Ohio teen Mackenzie Shirilla who intentionally killed her boyfriend and pal in 100mph crash is sentenced to 15 years to life in prison
An Ohio teenager who killed her boyfriend and one of his friends in an intentional 100mph crash has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
Mackenzie Shirilla, 20, sobbed as she learned her sentence on Monday for the murders of her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and his 19-year-old friend Davion Flanagan in July 2022.
‘She had a mission, and she executed it with precision. The mission was death,’ Judge Nancy Margaret said in handing down the sentence.
In November, she was charged with murder, aggravated vehicular homicide, felonious assault, despite insisting that the crash was an accident.
Prosecutors said she was on a ‘mission of death’ that she saw as her way out of their toxic relationship and that she’d scouted out the route a week before she killed him and his friend, who was ‘cargo’.
Mackenzie Shirilla, 20, broke down in tears on Monday as she was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for murdering his boyfriend and a friend in a deliberate car crash
Mackenzie Shirilla with boyfriend Dominic Russo. She was convicted of his murder on Monday
Russo said Monday the most significant piece of evidence against Shirilla was the ‘chilling and tragic’ surveillance footage, which shows her accelerating to smash her Toyota Camry into the wall of a commercial building.
‘This is the type of evidence you can never unsee,’ said Russo.
She said that Shirilla, who was 17 years old at the time of the crash, was a ‘literal hell on wheels.’
Last week, when Shirilla was convicted after a four-day, non-jury trial, Russo said the two men in the car experienced sheer terror as she drove them to their deaths.
‘There can be no doubt as to the absolute terror of the two people in that car,’ she said.
‘This was not reckless driving. This was murder.’
Shirilla’s Toyota Camry is pictured after the crash in July 2022
The judge on Monday said there was ‘no doubt of the absolute terror of the two people in that car’
The court was shown footage of Shirilla accelerating into a wall at 100mph
Shirilla’s lawyers had argued the crash was an accident.
The killer, who did not testify during trial, spoke before the court before the sentence was read.
‘The families of Dominic and Davion, I’m so deeply sorry. I hope one day you can see I would never let this happen or do it on purpose. I wish I could remember what happened,’ she said crying.
‘We were all friends, and Dom was my soul mate,’ she said.
‘I wish I could take all your pain away. And to my family, thank you for the support and all the love you guys give. I love you all so much.’
She and the two victims had been smoking marijuana before the collision. Her family said she plans to appeal the verdict.
In one TikTok, she stares at the camera and declares: ‘I’m just one of those girls that can do a lot of drugs and not die.’
After the crash, Shirilla searched the internet for Los Angeles modeling jobs, from her hospital bed.
Following her release, she attended a music concert in a wheelchair and was in a TikTok video for Halloween, dancing with friends dressed as what appears to be a corpse.
As she was led away in handcuffs after learning her fate, one relative shouted: ‘We love you, Kenz.’
Another shouted: ‘You’re innocent.’
Russo, 20, and Davion Flanagan, 20, died in the crash that was caught on film and described by the judge as a key piece of evidence
Shirilla cries in court as she was convicted of murder for the fatal crash
Before Shirilla was sentenced, relatives of the two victims addressed the court.
Dominic’s mother, Christine Russo, told her: ‘Mackenzie, going to prison because you did this, be thankful you’re still alive and have a future, whatever that may be.
‘Dom and Davion were robbed of their futures, their hopes and their dreams.
‘Mackenzie showed no mercy on Dominic nor did she on Davion, only God at this time can have mercy on her soul.’
Davion Flangan’s mother said his death has left their family devastated.
His sister, Davyne Flanagan, said: ‘I feel stuck, I feel like I can’t move forward. I feel lost.
‘I would like you to give Mackenzie the longest possible sentence. I’ve known her for about three years and she’s always taking the easy way out.’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12430391/Mackenzie-Shirilla-boyfriend-crash-sentence.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 Ohio teen Mackenzie Shirilla who intentionally killed her boyfriend and pal in 100mph crash is sentenced to 15 years to life in prison