Mackenzie Shirilla | New Netflix Doc ‘The Crash’ Reignites Debate

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:14]Hey everyone, welcome back to Crime Weekly News. I'm Derek Levasser >> and I'm Stephanie Harlo >> and we're going to be talking about a case today that is all over the internet. Give you a quick summary here.

[00:00:25]On a summer morning in July of 2022, in the quiet suburb of Strongsville, Ohio, a black Toyota Camry made a slow, deliberate turn down an industrial road and then accelerated. In less than half a mile, it hit 100 mph. Seconds later, it slammed into the brick wall of a warehouse with such force that two young men inside were killed instantly. The driver, a 17-year-old, walked away with her life and eventually a murder conviction. Her name was Mackenzie Schrill and the boys in the car were her boyfriend Dominic Russo and his best friend Davian Flanigan. And the question that prosecutors, investigators, and now Netflix have spent the last four years trying to answer is a simple one but with a chilling answer. Was this a tragic accident or was it murder? And before we start talking about it, shout out to my brother Matt who is who was watching our last our Brandy Hall series.

[00:01:18]>> Like I said, he's a firefighter. I told him he was mentioned in it, so you know, he had to go watch it. And he agrees with everything we said. By the way, what Randall did that day and as far as the the the communications and turning on his portable radio? Absolutely. He's like, "Yeah, dude. I have no investment." That guy was not in the building. But that's a side note. And then and then and then he switched it up and said, "Hey man, have you watched this documentary on Netflix yet?" And I'm like, "I'm not really into the, you know, true crime documentaries." And he's like, "You have to watch this. You have to watch it. It just came out. It's great. So, I'm like, "Okay, I'll watch it. I'll let you know what I think." I watched it. It was really well done. The story itself is crazy. So, then I when Stephanie got home from her vacation, I'm like, "Hey, you have to watch this Netflix, doc, and we have to talk about it this week cuz everybody is going to be talking about it." And here we are.

[00:02:08]>> And I did. I watched it.

[00:02:09]>> You did. And you were about to start talking about it on the phone. And I was like, "Wait, let's wait till we're recording."

[00:02:14]>> Yeah. Well, that's what I cuz it's in my head and I'm like I got to talk this out. So, basically the the documentary released May 15th, 2026. It's directed by Gareth Johnson and it revisits this July 2022 incident in Strongsville, Ohio, where 17-year-old Mackenzie Shrilla drove her car at over a 100 miles hour into a brick building. It killed her boyfriend Dominic Russo and his friend Davon Flanigan. So, McKenzie actually survived >> surprisingly. Yeah. We yeah, which we're going to talk about that, but she was convicted of murder in a 2023 bench trial. Uh she actually chose the bench trial and then she was sentenced to life with parole eligibility after 15 years.

[00:02:57]>> That's right.

[00:02:58]>> So, here's the backstory. All three of them, Dom and McKenzie and DaVon, they were at a party. So, some people say it's a graduation party. McKenzie refers to it as a sleepover, I guess. That's what her friend Rosie did as well.

[00:03:14]>> Yeah, that that's what they would do.

[00:03:15]They would kind of do these parties or get togethers, chill hangouts, whatever, and they'd get together. And then it was around, I guess, 5:30 in the morning that Dom, McKenzie, and Dave got into McKenzie's car to, I guess, head back home. So McKenzie was driving, Dom was in the passenger seat, Davien was in the back, and McKenzie turned from Pearl Road uh onto Progress Drive, and this was a pretty normal sort of driving. It was controlled. It was deliberate.

[00:03:50]>> Yeah. She used her blinker.

[00:03:52]>> Mhm. Yep. And then she somehow or the car accelerated to 100 miles per hour, which is crazy. And >> And this isn't the longest road ever. It was she floor pedal to the floor.

[00:04:04]>> Yeah. Pedal to the metal. So now we have this car accident and I watched the documentary and it it opens up basically with body cam footage from the cops having to let the parents of these kids know that their their children their two sons are dead. And that broke me. So right away I'm like freaking Derek, man.

[00:04:23]Like I didn't I just got home from vacation. I'm in a in an okay mindset.

[00:04:27]And now you got me real messed up because uh the the one mother was like, "You're lying, right?" Like this is like she couldn't >> That was Mackenzie's mom.

[00:04:38]>> That was at the hospital. That was Mackenzie's mom and and dad. And basically they were saying they were at the hospital cuz McKenzie was there.

[00:04:45]Yes.

[00:04:46]>> And they were asking who else was she alone in the car? Were there other people? And they were very close with Dom. So obviously that's why they had that reaction.

[00:04:52]>> And they Yeah. they, you know, you could just, you couldn't, I don't know, it was really, it was upsetting to see. So, McKenzie's in the hospital and she's the only one that survived. I read through the report and everything, the police report. And when they got to the car as at the initial crime scene or accident scene, the police and the paramedics, they were like, "This is one of the worst things we've ever seen ever." Dave was in the back seat, but from the force of the car, it looks like he kind of had flown upwards. So, he was laying on top of >> um Dom, who was sitting in the front seat, and the passenger seat was reclined all the way back. So, Dom was in the passenger seat >> and I think Dave was still alive when they when they extracted them from the car and then they called in um ambulances, but by the time the helicopter came, Dave had passed away.

[00:05:45]And McKenzie gets brought to the hospital and then the police question her and she says she doesn't remember >> anything that happened.

[00:05:53]>> Yeah. She asked for a lawyer too pretty quickly as well.

[00:05:55]>> Well, the parents they were like, you know, >> yeah, maybe we should have a lawyer.

[00:05:58]>> And then but then they gave her phone over to the police right away.

[00:06:01]>> Right. Right. Well, it's, you know, not great. No, this this incident uh is very similar to an incident that I experienced as a police officer. Three students, high school students actually attended the same high school that I attended. um speeding at night and uh came around a turn too fast, hit a telephone pole, and when we got there, driver, they were all crushed in the car. Two people in the car died, driver survived. Uh they hit on the passenger side of the pole and the back passenger was alive when we got there.

[00:06:34]>> And they didn't even know how bad it was. But before, same exact thing.

[00:06:39]Within seconds, uh he was gone. and it shook up the the community, especially our high school. So, these are this is the unfortunate thing as a patrolman that you could run into potentially. And you can see the reaction from the patrolman when he got there. He thinks he's responding to an accident and then he gets there and realizes uh what he just walked into and >> he said he he said the car looked like it was almost cut in half.

[00:07:00]>> Yeah. Yeah. It split in two. Yeah. And there's a lot we we're going to talk about it all. There's a lot even from that body cam footage that you can dissect and then other body cam footage where you can start to put together a picture of what transpired even though we also have a lot of footage from the entire the entire night including the accident itself which I think is why this this documentary is so compelling because you don't have to you don't have to think about what it was or what happened.

[00:07:27]>> You don't have to envision it in your head. Yeah.

[00:07:29]>> It's bad. And I mean, initially when something like this happens, right, you've got Mackenzie was 17 and Dom was 20 and I think that Davian was 19. So you've got some young kids and they just came from a, you know, a hangout or graduation party and you're thinking, well, alcohol, drugs, like something had to have been involved at play here. But pretty uh shortly after McKenzie gets to the hospital and then the responding police officer goes to the hospital and he's told okay her blood alcohol level she she was not zero yeah no alcohol is involved here but then they found in in her in the car and on McKenzie's person they found marijuana and they found um mushrooms. Yeah, magic mushrooms right sin. So then then we're thinking well maybe drugs are involved >> right?

[00:08:16]>> But then that comes back negative as well. got THC in her system, but she was a habitual smoker. She smoked every single day, so that wouldn't have that wouldn't have messed up her driving.

[00:08:26]>> So, they said she smoked every day and also um drove while >> they played a freaking montage in the Netflix doc of just her just smoking out of a bong like they sure did. Yeah.

[00:08:36]Which is crazy to me to be that young that her parents were like, I we we understand she we know she smoked. It's also weird. Okay. Because >> Oh, God. Here we go. I know. was like, "I hate the I'm not going to tell you anything. I hate the parents." And I'm like, "I am going in with an open mind."

[00:08:52]And and at first I was like, "Oh, they're not that bad." And then I was like, "Oh, these are just these are Casey Anony's parents is they're enablers." Yeah, >> there was they're enablers for sure. And then there's like this contradictory element to to to basically McKenzie where she's so concerned about her health and eating right and all these things. But and you know, you can you can say what you want about weed. You know, some people believe in it, some people don't, whatever. But what we do know because it was said in the doc is that she was smoking so much that she had like black or blood coming up and so she was actually on a a break from smoking because of it. So it's like you're eating all this healthy food but you're doing something that's making you sick. Whatever.

[00:09:29]>> It just kind of felt like they let her do whatever she wanted. So she's 17 years old. They let her move in with her boyfriend who's >> Can we put Can we talk about that though? Because I mentioned it in Instagram. That's fine. 1720. I still don't love it. But >> I don't think she should be living with him, though.

[00:09:45]>> But no, but Stephanie, they started dating when she was 13.

[00:09:48]>> That That's fine. But when you're 18, you can move out and live with your boyfriend. But you're 17.

[00:09:52]>> What do you think about the fact that she was 13 and he was 17?

[00:09:57]>> I don't like it. I don't like it.

[00:09:58]>> Okay. Cuz I Tenley's 13.

[00:10:00]>> Yeah. I mean, I have a 14-year-old son.

[00:10:03]>> If she came home and told me she had a boyfriend and he's 17 years old, that's a big difference developmentally.

[00:10:10]>> Yeah. So even allow that. And they said things like, "Oh, well, he had money. He would buy her >> gift money cuz we knew, you know, she likes money. She likes things. She likes designer things." Like we knew that that boy had money. Yeah. Mm- don't like it.

[00:10:23]>> I I was like, "These guys are morons."

[00:10:26]And then he would go to the school. Did you do it? Oh, I know. And my daughter's lying.

[00:10:30]>> Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's I was just about to say they talk about like she's getting in trouble for bullying. There's all these people like she bullied me and my friends for no reason. And then they're like, "Yeah, we had to go to the school." And I said, "Mackenzie, did you do it?" And she was like, "No, daddy. Of course not." And he was like, "And I know my daughter. She would never." I mean, and then her mother's like, "She was a good kid. No problems except for her mouth." You know, it's like, well, yeah. So, they're clearly enablers. Like I said, these are Casey Anony's parents.

[00:10:58]The same kind of situation. And I get not wanting to be, you know, these authoritarian parents, but there is a point where you're like, "All right, like, do am I trying to put a good person out into the world or am I trying to put a monster into the world?" Now, here's the thing. She says she doesn't remember what happens. Okay?

[00:11:14]>> Right. She remembers turning onto the street.

[00:11:17]>> She remembers turning onto the street and then it faded to black.

[00:11:20]Okay.

[00:11:21]>> So, they start getting suspicious though because they had her phone now and they're kind of like looking at stuff on the phone and they're kind of getting an idea of who she is and what she's all about. And then there comes it comes to light that hey, her and Dom, her boyfriend, were having some issues. And just that same month, she had been driving him in a car and a family friend had to go pick him up because they were fighting in the car. And the family friend could hear Dom on the phone because he was in the car with Mackenzie still and Mackenzie was like, "I'm gonna crash this car." Yeah. Hench.

[00:11:52]>> Okay.

[00:11:53]>> So, so the family friend, this was just a few weeks before this happened. So, but then you talked to people who were at the party. They were talked to and they said, "Yeah, Mackenzie and Dom were in fighting. There was no issue."

[00:12:03]>> Rosie is another one. It was Rosie.

[00:12:05]Basically, >> Rosie didn't want to talk to the police, man.

[00:12:07]>> Rosie's never talked to the prosecutor.

[00:12:09]Doesn't want, you know, nothing to hide, but not willing to speak to anybody >> except for Netflix.

[00:12:13]>> Okay. Except for Netflix. Yeah. which the prosecutor was great on that, too.

[00:12:16]He's like, "Oh, she spoke to you. Can't wait to hear what she has to say."

[00:12:20]That's amazing.

[00:12:20]>> He's like, "We've been trying to talk to Rosie forever."

[00:12:22]>> Yeah.

[00:12:23]>> So, here's the thing that really kind of ties everything in, right? Because you could look at it and you could say, "All right, well, she was a kid. You know, she talks on her phone, they're fighting, they're young, whatever.

[00:12:36]>> That's not going to be this this thing that's going to kind of put put the nail in her coffin." But then you've got the event data recorder, >> basically the black box of the car, >> the black box of the car. And this captures the final 5 seconds before the impact.

[00:12:52]>> And this is the prosecution's centerpiece during the trial. So the accelerator was pressed at 100% capacity, like Derrick said, pedals to the metal. And it was held there for an extended period of time.

[00:13:05]>> Yep. The entire time.

[00:13:06]>> The brakes were never tapped. Not once.

[00:13:08]>> Not once. Yep. steering wheel turned slightly left then right before being straightened out for the final stretch into the building. And so investigators interpreted this back and forth steering as possible evidence that Dom and Dave tried to grab the wheel and force a hard right turn more than once to avoid the crash. as in like possibly McKenzie was stepping on the accelerator like I'm going to crash this car and the two other passengers in the car were trying to prevent this from happening. And surveillance footage from the surrounding businesses cuz this is an industrial area. It backed that up. So the car made a controlled deliberate turn and then accelerated for nearly half a mile before impact. So now we have this data, right? But still, okay, and I want to talk about this data with you, Derek, because I know you've you've looked at it and you've kind of analyzed it. But still, I'm not 100% sold on what happened here. And I'm going to tell you why. But before we get into that, let's take a break.

[00:14:10]You know what's funny? Sometimes the things that affect your day the most are the things you stop noticing. You know, the things you see and feel every single day.

[00:14:18]>> Like what?

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[00:14:38]>> Fair. Fair. No, I agree. I felt an immediate difference when I had Bowling Branch on my bed.

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[00:14:53]>> Yeah. And can I just say the waffle blanket super underrated.

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[00:16:08]All right, so we're back. So McKenzie, once again, she has no memory of this.

[00:16:13]And when we have her trial is only 4 days, I believe. So her mother testified that she had been diagnosed with POTS.

[00:16:22]So this is a nervous system disorder. It can cause sudden dizziness, blackouts.

[00:16:26]She had been diagnosed with POTS in 2017, and her mother was like, "Well, maybe this caused a medical emergency."

[00:16:35]and she lost consciousness.

[00:16:37]But the judge of the the bench trial didn't really buy it. And and a lot of people have said like, "Listen, if you're losing consciousness, how are you pushing your foot down on the gas?"

[00:16:48]Right.

[00:16:49]>> Contradictory. The two don't go hand in hand.

[00:16:51]>> Yeah. You're either passing out and you're out of you're not in control of the vehicle or you are. Make up your mind.

[00:16:55]>> Yeah. Because this isn't once again, this isn't even like, oh, I passed out and my foot maybe I slumped forward and my foot slightly pushed down. It's like, no, all the way down. And at trial, McKenzie's lawyer did raise this issue of the 2017 POTS diagnosis. This is something to do with like your autonomic nervous system, blood pressure. It can I looked into it um and I've heard about it before. It can cause sudden lightheadedness or brief blackouts.

[00:17:23]But here's the problem. McKenzie did not testify. Her mother testified about it, but McKenzie didn't testify. and the defense never put an actual expert medical testimony like forward during that trial showing that she had blacked out at the time of the crash. So, here's another thing though cuz more stuff has happened after the trial. So, I want to talk about this potential this potential that she had, you know, a medical emergency before we kind of get into it.

[00:17:54]So, there is real medical evidence now pointing towards a possible blackout or maybe even a seizure, but it is contested and it came after McKenzie's conviction. And so, it's never been weighed against the prosecution's case in court. In April, the defense filed a supplemental postconviction relief petition built around um this doctor uh Dr. Kimal. And Dr. Kamal had said that he looked at the the medical evidence and he's a neurologist at University Hospital in Cleveland and his conclusion was that the evidence was consistent with loss of consciousness at the time of impact and he pointed to three specific findings. Elevated lactate levels, abnormally low blood oxygen, I think if I remember correctly, her blood oxygen level was 82 and a normal blood oxygen level is 95. and then complete amnesia following the incident, which for me that's not a specific finding cuz she could just say she has complete amnesia a after the incident.

[00:18:56]>> That would be re that'd be the smart thing to do.

[00:18:59]>> Yeah. But Dr. um Kamali is saying she's got elevated lactate levels and abnormally low blood oxygen. And then this to him says that these are classic markers of a seizure or a similar autonomic event. and the defense says, you know, this is actually the kind of expert evidence that uh McKenzie's original attorney should have presented, but they didn't. And so, I could see an area where it's like you got a bad lawyer and they didn't prepare for trial and they should have put more evidence like from experts and and medical experts forward and that may have changed the tide >> maybe.

[00:19:37]>> But here's Yeah. I mean, this was dismissed. So this postconviction relief petition was built around >> yeah around the doctor's findings and the judge Nancy Russo rejected it but not because it was >> not without merit. It's because the filing was submitted one day past the statutory deadline. So the court ruled it timebarred as a matter of law meaning like it couldn't go through.

[00:20:05]>> So there's there's so much to unpack here and I mean we could talk about this. It was it's borderline a crime weekly episode. So, I'm going to try to be concise. I may miss some things, but here's the problem with that whole theory. First, let's go back to the EDR.

[00:20:18]>> One other thing you you didn't mention was the fact that the shifter went from drive to neutral, back to drive >> in addition to this left, right, left movement. And you can also see from the uh body cam footage that at the last moment, the vehicle veered to the right even before the intersection, it went over the grass, then went on the road, and then went into the building. So there was movement at that last moment to try to do something. Whatever it was, a fight over the wheel, whatever you have, there was something going on there. And I did a Tik Tok, I did an Instagram, even if we're looking at the EDR in my Instagram and Tik Tok, I had said that I believed, and the prosecutor laid this out, that the movements of that steering wheel could indicate a struggle over the wheel. I'm going to amend that a little bit, and I'm going to tell you why. And this was something that I kind of came to this morning. If you look at Progress Drive, it's not that long of a road. And we kind of we're doing surface level here, but there's camera footage of this whole thing, guys. If you haven't seen it, there's cameras all along this road up to the point where they hit the buildings, >> surrounded by businesses.

[00:21:23]>> And so it's like an industrial area. And so this road's not that long. And what you'll notice is that Progress Drive, as they take a as they take a right off of Pearl onto Progress, the road is mostly straight.

[00:21:36]until about the last maybe 300 feet before this intersection. And what you will notice if we have if you're watching on YouTube right now is the progress drive when it comes to this Almeida drive the intersection there at the last moment if you're traveling down this road it kind of has a bend to it.

[00:21:55]And if you're driving the vehicle you would have to go left and then turn the re wheel right to straighten it back out and then right a little bit more based on the angle they went. So when we think about 5 seconds at the rate of speed they were going. I think that 5 seconds is actually showing you that last little bend before going directly into the building. And what does that tell us? It contradicts the idea that there was someone behind the wheel who wasn't conscious. They consciously made that turn to go around that bend so they would make it to the wall. Otherwise, they would have went up on the grass right at that bend and they didn't. So, I've amended my theory on what I think happened slightly to I definitely think Dave and Dom were awake in the car. If you look at that footage when they're making the turn, there appears to be a light illuminating from the vehicle. It looks to me like it's the passenger side, which would suggest a phone that maybe Dom was on his phone.

[00:22:49]>> Well, Dave, al his friend said that he was talking to him on Snapchat, like and he could had his phone out, too. But what you're seeing in the camera footage, and obviously infrared's a little weird, but it looks to me like it's coming from the passenger seat. And so I think they're up. And by the way, they didn't have their their seat belts on, I don't believe. However, McKenzie did, which I guess she didn't normally wear her seatelt. That's we're going to talk about that as well. But I think they're driving down that road and as soon as she makes that turn, she steps on the gas and for the first like 15 seconds, they're rationalizing whether what are you doing? Stop. Slow down.

[00:23:23]Don't be stupid. This isn't that serious. And it's not until the last second when they realize she's not going to stop. And I do think that's when someone grabs the steering wheel, snaps it to the right, and it hits this the building at that angle. But I think that first left right is actually McKenzie adjusting the wheel, adjusting the vehicle to go around that bend on Progress Drive, which to me is even more damning to the idea that this was a medical emergency. Couple that with the fact that she had her foot to the floor, 100% acceleration the entire time is highly suggestive that she was doing that intentionally. If she had passed out, you would expect her to go limp.

[00:24:03]Even if she had a seizure, it would be intermittent. There'd be moments where it might be 95% pressure, 84% pressure, back to 100. It's consistent the entire 5 seconds, 100% foot to the floor. And I think there's a lot there that says this was deliberate. The motive is a little gray. That's why it's so fascinating because it doesn't make a lot of sense.

[00:24:27]And what I said in my my TikTok was, and this is speculative, and I want your opinion on this, Stephanie, and you guys weigh in in the comments as well because everybody's different. I'm I'm a night owl. Stephanie knows that. I sleep in.

[00:24:40]For me, they got to Rosy's house late or the friend's house late. I don't know if it was Rosy's house, but Rosie was there.

[00:24:45]>> Yeah, they got there. It wasn't Rosy's house, but it was like 11:30.

[00:24:48]>> 11:30. And originally, they had asked her to bring shrooms and maybe some weed.

[00:24:53]>> But then they said it then they said by the time they thought about them, it was too late.

[00:24:57]>> Yeah.

[00:24:57]>> Yes. So they came there. That's why they still had the shrooms in the car, right?

[00:25:00]Cuz they didn't they didn't eat them.

[00:25:02]And so to me, they get there late. They don't do the shrooms. They smoke a little weed. They watch TV. Whatever they do. I find it odd that at 5:00 in the morning, they abruptly decide to leave. And Dave says, "I'm going to go with him. I'm going to go shower. I find that odd. You just got to bed a couple hours prior. You don't have anywhere to be in the morning. Why are you guys rushing to get out of there? It's completely just a guess on my part. But I do wonder if something happened or something was discovered or a conversation was had where there was an argument and they were like, "F it.

[00:25:34]We're getting out of here." Now, maybe that's why Rosie doesn't want to speak.

[00:25:38]>> But if there was an argument, you know, it doesn't seem like that was kind of building up. Everybody said they were fine. So like when did the argument start? Who who started it? Who was it between?

[00:25:49]>> Right. But it could have been right at 5 in the morning where they're like, "We're getting out of here."

[00:25:52]>> The one friend who whose house it was, he said he went to bed and then he woke up around like 3:00 or 4:00 and McKenzie was sleeping and Dave was watching something on TV with another person and then um Dom was he didn't see Dom anywhere. And then he went back to bed and when he woke up later that morning, everybody was gone. So, where was Dom at that point when um Davian's watching TV and McKenzie sleeping?

[00:26:17]>> Yeah. What happened? What did did Mackenzie wake up and see something?

[00:26:20]>> Did Dom sneak off with someone? Maybe because there was some allegations that he had cheated on McKenzie >> in the past.

[00:26:27]>> In the past when they first started.

[00:26:29]Yeah. And and then Dom's mother had testified and said, "Hey, that McKenzie was getting very like jealous and possessive of Dom in the weeks leading up to this this car crash." So, >> oh, look at some of the videos. She just was very manipulative. Uh took advantage of the situation, a different person behind closed doors when she didn't know she was being recorded.

[00:26:51]>> Very like materialistic. Yeah.

[00:26:54]>> But to me, when we're trying to pinpoint when things went south, I do point to that 5:00 window. Also, unfortunately, we don't know what was being said in the car because everyone other than McKenzie is dead. Uh, one other thing I wanted to point out that was, you know, the time constraints, you know, in these documentaries, but it was it was it was something that was brought up during court, and that's the fact that this progress drive, it is on the way home and and normally it can be a shortcut if there's traffic.

[00:27:22]>> The cops said that some people use it as a shortcut and they usually don't go the speed limit. Yeah.

[00:27:27]>> But here's the problem, right? The speed limit I think was 25 35. But here's the issue with this. If there's no traffic, it's not a shortcut. It actually would take longer to get to where they're going. So why take that road that night that night? And I bring that up because >> maybe if you wanted to avoid main roads and the police, you know, if you had been smoking weed. I don't know.

[00:27:46]>> That's possible. Or another which this is what the prosecutor said. They said that she had visited that street in the days prior to this incident. And to them that could be an indication of premeditation. But at minimum what I have said is there's a familiarity with that road. She would have known the tea intersection was coming up. So you couldn't even go towards like reckless driving where she was just driving fast, not paying attention, didn't realize >> if you could prove premeditation. Yeah.

[00:28:14]>> But but I'm saying if there's no premeditation, I'm just saying she would know the road. Let's take a >> Let's take a break and then I want to talk about this because I have issues with it. You know, she was convicted.

[00:28:24]She is in prison. She She talked to Netflix from prison.

[00:28:27]>> Yes.

[00:28:28]>> We thought we might get some, you know, monumental Nope. She's like, I don't remember.

[00:28:33]>> Nope. Take a break. Remember, let's take a break. We'll come back.

[00:28:36]>> There's There's so much more to talk about.

[00:28:41]>> I feel like every woman is constantly searching for the perfect bra. Like the one that's comfortable, actually supportive, disappears under clothes, no bulges, no pinches, and somehow doesn't make you want to rip it off halfway through the day. I don't know from experience, but it seems like an impossible combination.

[00:28:56]>> Well, I it is usually, but it honestly did feel impossible until I started wearing skims. I love skims. I talk about skims all the time and and I love their underwear and I love their dresses. Like, summer's coming up, so they're long body fitting dresses are are going to be my go-to cuz they're comfortable. But the bra, I just went on vacation to a tropical location and I usually don't bring any bras because I'm like in a bathing suit the whole time.

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[00:29:46]>> Yeah. And I know doing our merch designs all the time. You are definitely a cotton only person.

[00:29:51]>> Yeah. I mean I I have sensitive skin and I get really like hot and itchy. I only wear cotton underwear. But finding a really good bra in cotton. It used to be a very very hard task. Usually they either look bad, feel bulky, or don't support anything. But this one actually works under everything, especially t-shirts, which is important. And it's genuinely become the bra I reach for every day. which does say a lot because you are picky and so if you're saying, "Hey, this is the one I'm going with."

[00:30:19]That's that's Stephanie verified right there.

[00:30:21]>> Well, I'm I'm all about comfort. Okay.

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[00:30:31]So, I love Skiims. Everything that SKIMS has, every time they come out with a new drop and I get an email, I'm like, "Do I need anything more?" Yes, I do. Let me go check it out. So you can shop the everyday cotton in all of my favorite bras and underwear at skims.com. So after you place your order, be sure to let them know that we sent you select podcast in the survey and then be sure to select our show crime weekly in the drop- down menu that follows. Once again, that is skims.com and then select podcast in the survey and be sure to tell them Crime Weekly sent you.

[00:31:05]We're back. So, while I am with you every step of the way as far as the data goes, and it appears that this was intentional and that she hit on the gas, my And you said the motive is kind of like, yeah, blurry.

[00:31:20]>> I agree. The motive is blurry. It's like, okay, you've been fighting, you've had, but you've been together four years, you live together. It probably is not the first rough patch you've had.

[00:31:32]And here's the thing, a 100 miles per hour into a brick wall. There was zero ability for McKenzie to intentionally do that and know for a fact that she would survive.

[00:31:47]>> Oh, no. I think she I think she intentionally tried to kill herself.

[00:31:49]>> You think she wanted to kill herself, too?

[00:31:52]>> I do.

[00:31:52]>> Really?

[00:31:53]>> I do. I think it was like if I can't have you, nobody can. We'll die together. Romeo and Juliet type thing.

[00:31:57]Not exactly. But >> you can't you can't you can't think you're going to hit a wall at that speed and think you're going to survive >> and she's going to kill the friend too like Davey like >> that that is odd to me and that is something else that the his parents had talked about like if that was her plan or even if it was just in that moment why not let him out why why not why would you take him with you?

[00:32:18]>> Yeah. And so here's my thing. Like when when she first got out of the car when they extracted her and the the paramedic was taking her vitals and he said she was confused. I guess the first thing she said was was how is Dave?

[00:32:33]That's the first thing she said. So it sound like she was checking on him. So maybe her intention was and that's why she had her seat belt on hoping to maybe survive it and just kill Dom. But she was worried about Dave. I don't know.

[00:32:47]Like, see, to me that's she had I'm not saying like I know this girl and she had a lot to live for, but she's 17, right?

[00:32:56]And and she does technically have a lot to live for. So, what could this possibly have been a thing where and and I listen, I've been in a car with someone like this before. It's abusive.

[00:33:08]It's manipulating. It's controlling.

[00:33:12]They use reckless driving to scare you.

[00:33:14]And >> and it works because they're in complete control.

[00:33:17]>> They're in complete control. Exactly.

[00:33:19]Could it have been a thing where like a few weeks prior where she was like, I'm going to wreck this car just to kind of show her boyfriend Dom like I'm mad you're bringing me to this place again.

[00:33:31]Not intending to actually hit a wall. Like and I know you said that they the prosecution has evidence that she that she was possibly there before which suggests premeditation. I just can't wrap my head around like, "Oh, I'm so mad at my boyfriend. I'm going to kill everyone in this car, including myself." That's very hard.

[00:33:50]>> In that case, you would expect that in that last moment that there would be some attempt to not hit the wall, aka hit the brake. No, all they did was I think the veer of the steering wheel.

[00:34:02]>> Let's talk about reconstruction, too, right? Because it goes into what I'm going to say here. the the the slight veering off the road. That's not attempt that's not her attempting to miss the wall. That's Davien or somebody else.

[00:34:15]>> Grabbing the wheel. Because what we know from the way they were found, and you hit on this earlier, and I think this is fascinating, you have Dom in the front seat, you have Dave on top of him in the front seat, and then what's also interesting is that you have McKenzie in the driver's side, but she's under the dashboard >> in in Dom's lap basically, like under the passenger side dashboard.

[00:34:38]>> Oh, is it the passenger side? I thought she was still on the driver's side. But either way, that even makes it more compelling because if you know what you're about to do and your natural reaction is to brace for it as you're pushing your foot on the gas, you're going to duck down. And which way are you going to duck?

[00:34:54]>> Okay, so I'm going to read I'm going to read from the police report. The uh responding officer ran to the driver's side, saw the legs and lower torso of what appeared to be the female driver.

[00:35:02]The upper half of the driver's body was on the passenger side underneath the passenger dashboard, which was caved in on top of her. So, hear me out. Now, we're getting somewhere. A second before you hit that wall, you know you're about to. You keep your foot on the gas >> and you and you get >> you lean over and when you lean over, that's why the shifter goes into neutral for a second and then back to drive.

[00:35:24]It's your body crossing over the shifter and then you hit the wall, but at no point do you hit the brake. And so, she's bracing for it. Dom and and Dave are fighting with her to try to get the steering wheel. That's why it veers to the right. Well, the passenger front seat was also lowered, reclined all the way back. So, was Dom sleeping? What?

[00:35:42]Like, >> he might have been sitting like that. A lot of the times, even me back in the day, I'd have my seat all the way reclined back. But it seems to me like Davien being where he was, maybe he lunged forward to try to grab the steering wheel >> cuz he was found in the front passenger seat, right?

[00:35:54]>> Basically, on top of Dom. And you guys got to remember this, like she's, you know what, I don't even know, 100 pounds, soaking wet. She's tiny. And you got a running back for the high school.

[00:36:03]Dom's a good-sized kid, but yet they can't do much to her because she's got her foot on the gas.

[00:36:09]>> She's in control. Yeah.

[00:36:10]>> She's got your life in in her hands. And so there's not much you can do. You can't punch her in the face. It's going to cause you guys to crash. So at that moment, you're still hoping you can get out of it. Okay. And I think for me when I look at it and I and I said this, you know, it's not 100% certainty what what happened here, but I think with the totality of what we have, it leans in the in the direction of this was deliberate. And that's why I think she got 15 years for Dom and 15 years for Davian. But what was important is that the judge made it concurrent, not consecutive. And that's important because it goes from a minimum sentence of 15 to 30 if she had went consecutive.

[00:36:51]And I think she's looking at it where she sees a young girl without any remorse, her bonehead parents sitting behind her trying to make excuses for her.

[00:37:01]>> Yeah. blindly believing everything she says >> and and knowing that this girl, if it wasn't for her, if she doesn't believe this was a medical issue, whether it was reckless driving, an argument, deliberate, whatever it was, she is the reason that those two boys are dead. And there's no way she could let her walk away from this without any consequences.

[00:37:20]So, at minimum, she's got 15 years to think about what she did and hopefully mature. But I will say based on the interview, she's not there yet. So, what do you think about the prosecution basically saying that they think she did it for attention? They kind of tried to make it or at least the documentary kind of made it seem like definitely showed no remorse, right? And I think that's where a lot of the hatred towards McKenzie comes in.

[00:37:44]>> I mean, she was doing selfies like of dead people or like Halloween 3 months after this happened. I mean, >> and and trying to get like partnerships online. I'm excited. It It reminded me of uh it reminded me a lot of Michelle Carter. I'm not sure if you are familiar with that. Uh it's actually a New England case with Conrad Roy the text messages. He was in the truck. She's like, "Kill yourself." And then she tried to use his death >> to be like my boyfriend and I'm devastated to get attention. And >> no doubt that is McKenzie for sure. And that's why she's so unlikable.

[00:38:14]>> Does that mean that she intentionally did it or is she capitalizing?

[00:38:19]>> I don't think if I don't think you hit that wall thinking you're going to survive. It's really difficult for me and and this could just be me and and where I'm at to look at this girl and be like she knowingly drove into a brick wall at 100 miles hour not knowing that you're going to walk out of there alive, right? Because you know the doc the documentary kind of made it seem like she knew she was going to walk out alive and she wanted to get the attention and this this and that. She wanted to be a star. She wanted to be a model. She wanted to be a social media influencer.

[00:38:49]You'd have to know you were going to survive. How would you know that? How would you know that?

[00:38:54]>> There's no way you could >> or that you wouldn't be like disabled.

[00:38:56]You know, good luck with your modeling career now when you're disfigured or the car caught on fire. You know, you don't know what's going to happen. Do they have information from her phone where she's like looking up? Oh, how can I survive a car crash? If they had that kind of stuff, which I would, you know, I I watched the trial and I kind of went through each day that doesn't look like they have that kind of stuff. It's so hard for me to look at this this girl and say this is what she intended to either a kill all three of them or b kill the two boys in the car with her and survive.

[00:39:33]>> To kind of summarize this, what do you think happened then? Because if it's not that, then you're leaning towards a medical episode and there's no evidence to support it.

[00:39:41]>> I'm not leaning towards a medical episode.

[00:39:44]>> So what is it? You saw that camera footage. You see that car driving down that road. You see her her slipper stuck to the floor pedal.

[00:39:52]>> I'm I'm wondering if she was just trying to scare them and once again be manipulative, have like their lives in in her hands, feel powerful.

[00:40:00]>> She just mis she just misread the the how much road she had left >> and she misread how Yeah. Like maybe she maybe it was dark, maybe she didn't see, maybe she wasn't familiar with the area.

[00:40:09]Like I don't know.

[00:40:11]>> Well, that they pushed back on that cuz she had driven that road before. I would say there is a possibility that she was trying to scare Dom because they were arguing >> like she had done before. Yeah.

[00:40:20]>> And she didn't anticipate how quickly that ending was coming to at the end of the road.

[00:40:25]>> I mean, even if she's used to driving high, right, it's still dull slows down your reaction time. Exactly. So, >> I mean, yeah, you you get high and smoke and drive all the time, but you don't get high and smoke and drive 100 miles per hour towards a brick wall all the time. No.

[00:40:39]>> So, that could have been something that she misread. Yeah, whatever the case, her actions, her conscious actions led to the death of these two young men. And when you look at that video, there's no other way to interpret this vehicle traveling at that rate of speed, but staying perfectly in the line on her side of the road and making those minor inputs to the steering wheel to stay on the road, even at that bend. That to me is what really did her in. It's clear-cut that she was conscious and in control of her vehicle.

[00:41:09]>> It's very it's it's very messed up. like you just I don't like it. I don't like it.

[00:41:14]>> I got a question for you. It was posed to me online. I'm going to pose it to you and I'm posing it to everybody listening or watching right now. They made the decision to go with a bench trial over a jury trial. Knowing what you know now, do you think that was the right decision?

[00:41:28]>> No. Because I think there would have been somebody like me on the jury, like there was somebody on Casey Anony's jury, you know, who looks at this young girl and is like, I need to make sure 100% beyond a reasonable doubt that you spend I mean, even it's it's still reckless endangerment one way or the other, right? But murder, you know, like I need to know beyond a reasonable doubt that this girl intended to kill these two people in the car with her.

[00:41:55]>> Yeah. And you you are right.

[00:41:56]Manslaughter would have been different than murder. My opinion.

[00:41:59]>> Well, that's the same thing with with Casey Anthony, right? Didn't they >> they they kind of overshot their coverage with what they were trying to charge her with. And they didn't really had they only really had the circumstantial evidence and that's why the jury had a hard time looking at Casey Anthony, how young she was, and with the the evidence that they had, and saying, "Yeah, let's throw this girl in in prison for the rest of her life for murder."

[00:42:19]>> Yeah.

[00:42:19]>> So, yeah, she definitely would have fared better with a jury trial. I think >> I go back and forth on it. I think that her lawyers knew how unlikable she was and how unlikable her parents were and a jury is more likely to go off emotion and you may have someone who sides with you, but you could also have a jury go this kid just doesn't get it and and find her guilty as well. I mean, we we'll never truly know.

[00:42:45]>> This the judge is still going to be the one that decides the sentencing though, right?

[00:42:49]>> Decides the sentencing. But I think they were hoping that the judge, who's going to in more than likely be more pragmatic and objective than a jury, I I would think that they thought, hey, if we just can present enough reasonable doubt, we're going to get this whole thing thrown out. That was the hope. And >> there was no way that that was going to get thrown out.

[00:43:08]>> The judge was not having it. She was not having it. And you know, the judge did say that she could spend the rest of her life in prison. I don't think she will.

[00:43:16]I think you'll get a lenient parole board that will get >> well although I will say parole in Ohio apparently is very difficult but because of the gray area the the same reason we're covering it the same reason Netflix did there's some there's some questions there and I do think that'll be presented in 15 years to say hey I did not kill these people intentionally I'm in here for a crime I did not commit I've done 15 years I've learned my lesson I'm 30 something years old now >> well then she she'll have to come forward at some point and be Like, yeah, I was trying to say like say you stop pretending you don't remember.

[00:43:49]>> I I I mean, I think that's the safest bet for her.

[00:43:51]>> Take some accountability here.

[00:43:52]>> I don't remember. She won't do it. She won't do it. She's going to She's going to go to her grave saying she doesn't remember. I did see some things online that says that she may have said she saw orange lights right before hitting the wall. I don't know. She's definitely a liar. There's no doubt about it. Okay, Derek.

[00:44:09]>> I think when you look at her, there's something about her eyes to me sitting across from her and that and at that table in that prison like you just look at her and you could tell she's lying through her teeth.

[00:44:19]>> That's my opinion.

[00:44:20]>> Okay.

[00:44:21]>> Usually I'm the one that's going this hard.

[00:44:23]>> I mean, listen, the Netflix did her dirty by leaving in there where she's got like this emotional kind of, you know, presentation to her and then she looks over at the lawyer like, "Hey, anything else I got to say real quick?"

[00:44:33]It's almost like an actor. Dude, Netflix does everyone dirty and that's why it's so hard for me to like take it because I know what they do. I know what they do.

[00:44:41]>> That is fair. That is fair. They they had a narrative that they wanted to put across. You're not wrong.

[00:44:45]>> Sure did.

[00:44:45]>> But I from people online and people from that community apparently there was even more.

[00:44:51]>> Oh, I believe it.

[00:44:52]>> Even the incident that you referred to earlier, and this episode's getting long, but she there was at the end of the episode Mackenzie's parents are like, "Oh, we have text messages saying that it was actually Dom putting her in danger." No, Dom opened the door because she was driving and was refusing to stop.

[00:45:06]>> Oh, in the the earlier July incident.

[00:45:08]>> Yes. And then and then she tried to turn it back on him.

[00:45:11]>> Yeah. The friend said he saw a scuffle inside the car and that Mackenzie was like raising her hands at D.

[00:45:16]>> And he heard her say, "I'll crash this car."

[00:45:18]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's what he says. That's what he says.

[00:45:21]>> That's what he says. And I mean, yeah, he could be he could be >> he is Dom.

[00:45:26]So, okay. So, but that's what he says he heard. And so I yeah, it's just hard for very young girl. I I know teenage girls to me, they're all kind of psychopaths, you know what I mean?

[00:45:38]>> Not all of them are driving into walls at 100 miles hour.

[00:45:40]>> They're their brains haven't developed.

[00:45:42]They're very selfish. And I don't mean just teenage girls, teenagers in general. Like their brains haven't developed. They're geared towards being selfish. So I don't like to say that girl's a psychopath. With Michelle Carter, I had no problem saying it because there were so many text messages. And to see her telling him to get back in the car when he said he was scared and wanted to get out. Like honestly, Michelle Carter, who's already out of prison, by the way, she can uh she can f right off. But yeah, >> it's it's it's hard.

[00:46:09]>> Well, I'm glad you kind of took the other side on this one. I think you're going to be in the minority.

[00:46:13]>> I know. I know I am. And I'm probably going to get destroyed and and somebody's going to be like, "Miss Stephanie, >> well, you're not saying she's not guilty of a crime. I'm just saying it's hard.

[00:46:20]You're you're saying that you didn't see intent proven here, which is a valid argument. I it's a valid argument. I think they just built up a case and and painted a picture and and showed that there's no other way around it >> unless you're absolutely an insane person who has no self-preservation.

[00:46:38]You're like, I'm going to kill us all.

[00:46:40]>> Yeah, >> that's crazy.

[00:46:42]>> 30 seconds, man. It could have been a crime, you know, just a heat of the moment thing. But I also think it's possible she just was scaring them and and uh >> I hope that's what it was. I mean, for me, just so it's very clear, I think she deliberately hit the wall. I would expect if hypothetically, I know we keep going back and forth here, if she was driving at a high rate of speed to scare them and then unfortunately misread how much real estate she had left in the road, what would you expect to see when she realized that?

[00:47:12]>> A jolt of the steering wheel right at the last.

[00:47:14]>> How about pressing the brake, Stephanie?

[00:47:16]What's your natural reaction when you're about to hit something? You hit the brake. Her foot was down to the floor on that gas pedal as it hit the wall. There was no attempt to stop.

[00:47:27]>> I mean, it's hard sometimes, I think, when you look at like what people do and you could never imagine doing that yourself. It's hard to uh wrap your head around it. So, I don't know. I'm going to look more into it. Actually, I'm going to look more into it. I've been reading more into it. That's what I was doing today before we sat down. So, I definitely want to look more into it and and figure that out.

[00:47:45]>> We want to hear your thoughts on this one, guys. It's a polarizing case, hence the reason that Netflix covered it. and it's going to get a lot of uh attention now. We we wanted to cover it because we got Crime Con coming up in a week or so and we know it's not >> by the time we would be able to cover it, it'd be too long for a Crime Weekly.

[00:48:03]So, we covered it here. Let us know your thoughts on it. We'll be back later this week with part two of Carrie Far. And so, we're going to keep diving into it because this is a tangled web.

[00:48:13]>> What a tangled web we >> Yep. Everyone stay safe. We'll see you later this week.

[00:48:17]>> Bye, guys.