40 worth of Bud and Bobo wants three and I want two and a half. Nina wants one and a half. Paul wants two and a half.
Starting point is 00:35:21 We're talking about marijuana here, okay? But if we go back earlier, okay? She talks about grams. Bring enough shrooms for all of us, he's going to take under a gram. A gram of what? Yeah, we discussed that if we were going to do shrooms, but we did not end up doing them. Do you know if after you went to bed, they did acid, shrooms, coke? I don't know, not seriously.
Starting point is 00:35:58 And like I said, my concern, it's not accusing you of anything, it's just, well, did they do something and then they got on the road? I understand. Because as you've already heard, you're on social media, right? Okay, on the app that Tyler and some of the Davion's friends have shared with the families and with the public,
Starting point is 00:36:18 we have a going 90. She might tell you stuff about her, maybe her relationship with Dom, maybe some of her struggles, and we're not trying to expose her secrets, but in that car that day there were three people, two are dead who can't tell us. And she's not talking to us, right? Her lawyer's not going to let her talk to the police. Fifth Amendment, that's her constitutional right, you don't have to talk to the police.
Starting point is 00:36:43 So she's not breaking the law by not talking, she's actually protecting herself. And so we have to piece everything together based on what the friends are saying. How many times have you talked to Kenza since the accident? I only got to see her once. You got to see her once? Yeah. What was she like? Not happy. Not happy.
Starting point is 00:37:08 I mean, my takeaway from having visited her twice was she didn't seem to care too much that she killed her boyfriend and another guy. Did you get the same feelings? When I walked in, she was broken. She was absolutely devastated. And she wouldn't shut up about that like she would only talk about that so that really concerns me that she would be very different. It could have been that we were law enforcement
Starting point is 00:37:37 you're her friend so she you know she was very nervous to talk to us or you know so that makes sense. except it didn't make sense once police had enough pieces of the puzzle to see the bigger picture they were beginning to think that they were dealing with an out-of-control teen who had no sense of accountability or remorse and not someone whose vehicle innocently malfunctioned the officers talked about their own experience with McKenzie and how it conflicted so much with Paul's experience. And we can only assume this is one of the occasions
Starting point is 00:38:15 those officers are talking about. So by law, I have to give you, this is your phone. So here, back to you. Thank you so much. Okay. Now, this is a search warrant. The judge, Tehoga County Judge Russo signed it. Can we pause for a minute? You had search activity and you downloaded the data. Everything now nobody's looking at? Nobody's looking but
Starting point is 00:38:36 we mirrored the phone. We're gonna look through the phone. Right but everything she does now. Now she's on her own. Okay. All we care about is pre. Right now I'm not concerned what she does. She's free to do whatever she wants. But by law, this is the receipt of what we did, which is a download of the data. And this is the search warrant. Now, the search warrant lists the crime we're investigating as an aggravated vehicular homicide times two, okay? Because two people were killed in a car crash. It does not mean, I'm gonna make this very clear, we're not charging you with aggravated vehicular homicide.
Starting point is 00:39:16 So right now, I'm not gonna interview her, she's obviously not in a good place to be interviewed. She has an attorney. Once she's released, I give you my contact info, have your lawyer give me a call or give me your lawyer's contact info, and then I'll call him and if he wants her to cooperate, that's his decision.
Starting point is 00:39:35 If he doesn't want her to cooperate, that's his decision. I do want you to know that a lot of people are coming to us and reporting things. And so usually... Yes, I was told that. Usually the most accurate information we're going to get is from her. So whether or not she chooses to cooperate on advice of counsel, that's up to her. I'm not going to coerce her.
Starting point is 00:39:55 What are people coming in and saying? I cannot tell you that. That's the investigation. It doesn't matter if it has nothing to do with the crash, right? Well, we don't know. We have to put everything together. But this is a copy of the search warrant with the acid david and everything
Starting point is 00:40:09 that the judge looked at. OK, I'm going to take my paperwork back. Do you have any questions for me at this time? I have one. Were they able to pull video, I know, off the building across the street? Well, again, I know you off the building across the street. Well, I again, I cannot comment on the investigation, but we're we have some adnus that we're going through my snapshots to like opening. So we did not. We just married your face. You like two or three of them open. We did not. But
Starting point is 00:40:40 either way, even if we did, we have a search warrant. So we're gonna look at the car tomorrow, we're gonna download the black box from the car so we know if there was any type of error. We're gonna have OSP. They're sending a reconstruction trooper to look at it and download the material. We also got a search warrant for that as well. This is a very difficult situation and you can put this on the record. I am not here to try to interview your daughter and get some incriminating info. I'm not. I know.
Starting point is 00:41:09 At this point, we are investigating. I am, I want to protect her constitutional rights. So it's very, very important that your lawyer gets in contact with me or I get in contact with him. So we can say, hey, sir, are you going to let her cooperate or not? If he says we're not saying anything, then we have to build our case based on everything else. What if anybody is pressing charges? If anybody presses charges, it's the county.
Starting point is 00:41:34 It's not the families. Can I say something to her real quick? Yes. Can I just like, He's on he's music TCC the reason he's early is like Jesus T second is I do feel these I season's he's a reason you can you know like can I just like Like take my whole license away for like 10 years or something like that I do have a lawyer like doctor. Um, my daughter was living with them Well, it is how so all based most of her time. I believe her purse is already so was
Starting point is 00:42:04 Her purse is with us. So is Davian. Her purse is with us. Yeah. What's your purse? It's Christian Dior. Okay, not the Michael Kors. If you were really confused just now, and not sure if you're hearing English at the end there, that's because Mackenzie turned to her mother to speak some variation of Pig
Starting point is 00:42:21 Latin before asking the officer if she could just, you know, have her license revoked for 10 years or something. But just wait, it gets worse. We got sent to this call. Here's what we find out. Here's, you know, the evidence we have. Whether it's for her or against her, we just give them everything.
Starting point is 00:42:43 Everything that I have, every piece of paper that I write on, he will get all of it. I see my notes, my reports, all the other officers' reports, body cams, everything. Okay. And then the comedy side. Wait, there's videos, there's the, they had body cameras on when they... Oh, every single officer is wearing a body cam. Oh my god, can I please see it?
Starting point is 00:42:58 Oh no. Not at this point. No. Why can't I see it? Not right now. Because it's not clear proof. This is, right now this is all evidence. Okay. Everything's evidence.
Starting point is 00:43:06 Okay. This is just the... Well, after it's evidence, am I able to see it? Yeah, after the evidence, after this is all over, you'll be able to see whatever you want. It's all public record. You can come get a copy of everything we do. Yes. Lying in the hospital bed, she really asked the police officers investigating the crash
Starting point is 00:43:24 if she could see the body cam footage. Her father responded, no, because it's not going to be pretty. How cold does your soul have to be to act this way? You've just accidentally or maybe not, killed your boyfriend and your friend, and you want to see the body cam footage of these poor police officers discovering the whole mess? Why? So you can cover your ass?
Starting point is 00:43:57 This isn't the only instance of Mackenzie's odd behavior after the deaths of Davion and Dominic. Dominic's family had been having strange interactions with Mackenzie since the crash. Here's Dominic's mother, who happens to be a defense attorney herself. She did say something that was pretty damning the other day.
Starting point is 00:44:25 Have you seen her in person or just- I've just seen her twice at the cemetery. How does she get there? Can she drive? Takes her in the, uh, is she in a wheelchair still? Yeah, she can only put weight on her left leg. And then she's supposed to start some physical therapy. And then I'd also have to touch cause she's dangling photos, she's dangling videos, you know, but she just pieces one or two out instead of saying I think you'd enjoyed it. Like we were at the cemetery and we
Starting point is 00:44:54 had this bee problem between the two of us. I still have the bee problem, the few people are coming today. But Dom had called me about the bees and I don't know what she was recording but it's all his voice, at least, you know, because it has his voice. So she finally sends me memoir. But it's like every single time we try to get a picture, she's all over my son, so I can't even get one without her. And he catered to her.
Starting point is 00:45:18 She claimed she had a gluten-free problem or something. And I would make dinner, and I would be questioned on was the stuff okay for her diet because her stomach and if I didn't have everything that would have complied with her stomach diet whatever it was I never believed it he would cook for her supper always and she's a slum she never cleaned her mother's house as a slob. My house isn't the greatest either, but I'm just saying it's just, you know, if Dom's gonna cook for you, do the dishes. Clean up after yourself. Do you know what I mean? That sort of a thing. But everything was always about her. I mean, like I said, even with her parents. So while
Starting point is 00:46:04 Kenzie was in the hospital, they were already making up stories. Right, right. Okay, as to what happened. But the deer, the epilepsy, the seizure. Oh, and the point of all of that is the fact that the mom never said, at the kids' home, she never checked in with me ever.
Starting point is 00:46:21 I think the only time they would ever come over would be once on a blue moon to drop something off or to take pictures for someone back. Do you know what I'm saying? But Kenzie, I mean, Dom took her to Polaris. Dom made sure she made it to school. Mom didn't do any of that, okay? So it was all Dom.
Starting point is 00:46:43 But the girl had no problem sitting with me, looked me in the eye. One of these girls can't look me in the eye. And that right there bothers me. You can't look at me and you can't talk to me. I feel that there's something more. Kenzie was always okay with that. You know, came in wet, had no problems walking into my house. And it was, you know what I mean? And I just... and she would come walking to my house and it was, you know what I mean? And I just... That means you're gonna like her. Cause you didn't feel like she was happy.
Starting point is 00:47:07 She was always there, right? And she gave over for holidays and they'd include me and things like that, you know? And I just figured maybe she just needs to grow up. She's young. I mean, do you know what I'm saying? Don't think that it's gonna come to this. I mean, I feel bad, build the girl forever.
Starting point is 00:47:32 I mean, I can't imagine what she's feeling, like whether she did it on purpose or she claims she knows nothing, she remembers nothing. And even saying that all of Dom's problems were because of her and being upset. And I needed to realize that she wasn't as sweet and innocent as I thought she was. It's heartbreaking to me because like the day before I went to Florida, which is the last time I seen him face to face. He was really just talking to me about, yeah, about like how he can't keep lighting Kenzie
Starting point is 00:48:13 like one his life, but not even an aspect like that. Like he said, like, all right, for example, you know how I was saying how he can't go to, like he can't go out with even me occasionally because she's upset about it and this and that. He said that she holds him back. I think he was really, honestly, finally getting to the point to where even if she was saying,
Starting point is 00:48:33 well, I'm going to hurt you, he would have maybe even taken that chance. It's been more than two years. He'll be like, dude, he would be so nice and as accommodating as possible to stop the fight and she'd be one of those people that is just petty petty petty petty. He's just like I remember times him like expressing to me how frustrated that he was saying I do everything I can for this girl. I asked her what's upsetting you I'm making it better this and that blah blah and she finds like any single thing just be mad at me about, you know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:49:07 It's like I witnessed it a lot too, like um, I don't know, even stuff with... Did you ever see her hit him? Put her hands on him? Her hit him. Like just go, you know, or throw stuff at him or? Um, no. Actually, now that you say that, I remember several times now, because my memory is getting jogged, that he would say, Mom, can you get Kenzie out of here?
Starting point is 00:49:31 She's refusing to leave. Refusing to leave. She's out of control. She's hit me. I do remember that. I never witnessed it. And then I would get on the phone and say, just leave and go home. There's times, there's multiple times,
Starting point is 00:49:46 even pretty recently before all this, that Don would have to call Kenzie's parents, call her mom and stuff and say, hey, you need to come get Kenzie out of here. She's refusing to leave my house, she's being crazy. And it'd be a situation where they'd be in a fight. Keep in mind something stupid that she started. And he's like, listen, he's like, just like just go home He's like we'll hang out tomorrow
Starting point is 00:50:07 It'll be like a whole like new thing. Mm-hmm. He finally they get her out She's the type to show back up at his house pound on his window. No, I'm coming in blah blah blah We're talking this shit out right now Like before you live you lied and said you would never lock me out of the house again That is why we got back together last time we broke up. But I forgot. You broke up with me earlier. Because you are a little fucking weak bitch.
Starting point is 00:50:33 You broke up with me earlier. You 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. Open. Kenzie, let me go to dinner. No, look, look, let me go to dinner. No, no. No, no, no.
Starting point is 00:50:47 You can let me go to dinner and then I can let you come over later. No, you're not, because I'm coming to dinner too. I'm coming to dinner too. Why? You should have told me you wanted to come. You fucking retargeted. You already put me on the reservation.
Starting point is 00:51:00 So fucking open the door, you dumbass. Like open the door. I know, let's just go back slow then. No, we're not going next door. No, we are not letting you in the house. We need to talk first, no? Because you just like betrayed me. All right, we can talk outside.
Starting point is 00:51:13 Here, come on down. Don't try to come in. Dom, if you do not open, like you think I'm joking. You think I'm joking. You think I'm joking. You think I'm joking. You think I'm joking. Like, I'm deadass. What? What are you deadass about? You know exactly what I mean. Because you don't know exactly what I mean. You're gonna come open this door right now, or there's gonna be a serious fucking problem.
Starting point is 00:51:39 Kenzie, I really don't think I can. Like, why can't we just do this shit? Like, why can't we just do this later? You're not doing it later because I'm coming to dinner. You have five seconds to open the door. Wait, you wanna come to dinner with us? You wanna come to dinner with us? Is that what you're saying? Open the door right now.
Starting point is 00:51:54 You can come to dinner with us if you want. Open the door. Kenzie, if you want, you can come to dinner with us. Tom, if you don't open the door, I'm peeing your car. All right, is the door unlocked? I'm about to test it. No, Kenzie, it's not locked. So why are you acting like this? Tom, I'm gonna give you one in the last second, or I'm gonna have to key your car.
Starting point is 00:52:14 Why? Why? Why would you- why would that ever be like an option? Because we're broken up, if you don't let me in the house. I'm breaking up. I will break up with you. I'm going to break up with you if you do not open this fucking door. You literally took all your shit and left. I thought breaking. I will break up with you I'm going to break up with you. You know open this fucking door. You really took all your shit left I thought like you didn't want to be here To know what the actual fun
Starting point is 00:52:35 Well, I just broke your fucking key thing so that sucks Come I will break it. I will break. I do I feel like call the police Why would you call the police? Just listen to this narcissistic, entitled, and We are done if you do not let me in the house and I sleep in every night. We are done Just listen to this narcissistic entitled Childlike brat that has apparently never been told no in her entire fucking life She's just hearing that word for the first time just now the verbal kicking the stompingping, the crying, the wheeey, like a toddler angrily making noises and stomping their feet because their pacifier fell to the ground
Starting point is 00:53:35 and screaming is the only way to combat the force of gravity. She's literally threatening to call the police whilst committing a crime. What a fucking moron. She'd make threats. He'd definitely say that she's the kind of person to follow through with those threats. He believed she would follow through? Yeah, not like, I mean, obviously everybody makes
Starting point is 00:54:02 false threats and empty threats and stuff like that. But some of the stuff he would or she would say, I do remember him telling me, yeah, Kenzie's crazy, she would actually probably do that shit. I mean, that's the problem. You know, she threatened him constantly. I told you it was one week before we had to pick him up on the highway when she threatened to crash the car gun. Okay? okay it's not I was on with Dom Dom she sat there and text me Dom was out of control Dom was very calm so mom
Starting point is 00:54:32 you need to come get me that's his thing. We did see those uh yeah that's one of the things we wanted to bring up was that right he they were on the side of the road and she said I'm calling the police if you don't get him and I said you can I on the phone saying she can call the police all she wants but we are on our way what are the police gonna do if she had called the police the numerous times she apparently threatened to maybe these kids would have been forced to break up a long time ago. Maybe Mackenzie would be in juvie, and Dominic and Davion would still be alive. Mackenzie was known for making threats though, most of them empty.
Starting point is 00:55:15 The police from the forensic vehicle inspection came back and showed that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the car. It worked fine. Well, not after the crash, but you know what I mean. Images of Mackenzie trapped in the car that day with her fuzzy Prada slipper pressing the accelerator to the floor suddenly looked even more suspicious. We don't have details about this, but it's on record that Mackenzie drove that exact
Starting point is 00:55:45 route a few days prior. She was casing the joint. Investigators also knew that Mackenzie had threatened to crash the car with Dominic in it just a few weeks before, and it seemed increasingly probable that this was a threat she followed through with. What's the easiest choice you can make? Window instead of middle seat? Picking a vendor who sends a great gift basket? Outsourcing business tasks you hate? What about selling with Shopify? Whether you're selling a little or a lot,
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Starting point is 00:58:45 detectives in Strongville, Ohio, diligently conducted interviews, reviewed evidence, and methodically built their case. As they pieced together the puzzle, the evidence increasingly pointed towards the driver, 17-year-old Mackenzie Schrilla, leaving little room for doubt. So since the crash and the passing of Dominic, has she been in contact with you? Has she reached out to you? She texted me multiple times. I could read you the text word for word. She never once, never once said, I'm sorry for your loss. She never once said once said I'm sorry for your loss she never once said I'm so sorry for what happened she never once took responsibility
Starting point is 00:59:28 not even having to take any responsibility just saying I'm sorry Dom's gone like anything but she asked me for forgiveness about 10 times saying I hope that you forgive me I still want to be a part of your family oh listen I'll just show you the text and make it easy she She texted me on August 6th, okay? Before that, the last time she texted me was May 7th. Okay, wonderful. So May 7th? Was the last time she texted me
Starting point is 00:59:52 and it was just to say Dom's phone died. The last time she texted me before that was she was asking me if I could do homework for her because she was too lazy to do her math work. Wow. And I mean, honestly, like, I mean- So May 7th and then when was the next time after May 7th? What was the date? August 6th. Which was after the crash. I think that was the day she got her phone back.
Starting point is 01:00:12 And you could read it. This is what she said word for word. August. Hey Angelo, I don't know if you hate me but tomorrow for the funeral would you be able to go in Dom's room and grab some photos from his desk for me and him so I could put them into the casket so he can be with me forever? Doesn't say sorry, doesn't say nothing, doesn't say anything, shit. It says, hey Angelo, I don't know if you hate me, but can you go grab pictures of us
Starting point is 01:00:40 and put them in his casket so I can be with him forever? How, like, honestly, how psychotic does that sound? That sounds fucking twisted. She texted me again after that all just to say please let me know She texted me again August 23rd actually she did say sorry one time first time that she ever said this She said here. We agree if you want says hi Angelo. I just wanted to say I'm so sorry I know you probably think this is all my fault, and I'm not asking you to feel bad for me But I just wanted to say I'm so sorry, and I know you miss him so much
Starting point is 01:01:15 I wish he was here too. This should have never happened. He loves you so much and IK you I know you know you know that I don't even know what to say to you or just feel so bad I hope you guys can forgive me because I always look at you guys as family you don't even need to respond to me just wanted you to know I'm so sorry okay but see even these texts Um that she sent me even in this one Okay, it would it maybe would have been something if it's like hey if it was just i'm so sorry I'm so sorry, you know, but then she has to go just one line
Starting point is 01:01:59 It's one sentence of i'm so sorry and then it goes I know you probably think this is all my fault and i'm gonna ask you to feel bad for me Why would I feel bad for you in this situation? How to take you one sentence of saying sorry and then just to go to that. It should literally be like, I'm so sorry. I bought the paint. I should all be about who you're texting. She's worried about what you think of her. So she's using the, I'm sorry. Like the whole, the whole, like the whole entire,
Starting point is 01:02:21 like the whole entire consistency of her is just self. It's just, she's just self self absorbed and self-sum. Everything that she texts me, even if she's finally saying, I'm sorry, it's about her. It's not even about me. So I know since we gave her the phone, she's been back active on social media and all that. Any of your friends screenshot you anything? Have you, you know, we've received some photos of her in the wheelchair out and about.
Starting point is 01:02:49 I could definitely get some screenshots. The, I'm not on social media much at all. Okay. But the first thing I did hear of at the time, we didn't even know if this was her mom or her or what. Cause we didn't even know if she was even awake to use a phone. We didn't know what sort of her injury was or anything, you know?
Starting point is 01:03:06 And the first thing I seen from her, she didn't text my mom. She didn't text me. She didn't text my dad. She didn't text anybody in my family. The first thing I seen from her contacting anybody was she texted a modeling agency that reached out to her and said something. And she went on Instagram.
Starting point is 01:03:25 Here's what the company commented on one of Mackenzie's photos. We love this look, Kenzie Sharilla. Can we use this post on our website and emails? We'll make sure you're credited. Reply to this comment with hashtag community if so. Most of us have probably gotten comments like this in our own Instagram accounts, and we
Starting point is 01:03:45 all know it's spam we should ignore. But Mackenzie's mother, Natalie, jumped at the opportunity and replied to the comment with her own account, typos and all. She said, Ben McKenzie chimed in from her hospital bed and commented, it is for everybody else or maybe even a little bit more painful. Heart emoji." Ben McKenzie chimed in from her hospital bed and commented, I was trying to find out if she was on Instagram or if they wanted to use your picture before texting. Several people in Minnesota. Many, many people in between that should have gotten that text beforehand. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 01:04:51 And then, like her mom, her dad, has said she'll never even text me once. I already had, I already previous to this, had somewhat of a relationship with her mom, talking about her daughter's issues or whatever, and what I think or whatever, and you know, and it wasn't like we never talked before. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 01:05:07 I come say hi to her in the driveway, but she was driving off, and before she was driving, it was a while ago, but. But she definitely has your number, she could've pissed off. She's never said not even a word, not a peep, neither from her dad or nothing. Some people, not very many,
Starting point is 01:05:23 but a few still wanted to defend McKenzie and her lack of remorse. They're called the enablers. And a lot of bad people have a lot of those people in their life. One of those people was her friend Paul, the host of the party. This is all speculation, but at this point, you know, yeah, Kenzie, if you're on social media, did you see Kenzie talking with this modeling company after the crash, after we gave her a phone back? I saw people talking about that.
Starting point is 01:05:58 Yeah, what did you see? Just people really enraged. Enraged about what? That she was talking to a modeling company. Yeah, did you see how happy her mom was that she's, that the modeling company is talking to her? Just people really enraged. Enraged about what? That she is talking to a modeling company. Yeah, to see how happy her mom was that she's, that the modeling company is trying to help her plan her future. She just killed her boyfriend and another kid with a very bright future.
Starting point is 01:06:16 She killed two people. And the reaction is, I'm worried about my modeling career. Instead of, that's what I'm saying, weigh all that. As the time comes, people can put on a really good show about how devastated they are, but then you look at their social media and you're back talking about your career and your future plans. If I kill my friends or if I'm responsible for the death of somebody, it's devastating. You know, and I hope you never ever have to experience that. But the reaction that you saw and that we saw is something that is intriguing. All this evidence was certainly intriguing enough for the county prosecutor to pursue
Starting point is 01:06:59 charges against McKenzie. And after a very slow and secretive investigation, she was officially charged in November of 2022. Mackenzie would face four counts of murder and felonious assault, two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and one count of drug possession. Oh, and also one count of possessing criminal tools.
Starting point is 01:07:25 Where is she? Right back there, pal. Hi, Mackenzie. 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 two. Okay? Nobody's gonna ask you any questions. Nobody's going to bother you.
Starting point is 01:07:46 Can I 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. Mackenzie and her defense attorneys decided a bench trial would be the best route. This meant that she would skip the whole jury trial and the judge alone would hear her case and decide her fate. It's quite a gamble.
Starting point is 01:08:08 You gotta get a good judge in there that you think you can get on their side somehow. This is just a hunch, but perhaps her defense attorneys knew that she'd be perceived pretty badly by a jury. A jury that's probably had plenty of experience with bratty children and have maybe taught them better. Anyway, they probably hoped they would get lucky if they only had to convince one person. If that was their plan, it turned out to be a bad one. In a bench trial, the judge sits as the jury and the finder of fact as well as the rule of law and it is a reminder of just how difficult the job it is to serve as the finder of fact. Whether it's a bench trial or a jury
Starting point is 01:08:54 trial the rules of law are the same. I have done what I am sworn to do. I have carefully and deliberately considered all the evidence in this case, including the testimony of the witnesses, the science, the expert opinions offered, the medical evidence, physical evidence, the photographs, and the video evidence. This trial is a combination of decisions made by one person. Those decisions have forever altered the futures of three families and of you also, and your decisions forever rob Dominic and Tabiana of the futures they had before them. If there is one thing that can be taken away from this case, as painful as it is, it is this, every decision we make is important. Every action we make is important. Regardless of whether the decision is a good one or a
Starting point is 01:09:53 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. 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 this exhibit. It's chilling and tragic. As you review that exhibit, you know that you are watching the oncoming death of two people,
Starting point is 01:10:28 and there is nothing that will stop it. The video clearly shows the purpose and intent of the defendant. She chose a course of death and destruction and pain. The exhibit 802 crystallizes the dandy decision making of the defendant. She morphs from a responsible driver to literal hell on wheels, and she makes her way down the street. Mackenzie alone made the decision to drive her car, to drive an obscure route, a route she visited a few days before, and her rapid opportunity to take a drive.
Starting point is 01:11:07 Mackenzie Olam chose the time to make the drive early in the morning, when any reasonable person would expect that few people would be nearby to wait to 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 car with her, other people, other cars, pedestrians. She had a mission and she executed it with
Starting point is 01:11:32 precision. The mission was death. The difference between this and a jury trial is that when the verdict is read in a jury trial, it happens all at once. Mackenzie had to listen to this judge's speech and slowly piece together where she was going with it. Kind of like Alec Baldwin if you saw that happen. Boy, what a clusterfuck, huh? Anyway, before she even got to the verdict, Mackenzie knew what it would be. She sobbed and listened as this judge read out guilty verdicts for every single count. Her parents sat behind her looking, shocked, apparently, that there was going to be some accountability, a word that they had apparently never heard of before. When it came to her sentencing hearing in August of 2023, just like any other defendant, Mackenzie's friends and family were
Starting point is 01:12:31 permitted to speak on her behalf. My name is Natalie Shavilla. I just want to say, am I allowed to address them at all? I just want to say to the families that I'm broken, sad, and lost, and my heart hurts for everyone. Okay? Davian was my new friend, and Don was the love of her life, and he was part of our family. Okay? I'm just so sorry that this happened when we were heartbroken. Okay? And then, Your Honor, this was a terrible, tragic, nightmare accident to have happened that she has no memory of and she will never emotionally or physically recover from it. She almost died too.
Starting point is 01:13:12 And we're asking that you please not run the sentence as consecutive. He was family and we all loved each other. In the hospital, that vitality post, I commented on that because somebody had called her a murderer, okay, and she wouldn't, she's not a murderer, so she didn't even have her phone at that point because the police had still had it, okay, so I jumped on and I was like, you know, she's not a murderer, she's more sad than her than most of these people commenting. I had called them asking if they could shut down social media because people were calling her a murderer and making death threats and organizing groups to you know take her
Starting point is 01:13:51 out when she got out of the hospital and stuff. So I didn't even want her phone. I don't care about her phone. I don't care about social media. I just wanted them to stop calling her a murderer so that when she did come to and she did come out of surgery, multiple surgeries, that she wouldn't see all these people calling her a murderer because she would never ever, ever murder the love of her life. Okay, everything she did after the accident was either in honor of him, to be close to him, or just be by him any way that she can. She's like devastated and tragic. He was the air
Starting point is 01:14:26 that she breathes, okay, and they went with his cousin. We spent all kinds of time with him after the accident. What was the other thing? I'm hearing an awful lot about your daughter. I'm not hearing very much about the two of them. Dominic, okay, I'm asking you for leniency because this was a tragic action that she does not remember. And Davion, we don't, he's a new friend. I'm so sorry. Does that mean his wife is work-class? No, no, no, no. No. God, no, not at all. They all, they all loved each other. They all spent every day together. You know what I mean? I don't I don't know Sorry
Starting point is 01:15:13 It's not a problem at all it was wonderful I Understand I understand what it looks like I'm I'm saying that it was a tragic accident she would never I understand what it looks like. I'm saying that it was a tragic accident. She would never. We're going to have to dispose of it. I understand. I respect the decision. I understand. But anyway, that's it. I just wanted to address those. We told her to go to those things and then she did go with Dom's family. So look at that. Don't look at him with the... look on that with different eyes if you can, please.
Starting point is 01:15:43 This is... that, those things are not relevant. Not at all, not at all, not at all. But, she's a good, if you would, if you would have a moment, all you would need is five minutes of a conversation to have with her, to learn who she is. Just, that, you would just need five minutes to learn who she is and what she's capable of not doing and doing, and you would see for yourself. That's all. I'm so sorry guys. I'm sorry. I love you. The apple does not fall far from the tree.
Starting point is 01:16:15 Mackenzie spoke after her mother. My family, I've done a deal. So deeply sorry. I hope one day you can see how I never let this happen or do it on purpose. I wish I could remember what happened. I'm just so sorry I'm heartbroken. I love Tom and Davia. We were all friends and Donald was my soulmate. I wish I could take all your pain away. I'm so sorry. And to my family, thank you for the support and all the love you guys did. Thank you for playing with me. I love you all so much. The victim impact statements from this case are a tragic juxtaposition to the empty excuses and late apologies offered by Mackenzie and her family.
Starting point is 01:17:00 Here's Davion's little sister. Hi, Your Honor. My name is Devion Flanagan. Davion's little sister. We all got adopted together in 2012. After Dave Brown passed away, a lot of trauma and past pain has came into my life. He was the person I trusted the most because he made me feel safe. I hate the fact that he is gone because someone decided to take his wife. Now that Dave Brown is gone, I feel stuck. I feel as if I can't move forward. I feel lost. He was the one I can't move forward. I feel lost. He was the one who picked me up when I fell. He was my best friend and the only person that had saved me from the out of the board. Respect Christine Russo and Dominic Smulder.
Starting point is 01:18:02 No one wanted this to be a murder. We want to punish Mackenzie Sherilla for this accident. This was not a car accident. Evidence and signs proved that Mackenzie Sherilla murdered my son, Dominic, as well as Damian. There's no fix put in this case. This is sure as like your client. I want to thank the Strongville 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 three children in that crash.
Starting point is 01:18:47 And a minute goes by each day that I don't think about my son. I lost Avia. My heart was forever broken. The cries heard from the Shrove family and friends after the verdict are nothing more than a lack of remorse. Mackenzie Searling had a choice. Down in Davion did not. We were all left carrying more. July 31, 2022.
Starting point is 01:19:19 Colby, Mackenzie's mother, hysterical at the loss of her son in the A.M. I knew Kenzie was in the hospital. The first statement said to me was, Oh, please don't listen to what everyone's saying on Facebook. Yeah, my son's dead. His friend is dead, and I'm checking in on the news. Social media is what's important. Social media has made a game in spite of the life of Mackenzie and has made a big game
Starting point is 01:19:52 out of this heartbreaking tragedy. You can only imagine the pain of losing a child unless they've lost one themselves. The pain is forever more. Time does not heal this wound. Mackenzie went to prison because you did this. Be thankful that you're still alive and in the future, whatever that may be. Dom and Davion were proud of their futures, their hopes, and their dreams. As we show no mercy, I'm Dominic, Lord of the Cheon Navion, only God at this time can have mercy on us all. Thank you. If any reasonable person reviews exhibit 802, there can be no doubt in the absolute terror of the two people in that car.
Starting point is 01:20:50 The defendant controlled all the events. She chose the day. Specifically, she chose the 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 parkway. She chose the target to hit and the victims. She chose the means and the method to follow through. She planned and purposefully executed the events of July 31st, 2022. In the testimony, the BMV official who provided evidence that not only did the defendant deny
Starting point is 01:21:25 any medical condition when applying for her license, which her mother co-signed and attested to, but also that just after the accident, Mackenzie 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. It is also important to remember that even if Mackenzie intended to also die in this crash that is irrelevant, a failed suicide attempt is not a defense to murder.
Starting point is 01:22:10 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, Mackenzie. Nobody else is responsible. This isn't the fault of Dominic's family or Davion's family or your family. There's a very good likelihood, Mackenzie, that you will spend the rest of your life in prison. That won't be up to me.
Starting point is 01:22:42 That will be up to the parole board and that will be up to you to a great extent. I understand that the pain in this room wants me to impose the harshest sentence, but I don't believe that would be the appropriate sentence, because I do believe that Mackenzie will not be out in 15 years. So she's sentenced on count two, the murder of Davion Flanagan, 15 years to life. She's sentenced on count one, the murder of Dominic Russo, 15 years to life, to be served, concurrent to each other, with credit for time served. As far as we're aware, Mackenzie and her family still claim her innocence to this day. Some people just never learn. We have no doubt that she will exhaust her appeal efforts.
Starting point is 01:23:34 17-year-old Mackenzie Shrilla's mission was death, literally. Literally. As the judge said, she changed the course of history with one decision. I'm going to be a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a
Starting point is 01:24:20 little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a So I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man
Starting point is 01:24:56 I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man Well, that does it for another one. If you like the show, head on over to the old website, swordandscale.com. There's a brand new episode of Sword and Scale television there waiting for you. It's episode seven.
Starting point is 01:25:40 You might like it if you're into this whole true crime shenanigans business nonsense. Check it out and stay safe. Oh, oh, oh, O'Reilly O-O-O-O Riley! Need a little help? O'Reilly Auto Parts can help. Need advice? We've got advice. No matter what you need, we have thousands of professional parts people doing their part to make sure you have it.
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