8 Hidden Things About Mackenzie Shirilla Netflix's 'The Crash' Didn't Show You

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:06]Trust Netflix when it comes to making documentaries. Honestly, I grew a taste for Netflix when they started dropping bombshells of documentaries.

[00:00:16]The way they bring everything together is just amazing. And the latest addition to that list is The Crash, which revolves around the highly controversial accident in 2022 that claimed the lives of two young men, Dominic Russo >> [music] >> and Davion Flanagan. Well, somehow the driver, aka Mackenzie Shirilla, managed to survive. Now, that raised a whole lot of eyebrows, and the families and authorities started probing into the tragic incident. What they uncovered led to Mackenzie being charged with murder.

[00:00:48]Now, those who have been following the incident know that The Crash isn't the first feature on Mackenzie Shirilla. And though Netflix did a great job at telling the story of that fateful night and getting Mackenzie for a first on-screen interview after she was sentenced, here are eight things they conveniently did not show about Mackenzie.

[00:01:09]>> Slow the vehicle or stop the vehicle to avoid that type of an impact.

[00:01:13]But in this case, there was no braking.

[00:01:16]>> It was Shirilla who might have told her mother that she had a seizure. As I said, Mackenzie Shirilla's case was previously shown in the docu-series Killer Cases in an episode titled Murder on Wheels.

[00:01:28]It included a huge detail which Netflix chose to remove, [music] an audio recording by Detective Zacky Hazu when he visited Shirilla in the hospital in the aftermath of the crash. And the lead prosecutor, Tim Troop, stated, "The detective, [music] he did record maybe a few minutes, just audio of her interacting with the detective and her mother." Which indicated that Shirilla's mother, Natalie, was present. Hazu was heard telling Shirilla that the police were investigating the incident as an aggravated [music] vehicular homicide times two, referring to the deaths of Dom and Daveon. When Sherilla intervened and asked [music] whether she could say something to her mother, the detective agreed and apparently Sherilla [music] then spoke to Natalie in some kind of a distorted English language, almost like speaking gibberish. Troop described [music] it as, "It's kind of like pig Latin." Sure, it was unclear what Sherilla told her mom, but Troop [music] firmly believed that she said something along of, "Can we tell the police I had a seizure? Can we tell the police something like that?" In the same recording, Sherilla could also be heard asking the detective whether he could just take her license away for 10 years.

[00:02:36]According to court documents, first responder [music] Brett Stanislaw had testified that Sherilla's motor, pulse, and sensation were all normal when he arrived on the scene, which obviously ruled out the chance of her having a stroke or seizure [music] or any kind of neurological emergency whatsoever. However, he also acknowledged that it was possible for Sherilla to have suffered a seizure before the medical personnel arrived, and in such a case, there would be no signs of it during evaluation.

[00:03:03]Reportedly, her blood and oxygen levels were extremely low, like that [music] of someone who just went into cardiac arrest or came back out of a cardiac arrest. Sherilla had severe mood swings.

[00:03:15]The US Sun reviewed a 3,000-page document of publicly released text messages between Sherilla and Dom, which gives a closer look at how bad her mood swings were and how goddamn erratic the girl was. In one meltdown, Sherilla revealed that she was arguing with her family and demanded that Dominic give her a ride and bombarded him with messages before showing up at his house.

[00:03:38]Among those barrages of texts, one read, "I'm going to kill someone. I'm mad as F and I'm here." Sherilla would also overreact when Dom had not picked her up, and in yet another toxic exchange, she stated, "I'm going to flip out. Who does this sh" you know the word. Later, she screamed, "I'm un-cleaning your room." and repeatedly sent the word "no" as Dominic claimed she was overwhelming him. She also kept a close tab on everything Dom was doing after he cheated on her and this would lead to constant fights between them.

[00:04:11]One conversation between them is really shocking, which showed Shirilla having a breakdown and crying because Dom did not do what she asked him to do and threatened, "I just want to bang my head on the wall till I'm dead." to which he responded, "TBH, this sh it has happened so many times, I just don't care anymore."

[00:04:30]That means Shirilla might have often blackmailed Dom using threats of self-harm.

[00:04:41]The only one in the car wearing a seatbelt was Shirilla. In an episode from Apple TV's true crime docu-series Mean Girl Murders titled Under the Influence, there was some additional detail about safety measures in the car.

[00:04:53]This episode showed that Shirilla was the only one wearing a seatbelt and Troop said, "She did have airbags and the primary impact was on the passenger side of the car." before adding, "She was incredibly lucky to be alive.

[00:05:06]Anybody would be lucky to be alive from a crash of this magnitude." Detective Hazu claimed that it's a noticeable detail to some after having reviewed and documented hundreds of instances of Shirilla's distracted or reckless driving on social media. Troop also confirmed that neither Russo nor Flanagan were wearing seatbelts [music] and pointed out that the destruction on the passenger side of the car was so bad that even airbags would have been almost useless and there was barely any chance of their survival.

[00:05:35]Some of Mackenzie's friends and classmates did not buy her story. While [music] Netflix's The Crash shows interviews with Shirilla's teenage friends and acquaintances who voiced support for her, the Under the Influence episode throws light on those companions of hers and Dominick's who did not believe her story.

[00:05:53]They contradicted the narrative presented in the crash about her innocence and said they believed she killed Dominick and Davion. A former friend of Sherilla, Rachel Anderson, accused Mackenzie, "She wanted the likes. She wanted the followers. She wanted to be at the top. Mackenzie gets what she wants. Mackenzie is never punished. And now Mackenzie is punished and there's nothing Mackenzie or her family can do." [music] Another past friend of hers, Janae Maynard, claimed that she was terrible to people but had the potential to be a lot more if she chose a different path and got the help she needed. Yes, Netflix did show us some social media posts circulating against Mackenzie where people said that she was mean and a bully. But such affirmative statements from her former friends paint a whole new picture.

[00:06:40]Sherilla reportedly retraced the crash route days before the incident. Another detail left out by Netflix in The Crash turns out to be one of the most debated pieces of evidence in the entire case.

[00:06:53]According to court documents, GPS data from Sherilla's phone allegedly placed her near the intersection of Progress Drive and Alameda Drive on July 28th, 2022 just 3 days before the fatal crash.

[00:07:07]You know, I never really had a good feeling about this girl but I'm going to zip my mouth and just present the facts.

[00:07:13]Once again, Mean Girl Murders has given us a deeper look at this where prosecutors suggested that Sherilla might have been doing a dry run ahead of the incident. Tim Troop even stated [music] that he believed Mackenzie knew exactly what she was going to do when she turned onto Progress that night.

[00:07:31]Now, the intersection itself is located in an industrial office park in [music] Strongsville, Ohio. And Detective Zack Hazu admitted during trial that cell phone GPS data is not always exact. So yeah, technically it's possible Shirilla may not have been at the precise intersection on July 28th. Still, the court described [music] that stretch of road as an obscure route that Shirilla didn't usually take. Though there [music] was no concrete evidence proving whether she had or had not driven through there before. Interestingly, first responding officer Michael Galassi testified that the road was actually a common cut through used by drivers trying to avoid traffic and that speeding on that route was not unusual either. Shirilla allegedly admitted to a doctor that the crash was her fault. Oh boy, this one is a bomb. When McKenzie was hospitalized after the crash, she was informed that Dominic and Davion had died. Now, according to court documents, >> [music] >> doctors noted that she appeared depressed and was experiencing grief, guilt, and shame.

[00:08:36]>> [music] >> Medical records also stated that Shirilla said she wanted to die and admitted, wait for it, that it was, quote, her fault for killing her boyfriend, unquote. [music] In the weeks that followed, Shirilla also sent emotional messages to Dominic's brother, Angelo Russo. In one text from August 2022, [music] she wrote, "I know you probably think this is all my fault. I wish that he was here, too. This should have never happened. I really do feel bad. It's killing me." She also allegedly asked Angelo to place photos of her and Dominic inside [music] his casket so he can be with me forever. The crash heavily explored Shirilla's seemingly [music] indifferent behavior and social media activity in the months after the crash. However, these [music] messages and statements presented in court offered a different side of her emotional state following the incident.

[00:09:28]Now, we don't know whether it was survivor trauma or an involuntary admission of guilt. Shirilla's disciplinary records in jail shows she might have a tough time getting parole.

[00:09:39]At the end of the crash, viewers saw the judge sentence Mackenzie Shirilla while noting that she did not feel the need to impose the maximum possible punishment because she doubted Shirilla would ever receive parole anyway. Since then, Shirilla's disciplinary record [music] in prison has seemingly reflected some of the concerns raised during sentencing. Mackenzie Shirilla has consistently maintained that the 2022 crash that killed her boyfriend Dominic Russo and [music] friend Davion Flanagan was accidental.

[00:10:09]However, the now 21-year-old was convicted of murder in August 2023 and sentenced to a minimum of 15 years to life in prison.

[00:10:19]Shirilla is currently serving [music] her sentence at the Ohio Reformatory for women, where she's reportedly received multiple disciplinary write-ups.

[00:10:27]According to claims shared online by a fellow inmate named Cat, Shirilla's public prison records include violations related to contraband, being out of place, disobeying orders, and alleged sexual misconduct. [music] The first reported incident came in May 2024, when Shirilla was cited for being out of place, which Cat claimed could mean she was either absent during inmate count or present in another inmate's dorm area.

[00:10:55]>> [music] >> Similar violations were allegedly recorded multiple times afterward. Her disciplinary logs also reportedly included accusations of stealing or embezzlement of property, possession of contraband including altered items, and possessing another inmate's property.

[00:11:12]Cat speculated that one of the contraband violations may have involved tampering with state-issued items.

[00:11:18]Moreover, [music] Shirilla was allegedly written up for violating prison rules, refusing direct orders, and damaging or misusing property. Reports also claimed she received a ticket in January 2025 for misuse of authorized medication, which may have involved [music] improperly handling prescribed medication. After a brief period without reported violations, further contraband related infractions [music] and an alleged visitation rule violation reportedly followed. Shirilla has also allegedly faced disciplinary action for sexual harassment and for encouraging or creating a disturbance during her incarceration. Come on, man. I can't be the only one who knew this girl is trouble from the moment I saw her.

[00:12:05]>> This was not intentional and I will do everything I can to >> Shirilla denied rehabilitation in jail.

[00:12:11]I really wanted to keep an open mind about this girl, but this evidence is making it hard. In a jail call obtained by people, Mackenzie Shirilla told her mother, Natalie Shirilla, that she did not believe she needed rehabilitation while discussing what her future in prison could look like. The undated call was reportedly recorded while Mackenzie was being held at the Cuyahoga County Jail following her conviction. During the conversation, Mackenzie and her mother talked about prison life, including visitation, educational programs, [music] and resources available to inmates.

[00:12:45]At one point, Mackenzie commented that the prison system seemed designed to make life enjoyable, even though she said she didn't want to enjoy being there.

[00:12:54]Natalie responded by saying that prison is intended to rehabilitate inmates, but Mackenzie pushed back on that idea. Jail is supposed to rehabilitate people, but I don't need to be rehabilitated, she reportedly said. Natalie then explained that prisons are meant to help inmates rebuild their lives through education, >> [music] >> work programs, and mental health support before eventually returning to society.

[00:13:18]She added that those programs were intended for actual [music] criminals, not her daughter. Elsewhere in the call, Mackenzie expressed fears about what her future could look like after prison. She said she worried about growing old behind bars and missing out on having children or starting a family, adding that she felt like she would want to [music] live off the grid once released.

[00:13:39]All right, guys, that's all for today.

[00:13:41]The crash is trending on Netflix right now, and even after 4 years, the incident intrigues [music] people and draws polarizing opinions. Sadly, Netflix could have delved into all these details a little more for us to get a clearer idea, and I hope these additional details about Sherilla will help you form an opinion. Jump into the comments below to let us know your thoughts about this girl, and if you liked the video, don't forget to hit the bell icon. I'll see you in the next one.

[00:14:10]Bye.