Original subtitles

[tense music playing]

-[walkie-talkie beeps] -[electronic voice] Recording.

[walkie-talkie beeps]

[indistinct walkie-talkie chatter]

[man 1] Sixty on Westwood. I'm gonna turn on Alameda.

[walkie-talkie beeps]

[woman 1] I copy.

[woman 2] Copy.

[man 2] It's a breakdown. Holy crap!

[woman 1] We're arriving.

[man 1] Forty-six on Progress.

[man 2] Radio,

this car is split in two.

Radio, there's an occupant inside. Send us some squad now.

We gotta bust the window out.

Send us some more units.

[pounding]

[teacher 1] Welcome to the class of 2022 commencement ceremony.

Today, we share in the celebration of the journey

that our children have shared

that is now culminating in the achievement of one of their life milestones.

-[siren wails] -[man 2] Oh my God. Times three, guys.

-Radio, three occupants. -[man 1] Three occupants.

[man 2] Yeah, all pretty young.

[teacher 2] Davion Markel Flanagan.

Mackenzie Ford Shirilla.

Whoo!

[walkie-talkie beeps]

[man 2] Radio, the driver

is breathing, unconscious.

-Her stomach's moving. Look. -[man 3] Oh, yeah.

-What's your name, dear? -My name is Mackenzie.

[man 2] Mackenzie. Okay.

[woman 2] I have a 17-year-old female, Mackenzie.

Mackenzie Shirilla.

-Mackenzie Shirilla. -Mackenzie Shirilla.

She walked away. The only one alive.

It's so unfathomable.

How could this possibly happen?

[laughter]

This was no accident.

[reporter 1] She and her boyfriend appeared to be soulmates.

The black box tells us what happened, not why.

Guess it depends on how you look at it.

[reporter 2] The real question is, was this a horrific accident

or was this murder?

[music fades]

[Mackenzie] Hey, guys, let's spend the day together.

-[camera clicks] -♪ Cameras… ♪

[woman] Whoo!

♪ Flashing ♪

♪ Cameras ♪

♪ Flashing… ♪

[woman] It's so crazy, 'cause, like, we had just graduated high school,

and this is who I would hang out with every single day.

Every single day, I'd wake up and hang out with a combination of these people.

There was me,

Kenzie,

Davion,

Dom,

and my boyfriend, Bubba.

This was the best friend group that I've ever had in my life.

We didn't have any worries in the world.

♪ I don't need no flash To know that you're a star, babe ♪

♪ Whoa ♪

♪ 'Cause when you walk in the room It's obvious who you are… ♪

[giggles]

Hey, TikTok, we're gonna start doing something new on here,

and it is a food review.

I was getting a phone call or a text from Kenzie every day.

"What are we doing tomorrow? The next day?"

"Let's do this. Dom wants to go here. Davion wants to do this."

♪ And they all for you… ♪

If Davion's there, everybody's laughing. He's the funniest guy. He was just goofy.

♪ I don't need no… ♪

And Dom and Kenzie, they're such a duo.

♪ Whoa oh ♪

♪ ' Cause when you walk in the room… ♪

They had been together for four years.

♪ Oh yeah ♪

♪ Baby, they're all for you ♪

♪ Baby, they're all for you… ♪

[Bubba] Dom was a very sweet, loving dude, man.

Are you just biting me?

He reminds me of Master Yoda from Star Wars. He was so wise.

The bond in the group that we had was gonna be unstoppable.

[Mackenzie] Rosie! Bubba!

♪ What's up, baby? Hold up ♪

[music stops]

[sniffs] Like, those are my best friends that I hang out with every single day.

[sniffs]

And I was just with them.

And it's so crazy that that split second

just, like, changed all of our lives forever.

[somber music playing]

[radio bleeps]

[man 1] Yep. Driver, 17-year-old female, still breathing.

Wedged in there.

-Two are gonna be DOA. -[man 2] Okay.

[man 3] He's a fucking Strongsville football player.

He's a running back.

[man 3 groans]

-[woman] Okay, ten four. -[man 1] Yeah.

[man 3] Rest in peace, buddy.

[woman 1] Life Flight ETA for a helicopter is five to ten minutes.

[man 4] This is the worst crash I've ever seen.

[man 3] Holy smokes. What's this?

[man 4] Was there any alcohol or drugs in the vehicle?

-[man 5] Yeah. -Yes.

-[man 4] What? Drugs? -Yeah, drugs.

-[man 4] What type of drugs? -[man 6] Weed and mushrooms.

-[man 5] Yeah, marijuana, mushrooms. -[man 6] Marijuana and mushrooms.

-[man 4] Where's the drugs? -[man 6] It's just in the pocket.

[man 4] Take 'em out.

[woman screams]

[man 4] We ain't going anywhere, okay?

-[man 7] Careful. She's gonna fall off. -[man 1] Ten thirty-one. Gonna go.

[man 7] This way. Head this way. Watch your step.

[woman 2] Confirm that. The female's flat and collarized.

She's rambling, not making sense.

[man 3] Life Flight's here.

[music stops]

[electronic voice] Recording.

[man 1] Is that dad?

I need to talk to you both.

-[clears throat] What did they tell you? -Nothing.

-She broke her leg. -[man 1] She was life-flighted here.

-Yeah, we know that. -Yeah.

-Was she alone? -[man 1] No.

-Who else? -[man 1] You wanna sit down.

-Oh my God. -Oh dear.

[man 1] What way do I say this?

Progress and Alameda. Car into a building. Two are deceased in the vehicle.

Your daughter was driving.

[father] Who died?

[man 1] I don't know… There's one that we don't know.

Dom?

-No. Stop! Let him talk. -[man 2] Guys…

[father whimpers]

I think it… I think it… What's the name you said?

-Dom? -Dom.

[man 2] Uh, might be.

-Stop. Stop! -[father] Oh my God.

[man 2] What's his relation to…

-Boyfriend. -[man 2] Yeah, then Dom was in the car.

-Stop. -[girl] Oh my God.

-What? -[girl sobs]

-[man 2] I… -Are you kidding me?

[man 2] Ma'am, it's…

-What? -[man 2] That's where we're at right now.

Dom is dead? Dom is dead? Is that what you're saying to me?

Look at me. Is Dom… Dom's dead?

I didn't wanna believe what he was saying. I wanted to wait for somebody to tell me…

-I was hoping it wasn't him. -[father] Mm-hmm.

[father] At that point, I didn't even know if she was conscious.

I didn't know what was wrong with her. I… I…

She could have been paralyzed for all I knew. We didn't know anything.

She's lucky to be alive.

But I was torn. I had a lot…

I had some guilt being happy for my daughter

and knowing that Dom and Davion passed.

[somber music playing]

Dom and her were living together.

There was talk of getting married.

He was part of our family.

Someone my daughter was planning a life with.

[music stops]

[electronic voice] Recording.

-[man 1] What's that? -[man 2] Yes.

-[man 3] What a fucking nightmare. -[man 4] Go ahead and take a seat.

[man 1] So, um…

-Do you know what time it happened at? -[man 1] No, we don't.

Right now, it's so early in the investigation that we don't know.

-They fall asleep at the wheel? -[man 5] Don't know.

[man 1] We don't know that. We don't know that. Um, so--

So two kids are dead.

My son's dead, another kid's dead, and the girl's in the hospital?

[man 1] She's in surgery right now.

[man 3] Fuck.

Oh my gosh.

I didn't know what to do with myself.

My son just died, so I really don't know what's going on.

Like, you're not thinking clearly, and I didn't… It took… You're in shock.

[woman] You wake up and your little brother's gone at 20 years old.

It's, like, Dom is really gone forever.

And there's no coming back.

He texted me at three o'clock in the morning. "Love you, Dad."

-He texted you at three o'clock? -2:53.

-[man] 2:53. -Okay.

[low rumbling]

[indistinct radio chatter]

[reporter 1] Shock and sadness in the Strongsville community tonight

after a car crash claimed two young lives

and injured a third early yesterday morning.

[somber music playing]

[reporter 2] Investigators say it appears the car failed to stop

at the end of Progress Drive,

went across the lawn, hit a sign, and then crashed into the building.

I went to the crash site.

The way it… it went straight into the building,

that didn't make any sense

'cause there was no skid marks before the impact.

Right away, questions were going.

Were they drunk? Did they fall asleep? Were they on drugs? I don't know.

[reporter 3] More than 200 tonight attended a vigil

at the intersection of Progress and Alameda.

That's the location of the crash

that killed former Strongsville High School students

20-year-old Dominic Russo and 19-year-old Davion Flanagan.

[Bubba] I was Davion's best friend.

[Bubba on video] This is Dav.

[Bubba] He always had a smile on his face.

We were on the football team together.

It didn't feel like reality until I got to the site of the accident,

and that's when, like, it hit.

[Rosie] There were so many people there,

and so many people were asking so many questions to all of us

'cause they were like, "You were with them."

"What did they take? You know they were on something."

They didn't even give us a second to process what had just happened.

[reporter] Flanagan played football

and was planning on attending school this fall to become a barber.

[girl] My parents were just trying to explain, like,

"Davion was in a car crash."

"He passed away."

I started, like, screaming and crying and, like, you know, getting really upset.

I was like, "This isn't fair. This isn't right."

[music fades]

Me and my sister and Davion came from a little, uh, tough upbringing.

We were all adopted from foster care.

Davion was always the supporter and bigger older brother.

He was always there for me.

No one should ever have to tell their kids or their wife

that their son or brother,

um, had their life taken from them.

It was… It was brutal.

[reporter] The 17-year-old female driver is listed in a critical condition,

and police are still investigating the cause of the crash.

[Scott] We really were very much praying and hoping

that Mackenzie was gonna be okay.

All that we know, it was a car driving into the building.

But we didn't know why. We didn't know how.

I wanna know the truth of what happened to my son.

[dramatic music playing]

[man] I've worked on easily over a thousand serious felony cases.

This is without a doubt

the most significant case I ever worked on.

Strongsville does not have very much violent crime.

This is a peaceful place.

Their police department wanted a prosecutor

looking at this case with them.

It's my goal to do everything I can

to provide justice for the families

who have so cruelly had their loved one taken from them

and try to figure out what took place out there.

[music stops]

When the police arrived, they see the interior of the car had exploded.

[tense music playing]

Mackenzie was still wearing her seatbelt.

Her head was beneath the dashboard.

The primary impact was on Dominic's side of the car.

Dominic was laying in the front seat,

and Davion's laying stacked on top of Dominic.

First responders did discover

a small amount of marijuana in Mackenzie's purse.

A digital scale.

Also, eight grams of psilocybin mushrooms concealed in her clothing.

That was a significant piece of information.

I'm ticking through the potentials of what could have caused this crash.

Was it operator error?

Was it substance abuse?

Or could it be a much more serious felony?

We needed to get a full picture of who Mackenzie Shirilla was.

[uneasy music playing]

What?

-[clicks tongue] Look at that. -[cat meows]

[Mackenzie gasps]

[woman] Me and Kenzie met in middle school.

Growing up, we jumped from house to house 'cause we lived so close.

She was like a sister to me.

She's fun,

loving,

an amazing friend.

She would stick up for you.

I remember at school, I was bullied a little bit.

And Kenzie was like, "Don't talk to her like that. That's not okay."

She's a very loyal person.

When I heard there was a car crash, I tried to call Kenzie, like, 50 times.

[tense music playing]

And not getting a response.

And it was immediate panic for me.

[electronic voice] Recording.

[Tim] The day after the crash, police visited Mackenzie in the hospital

to find out, is she capable of providing any kind of statement?

[Steve] She had a broken femur above the knee,

three broken ribs, a lacerated liver, lacerated kidney.

Th-This bone broke, snapped, and it detached the tricep.

And both carotid arteries had damage to 'em from her neck snapping.

She looked like she'd lost a fight.

We just couldn't tell her about Dom

'cause she was just going through so much.

The police started asking her questions.

Then I said, "Wait. I think we need to get a lawyer."

'Cause you'd said, "Don't say anything to them without getting a lawyer."

And he goes, "Okay, we won't ask you any more questions."

[Steve] So then the police attempted to get access to her cell phone.

That's when he asked me for the passcode. So of course we gave it.

Go ahead. Go search whatever you want.

[Tim] In this day and age, your cell phone contains a treasure trove of evidence.

We are looking for evidence of intoxication,

communication with people.

Social media posts would give some insight into the events leading up to the crash.

[indistinct chatter]

[music fades]

[Mackenzie] And then I got ready to hang out with my friends again.

Oh my God, Skims baddie.

She's got the metallic swimsuit. So cute.

We actually went in the lake pretty deep 'cause it was, like, so hot.

[Rosie] In high school is when I met Kenzie.

[tense music playing]

We started commenting on each other's Instagrams

before we even talked to each other in person.

We would, like, comment, DM back and forth, or Snapchat.

[school bell rings]

She'd make cute little TikTok videos of her trying on outfits.

She would come to school with a purse instead of a bag,

which I thought was really cute.

I got along with her well. I'm like, "You're cute."

She's like, "You're cute." I'm like, "We get along so well."

When I met her, I had 200K on TikTok and on YouTube,

and she had, like, a few thousand followers.

She always wanted to be a model like me,

so me and Kenzie would hang out and just go do photo shoots.

[music fades]

[Mackenzie] Look at this place.

I'm with Rosie right now. We gotta do a photo shoot in this bitch.

[Rosie] With Kenzie came Dom, with Dom came Kenzie,

everywhere they went.

[poignant music playing]

[Faythe] Dom and Kenzie, they got together in freshman year.

He was three years older.

When we were younger, it was a bit more like,

"Hey, you're dating an older guy. This is a lot."

But boyfriends weren't really boyfriends at the time.

They were very like flings and "Oh, I wanna flirt and have a crush."

Okay, who's trying to dress up and go to the Minion movie?

'Cause that looks fun.

We already got two people down. Yep, me and him.

[both chuckle]

So we're ready to go. Who's coming?

[Faythe] Dom had his own place.

Kenzie moved in after we graduated.

[Steve] Even though she was 17, we felt she was mature enough to do that.

[Mackenzie] I love you, baby puppy.

They were becoming a little tight couple. They cooked a lot together.

Always super healthy. It was always organic.

[Rosie] Dom would buy her clothes.

Oh my God.

That one looks like the Skims shit but smaller.

I got that as a backup.

-Oh yeah, this looks really cute too. -[Rosie] Yeah.

-It looks like it's gonna fit me. -[Rosie] Super cute.

He really loved designer stuff and just name-brand.

Oh my gosh.

-Dom, no you didn't. -What?

-[Mackenzie] These are Guccis. -[Rosie] Okay! Baller.

The boy wasn't hurting for money, okay?

I think that helped Mackenzie a little bit because Mackenzie likes things.

[Natalie] Kenzie loved Dom with her whole heart.

I think she was always planning on getting married to Dom.

-Okay. -[Rosie] So cute. [chuckles]

[siren wailing]

[music stops]

[electronic voice] Recording.

[Natalie] In the night, Mackenzie asked, "Where's Dom?"

And I had to tell her… I had to tell her that it was him.

That he… he didn't… he didn't make it.

So she screamed, and I said, "I'm so sorry."

-She goes, "No, it's not. It's not him." -Yeah.

"Please go check. Go check"

And I said, "Mackenzie, it's him, because if it wasn't him, he'd be here."

That was devastating to hear her. The sound. It was gut-wrenching.

[Natalie] Right after that, she was asking,

"What about Davion? Is he okay?"

And I had to say, "No, he didn't make it either."

And then she was like, "Oh God."

[tense music playing]

[Tim] We really wanted to talk to Mackenzie

about what took place inside that car.

[Natalie] She remembers waking.

She remembers leaving the house.

Then she remembers turning on the street.

[music fades]

-And then that's it. -That's it.

She was trying to remember. Like, she's trying.

I'm like, "Mackenzie, you can't. It's just not there."

[Mackenzie] I'm not doing okay, like…

It doesn't feel real. I keep saying this, but it doesn't feel real.

I don't know what the fuck happened.

[voice recorder beeps]

Thank you for being there for me.

It just means a lot. Like, I don't remember anything.

-Like, this is just the worst. -[voice recorder beeps]

I can see how someone could have some amnesia

from the… the impact of the crash.

But the timing just seemed really

perfect.

I don't understand how your amnesia just lasted the exact right amount of time

to not be able to help the police with their investigation.

[electronic voice] Recording.

[man] Hey, guys.

[Tim] A couple of days after the crash,

two friends of Davion showed up at the Strongsville Police Department

and told them that they could provide some information.

We can literally see where Davion has been

for the past however long you need to know.

[man] Okay.

[Tim] One of the boys had an app on his phone called Life360

that was connected to Davion's phone,

where you can monitor each other's location via GPS.

-[friend 1] I wanna show you. -[man] Explain it.

[friend 1] This is when they were going down on Progress Drive.

It shows on this app Davion was on his phone at 5:35.

-[man] Okay. -And it says that they crashed at 5:36.

[friend 2] Before that, they went to a little gathering or party.

-[officer] Graduation party. -[friend 2] Yeah.

[friend 1] They might have been on psychedelics.

[officer] Mm-hmm.

[uneasy music playing]

[Tim] This was secondhand information

that there were drugs of some sort involved

at graduate parties the night before.

Maybe they were on the psychedelics and she hit the gas…

[officer] All right, guys, thank you. Appreciate you coming in.

We sent Mackenzie's blood sample to a lab out of state

because they do not, at our local lab,

test for the psilocybin, for the presence of that in someone's blood.

But looking at Mackenzie's phone,

there was evidence of her tripping on mushrooms.

And it seemed to be almost a daily ritual for her

to smoke marijuana from a bong…

[mellow music playing]

…with her camera propped up in her clothing closet.

There were some photographs of her using marijuana

in just the days or even the day before the crash.

There was multiple videos of her smoking marijuana and driving that car.

[music fades]

[Steve] I knew. I don't have a problem with her smoking dope.

I don't have a problem with me smoking it, with you smoking it.

If you're gonna take a drug, that's the one I believe you should take.

It's… It's better than alcohol. It's better than all the other crap.

She's not shooting up.

[mellow music playing]

[Rosie] As typical high schoolers do, we were kind of, like, the stoners.

It would just be back-to-back fun.

-[Mackenzie] I cannot. -[Rosie] Okay. State your names.

It's a TikTok. We don't have that much time.

-I'm Rosie. -Okay. Hi, my name's Kenzie.

-[Rosie] How are you feeling? -How am I feeling?

Well, I'm always pimpin'.

-My name's Bubba. I weigh 245 pounds. -[laughter]

-I'm feeling good. -[Davion] Damn!

I haven't ate a damn thing at all today though.

[Rosie] How you guys feeling?

[giggling] I'm geeking. This is crazy!

[music fades]

[Scott] Davion would say to us, "All the kids are doing it."

"They're all smoking weed."

Me and my wife, Jaime, pushed back on the narrative that weed is innocent.

"Weed isn't addictive. Weed's not a gateway drug, Dad."

[indistinct announcer]

In high school, football was Davion's number-one passion.

[crowd cheering]

-[man on PA] Davion Flanagan. -[whistle blares]

But four games into his senior season, he tore his ACL and his UCL,

and he pretty much was told that his football aspirations

for college and beyond was over at this point.

I think that's when he started to hang out with some different people,

different crowds, started experimenting with illegal substances.

[rock music playing]

[laughter]

[music stops]

He'd come home late, and I would say,

"Show me your friends, and I'll show you your future, Davion."

[Davion] Oh! Oh shit!

♪ …roof down for the ride… ♪

"Please stop."

♪ Do you want to drive? ♪

I think he was just being a selfish teenager at that point,

like, "Oh, I hate my parents" type of situation,

where you don't hate them, you just don't like to follow rules.

You can absolutely drive yourself insane thinking about the what-ifs.

Could we have done something differently?

If Davion had listened to us, maybe he never would've been in that car.

[somber music playing]

[Christine] This one over here, that's my son David,

and he's kissing Dom, which is just…

It melts my heart.

Um, you couldn't buy this picture off me for a million bucks.

It means the world to me.

He loved his nieces and nephews.

He was there for everything, every family holiday.

We're a really close family.

-That's part of the worst part. -[music fades]

He didn't get to see my kids grow up.

You know, you're thinking about your son,

and all of a sudden, everything leads back to the crash.

In my head, that's just where it goes. That's where my mind takes me.

What happened? What happened in the car? What happened? You know?

[tense music playing]

[Tim] We knew that the night before the crash,

Mackenzie, Dom, and Davion went to a party.

On the way, there were some text messages between Mackenzie…

and Rosie Graham.

[Rosie] I was just texting her to bring over some weed for the night.

We were also talking about doing the mushrooms,

which is why they brought them and had them in the car with them.

Rosie would have been the most likely source of information

on what was going on in Mackenzie's mind leading up to the crash.

[outgoing call ringing]

[Rosie] The police called to set up an interview,

and I was like, "I'm not doing it."

[music fades]

People always say the police will try to say crazy things,

especially if you're alone and you're a teenager.

It doesn't seem like we're trying to figure out what happened in the accident.

It seems like we're trying to track down the next drug dealers.

You have no idea how hard I tried to get Rosie Graham to talk to me,

to cooperate with me.

But it's good to hear that she talked to you guys.

I'm fascinated to hear what she has to say.

[tense music playing]

[Rosie] First of all, it wasn't a party at all.

Because in my opinion, and everybody that was there,

we call that a sleepover.

And that was just a friend sleepover that we would normally do.

I brought, like, a coloring book and, like, colored pencils.

We were watching YouTube videos.

[Bubba] Me, Dav, and Dom, we were watching a shark documentary.

Stupid shit on the TV.

A couple of times, we'd go out and smack the bong.

[Rosie] We were having deep conversations and just sitting around.

And we were also talking about doing the mushrooms.

But then by the time they got over, it was, like, 12:00 a.m.,

and we're all like, "It's too late."

[interviewer] So no mushrooms?

Um, yeah, we were all just kind of like, "It's really late,"

and we had, like, weed to smoke, so we just smoked weed.

Kenzie didn't even smoke that night.

She was on a smoke break 'cause she was coughing up black mucus

or bloody mucus, something that was really bad.

[Rosie] Kenzie was sleeping by, like, 3:00 a.m.

All I remember is Dom just petting her head all night

and cuddling up to her on the couch,

and she was sleeping, and he was caressing her hair.

[music fades]

[sighs]

All of us all had plans that next day to go out and do stuff.

There was not one argument. There was not one moment of tension.

There was not one bad vibe towards anybody.

[tense music playing]

And then, really early in the morning, around 5:00, Dom came into the kitchen,

and I was like, "Are you guys leaving?"

[Bubba] And it was right before they left, me and Davion were talking.

He was supposed to work on my truck with me the next morning.

And I offered to take him home.

It was set that he was coming home with me.

And, like, last minute, he goes,

"I wanna shower and maybe sleep for a little bit."

For some reason, he gave me a hug and goes, "I love you."

I was like, "Love you too, bro."

Very weird. It was the first time we said we loved each other for a while.

[music fades]

At that point, when they left the house, you have this black hole.

The, uh, lack of knowing what took place inside that car.

But then Strongsville Police Department called me

about some of the video evidence that they had uncovered.

[tense music playing]

I'm Trooper Elliot Rawson.

I serve as a crash-reconstruction trooper with the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

We had obtained surveillance camera video

of the final moments leading up to the event.

All right, so this is the first camera vantage point, um,

from the intersection of Progress Road at Pearl Road.

Here, we can see the Toyota traveling southbound,

and it begins to make a right turn.

[mouse clicking]

As it traveled west for nearly a half mile…

there was a slight bend

where the second piece of video evidence comes from.

The camera was located on the southern face of this building,

pointing southwest.

Based on my calculations,

the Toyota averaged approximately 97.8 miles per hour

through this stretch right here.

That's beyond unsafe speed for the roadway and conditions.

At this point, the Toyota enters the intersection

where it struck the corner of the commercial building.

[music fades]

[engine roars]

[tires screeching]

[car crashing]

My first thoughts…

It was just chilling.

If… If anybody was awake and alert inside that car,

what a horrific last few seconds

they endured.

It was hard to comprehend that someone

could just drive into a wall at that kind of speed.

I looked back at the video of Mackenzie turning from Pearl Road onto Progress.

It just didn't add up.

It was not someone who's driving with the music loud,

throwing beer cans out of the car.

This turning was controlled and deliberate.

[ominous music playing]

And then when we get the blood toxicology back,

the blood test indicated no alcohol.

They did find THC, the active chemical contained in marijuana.

But this was not someone who was unfamiliar with driving

under the effects of marijuana.

But the most significant piece of evidence

was that she has no psilocybin in her system.

So this was not some sort of party gone wrong.

She wasn't high on psilocybin when she crashed.

That ended that rabbit hole.

[music fades]

Now we know this isn't impaired driving.

What else would help explain this crash?

Was something tampered with?

Or did the car malfunction in some way?

The police did observe a fuzzy Prada slipper

that appeared to be stuck to the floorboard

next to the accelerator pedal.

[somber music playing]

Had that contributed to the crash?

We needed to retain a forensic auto investigator

to do a complete analysis of that car.

[tense music playing]

[reporter 1] This Strongsville community is devastated.

The cause of that crash is unclear.

[reporter 2] Police say speed was one of the factors.

[Scott] The police would contact us at least once a week

and give us an update.

But they held a lot back as well

because they needed to keep their cards close to their vest.

[music stops]

And then I saw an Instagram post that was sent to Mackenzie from a brand

a day or two after the crash.

[tense music playing]

"We love this look. Can we use this post on our website and emails?"

It's answered by Mackenzie's mother,

Natalie Shirilla.

"Thank you for this amazing opportunity."

"She would love if you would use that."

"She's actually been trying to contact you guys for PR email."

"It was a tragic accident."

"This is just as painful for her as it is for everybody else."

"Or maybe even a little more painful."

[music fades]

Then Mackenzie responds.

"Thank you for the comment. I would love to work with you."

"I've been emailing you guys a lot. Such a great opportunity. Thank you."

The only term that comes to mind is tone-deaf.

Like, she just doesn't get how much anguish she's caused.

No one in their right mind

would post about being thrilled about this opportunity

after they just killed two people in a horrific accident.

It just felt off.

[cell phone beeps]

[Davyne] I got a DM on Instagram from Mackenzie.

She said, basically, "I'm sorry."

"Davion was like a brother to me. It was all an accident. I didn't mean to."

She wanted to get her peace out of it.

At the end of the day, I didn't feel like I needed to respond

to someone who killed my brother.

[tense music playing]

Me and Mackenzie, we went to the same school,

but we were in a different year.

Dude, why is the lighting in here fucking terrible? Like, what the fuck?

[Davyne] I already had, like, my opinion on her,

and I'd expressed that to Davion privately.

[Mackenzie] I'm not even cool.

I'm just one of those girls that can do a lot of drugs and not die.

She gave off this persona and this act

of being, like, high up and better than everyone else.

I don't like when people talk about the world,

and they're like, "We're all gonna be dead in 60 years anyways."

Please go fucking kill yourself. Yep, I said it. Go die, bitch.

[Davyne] I heard people would steer away from her

because she got very aggressive

and could bully people and talk bad about people.

The school records showed one incident after the next

of disrespect to teachers and fellow students.

You just get a general picture of someone

who does not have a lot of adult oversight.

[bell rings]

[music fades]

[Steve] There was an incident.

They suspended her for the last day of school.

I had to get off work and come get her.

I walked in. I looked at my daughter, and she's sobbing.

I go, "Did you do it?" She looked at me and goes, "No."

And I know when my daughter lies.

I go, "Good enough for me. Let's go." And I walked her out.

[Mackenzie laughs]

[Tim] Her parents would offer excuses for her behavior.

And typically Mackenzie would walk away from those negative interactions at school

with more freedom, less consequences,

and her actions being completely excused away.

Am I a perfect parent? No.

-Nobody is. -No one is. No one is.

-Have I made mistakes with my kids? Sure. -Sure.

It's… It's life, you know?

But she wasn't a bad kid. She didn't need to be disciplined a lot.

You know, she… I mean… The only… Her worst is her mouth.

If any of you think that that party situation is my fault,

you can go fuck yourself and leave my story.

Right now. Yeah.

Because we let all you underage little fucks

inside our beautiful home

just to do illegal things.

[tense music playing]

[Tim] Looking at all of the information we had from her phone,

I felt like I started to see who Mackenzie really was.

And then we got back the results from the forensic auto investigator.

And that expert determined that the braking,

the steering,

the tires,

the acceleration

were working properly.

The car didn't malfunction.

[music fades]

And in his professional opinion,

the slipper was stuck to the floorboard because of the impact.

The floorboard had actually crumpled around the slipper.

So it had no contribution to the crash.

That it was simply a result of the crash.

Now we needed the information off of the event data recorder.

[tense music playing]

[camera clicking]

[man] The EDR, the electronic data recording system.

Most people think of it as like being the black box in the airplane.

In this case, there's approximately five seconds of pre-crash data.

For the entire five seconds, the accelerator pedal was at 100%.

There was no taking off or lightening up on the accelerator pedal.

It was completely pressed all the way down.

[engine revs]

[tense music builds]

Most people would want to slow the vehicle or stop the vehicle

to avoid that type of an impact.

But in this case, there was no braking.

[ominous music playing]

The data shows that around three seconds before the impact,

there was some steering input.

Right movement, left movement, and then a hard right movement.

It shifted from drive into neutral, back into drive again.

[tires squeal]

[music fades]

I think the boys were trying to save their life.

I think Dominic and Davion were yanking on the wheel,

grabbing at the gear shift, and it was just too late.

[somber music playing]

100% gas pedal.

No attempt at using the brake.

The evidence all combines together to show

this was not an accident.

[ominous music continues]

Oh-ho!

[electronic voice] Recording.

[officer] Hello.

[music fades]

Over here.

[Tim] The police conducted numerous interviews of friends

or people that knew Mackenzie, Dominic, or Davion.

-[officer] The door open or closed? -[friend] It can stay open.

[Tim] One of the witnesses that came forward was a friend of Dominic's.

[officer] We've got a few questions for you.

First thing is, how long have you known Mackenzie?

Probably when I moved to Strongsville, so ninth grade.

[officer] So describe the relationship.

She would be, like…

She was like, "Oh, I love Dom so much." This and that.

I remember one instance

we were all about to get on the ride, and Dom was on a phone call.

[riders screaming]

She was like, "You get on this ride now."

But he said, "I can't right now."

And then we come back, and she kicked Dom away from us.

And she was just like, "I'm about to break up with him."

She was just saying stuff like that.

[officer] Have you ever heard Mackenzie threaten Dom?

We were in this candy shop, and, um…

This was after they'd gotten over arguing and everything.

She was like, "Either buy me something or shut the fuck up."

She always threatened and was disrespectful to Dom in my eyes.

[officer] Why did Dom put up with this? Do you know?

Um, I've personally been told that she did voodoo on him.

I mean, I personally don't believe that,

but she has told people that she's put a spell on him

so that he couldn't break up with her.

[uneasy music playing]

Dom had so much going for himself, like…

Why does he stick with Kenzie? He can do so much better, like.

[officer] Okay.

I'm gonna let the prosecutor know that you came down to talk to us.

Thanks a lot. Appreciate it.

[music fades]

[officer clears throat]

[Tim] I had to try to figure out what was going on here.

I reviewed years of text messages between Mackenzie and Dominic.

[tense music playing]

One day they'd be in love with each other.

The next day, they would be at odds over something.

[Faythe] In the beginning of Dom and Kenzie's relationship,

I told Kenzie, "Hey, your boyfriend just cheated on you

with one of our best friends."

[music stops]

I felt terrible for Kenzie. I mean, it sucks to be cheated on.

[uneasy music playing]

[Mackenzie] He never, like, just can, like, apologize on his own,

make it up to me on his own, get me flowers on his own.

I have to give him that little push. Actually, no, a giant-ass fucking push.

I have to shove him off a fucking 60-foot diving fucking board type shit.

Moving forward in their relationship, it caused a lot of trust issues.

Her to be like, "Hey, who are you with? What are you doing?"

It was a high-school relationship. There's gonna be fights.

There's gonna be up and down moments.

None of them were ever held seriously.

I was with them every single day, and it wasn't daily arguments.

It wasn't, uh, weekly arguments.

It wasn't even like anything crazy like that.

Mackenzie loved her life a lot,

and she really liked what she had going on with Dom.

[Frank] Dom was gonna make it. That's for sure.

He used to trade stocks. He traded cryptocurrencies.

He was opening an LLC to sell all the vape stuff.

[Mackenzie] Look how cute you look with your hair.

Trying to get a clothing line.

I don't know how I'ma take this seriously. It all depends if Clay's playing better.

[Frank] He had goals, and he was gonna reach 'em.

[Mackenzie] Whoo!

[music fades]

And prior to Dom passing,

you had said for about a year, "I need to spend more time with Dominic."

Right.

The last couple of years, we had tried to spend time together,

but he was always with Kenzie.

I just don't know why I forgot. I was just too stressed out about prom.

[Dom] You're dumb as fuck.

-[Dom laughs] -[Mackenzie laughs]

[somber music playing]

-[Natalie] When she came home… -Crying herself to sleep.

…she was either in bed, at the memorial, or at the grave site.

-At the grave site. -Every day. Every day.

[Mackenzie cries]

Kenzie contacted me through text, basically,

and then face-to-face also.

She said she was sorry. Yeah.

[Christine] I felt bad for her. I just kept thinking,

"She killed the love of her life and a friend."

I felt terrible for her.

[Frank] I said, "Kenzie, it's okay. You gotta try to get through it."

It is what we were all trying to do, and I was trying to be helpful to her too.

It might not work for me. It does sometimes, but…

-Anything. -Okay, Dom, are you here?

Look. I'm not moving my arm. That's a yes.

Do you have a message for Kenzie?

L.

O.

-V. -[sobs]

Love.

[Kenzie] I miss him so much.

[Kenzie cries]

I love you too, Dominic. [cries]

[music fades]

We were also getting heat from the family who didn't think it was an accident,

not to talk to her.

My ex-wife, Dominic's mother, wouldn't talk to her.

You really can't blame her, you know.

We did not know things that they knew.

[electronic voice] Recording.

[Tim] In September of 2022,

Dominic's brother Angelo met with detectives.

[somber music playing]

[Frank] Dominic and Angelo were really close.

They lived next door to each other, so Angelo's seen a lot more than we did.

[officer] So mostly what I'm interested in

is the relationship between Mackenzie and Dominic.

[Angelo] Dom tried to break up with her multiple times, even in July.

It kept not working out, whatever. They kept making back up.

Dom would have to call Kenzie's parents, call her mom and stuff,

and say, "You need to come get Kenzie outta here."

"She's refusing to leave my house. She's being crazy."

[Tim] Dominic's brother told police he was convinced

that from conversations he had with Dominic,

that Dominic was leaving Mackenzie.

[Angelo] For me, you know, there's two types of love that you give somebody.

It's like, "I love that person unconditionally."

And there's a type of love that's selfish and restricted

and "I want them all to myself."

And that was Kenzie with Dom.

Kenzie's, like, she's let us know

she will never let go of Dom,

and if she has to let go of Dom, she will not go on living herself.

[Dom] Give me my shit, dude. G… give me my shit.

-[Mackenzie] Yeah, we have problems. -[Dom] Why are you trying to torment me?

-[Mackenzie] We have problems. -[Dom] You're trying to torment me.

[uneasy music playing]

This was clearly a toxic relationship

on a crash course for… for termination one way or another.

[music fades]

It's difficult to prove these cases without providing some sort of motive.

Sometimes we're left with only what happened,

and we cannot tell why it happened.

But two weeks before the crash,

Dominic's mother, Christine Russo, received a telephone call from her son,

and he told her that Mackenzie was driving erratically and dangerously,

and that he needed help.

So she sent her friend Christopher Martin

to hunt down, on the highway, Dominic.

-[electronic voice] Recording. -[device beeps]

-[officer] Chris, thanks for coming down. -[Chris] Not a problem.

[officer] I just wanna ask you about the incident that happened

before the fatal crash.

[Chris] Um, Dominic called, and, uh,

he was upset,

and, uh, he was like, "I'm driving in a car with her,

and I don't wanna be around her anymore. I'm done."

So I get on the highway.

And I call him. I say, "Where are you at?"

She was like, "I'll crash this car." I'm like, "Dude, what do you mean?"

[officer] Can you clarify again what you heard her say over the phone?

-[Chris] She said she'll crash this car. -[officer] You heard her?

-[Chris] Yes. -[officer] Okay.

So we had a witness who had heard her say those words.

Mackenzie had threatened to crash a car with Dominic

two weeks before she did.

In criminal cases, we call that prior calculation.

[tense music playing]

[Scott] For three months, we had heard,

"We have evidence. We have evidence. We have evidence."

"So when are you gonna arrest her?"

"If you have evidence, when is this gonna take place?"

"When is the wheels of justice finally gonna start to turn?"

[Tim] The evidence that we had in this case was compelling.

100% gas pedal.

No attempt at using the brake. The car didn't fail.

She wasn't on some kind of mind-altering substance.

Mackenzie and Dominic had an incredibly toxic and failing relationship.

[music stops]

We were left with no reasonable alternative

but that she did it on purpose, because that's what all the evidence indicated.

[tense music playing]

[Natalie] Mackenzie was going to physical therapy.

After we left that appointment, I had gotten pulled over.

[officer 1] I'll go back to her.

Hi, Mackenzie.

[Mackenzie] Don't touch my phone!

[officer 2] You're under arrest. We have a warrant for your arrest.

[Mackenzie] Why? Wait, we have a lawyer. I have to call my lawyer.

I don't know why they needed nine or ten cars

to roll up on an 18, 17-year-old girl.

Prosecution needed a show, and they wanted to put on a pageant.

-Where is she? -[officer 3] Right back there, pal.

[officer 4] Hi, Mackenzie. Step out for me.

I'm Detective Hazou.

I'm the one who's been investigating the crash.

You're under arrest for aggravated murder times two.

-Murder? What? What?! -I was…

Yeah, we were just… It was shock.

[music stops]

[reporter] Breaking news alert.

An arrest in a deadly car crash involving two Strongsville High School grads.

We've learned now 18-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla

has been charged with two counts of aggravated murder.

[dramatic music playing]

Taking that news in, you're stunned for a while.

You can't say or do anything.

-I was shocked when she was arrested. -Yeah.

I was like, "What? W… why? Was it the drugs?"

No, they think she actually murdered him.

'Cause all along, we wanted it to be an accident.

We didn't want someone to intentionally murder our son.

The day she got arrested, everyone was chanting.

Everyone was like, "Oh, she's gone! She's arrested."

I didn't think she would get arrested at all for this.

That's the last thing I'm thinking about.

I'm thinking, "Our friends are dead. How are we gonna recover from this?"

You guys are acting like this is Jeffrey Dahmer or someone.

Someone that's out here, like, calculating these murders

and calculating these things. No, that's not who she was.

Could you be careful taking this one off so it doesn't break the bracelet?

-[officer] You got it. -Thank you.

I've seen so many people be like, "This dramatic girl,

she's going to prison worrying about her bracelets."

[officer] I don't wanna hurt you.

[Rosie] But all of her bracelets are, like, Dom bracelets.

She just didn't wanna break the things that Dom had given her.

It's, like, the only… The last thing that she has. She…

She was so sad about it all.

[officer] Here you go. Watch your head going in.

[Mackenzie grunts, sniffles]

[tense music playing]

[officer 1] This way.

Okay, I'm gonna take your handcuffs off.

-I need all the jewelry to come off, okay? -Okay.

I can't wear any of it?

No. I need you to take it off while you're in the jail right now.

[officer 1] As soon as we're done, you'll be able to make a call.

[officer 2] We have to wait for the detective to come back.

Just have a seat for us.

[music fades]

[interviewer] So could you tell me why you want to give this interview, Mackenzie?

I've never spoke before, and I never told my side of the story.

I understand there's many different sides to the story and different perspectives,

but I just wanna say my truth, and

I just know myself, and I know I'm not… a monster.

[uneasy music playing]

[laughter echoes]

[music fades]

We were just two kids messing with each other.

And then, as the years went on and we stayed together and grew closer,

we would have probably been married by now.

[uneasy music playing]

He was just so protective and loving over me.

I wanted to just heal him, and he wanted to heal me.

We were partners. We just took care of each other.

I mean, we argued, we got back together. We broke up, we got back together.

It was… It was rocky, but it was good.

It was just…

We were in love. Young love.

[interviewer] Did you ever feel, in your arguments with Dom,

rage that you couldn't control?

No, it was never like that.

It was always just like more, I was…

When we'd argue, I'd get sad

because he didn't really have good communication skills,

and we would be cool later that day or a couple of hours later,

and we would be watching movies on the couch, eating popcorn.

Davion, he was more of Dom's friend.

That summer, he came to live with me and Dom for a week or two,

and during those couple of weeks, I was growing really close to Davion.

He was just full of life. He was a good person.

[tense music playing]

[interviewer] What do you remember from the morning of July 31st?

[Mackenzie] It was 5:00 in the morning,

and we decided to head back to Dom's house, and…

[music stops]

I remember turning on the street,

and then I'm waking up in the hospital the next day, and I don't…

Then my whole life is shattered.

[interviewer] People have said that it's convenient that that's all you remember.

What would you say to that?

[interviewer] The whole morning is just, like, nothing, and I…

It sounds crazy, but I…

Like, I can't… I'm not gonna, like, lie just because people wanna hear a story.

I have no recollection of that morning.

I'm not saying I'm… innocent.

I was a driver of a tragedy.

But I'm not a murderer.

[dramatic classical music playing]

[reporter 1] The trial for a Strongsville teen charged

with murder in a deadly crash

is going on today.

The accident happened just days before Mackenzie Shirilla's 18th birthday.

[reporter 2] Shirilla is now facing murder, felonious assault,

and aggravated vehicular homicide charges.

Good luck proving it. There's no…

-What proof? -Yeah.

What proof… What proof do they have to any of this?

[Tim] In Ohio, a defendant chooses

whether to have a jury trial or a bench trial.

A bench trial is tried just to the judge.

Mackenzie Shirilla opted for a bench trial.

[Scott] We were gonna get our day in court but we absolutely were in fear and terror

that we would not get earthly justice for our son.

[tense music playing]

We went to the first hearing and sat with their family.

Yep.

[interviewer] Sat with the Shirillas?

Mm-hmm.

We still thought she had been drinking or there were drugs involved.

You know, they were kids. Accidents happen all the time like that.

You never in a million years think

this girl killed your brother.

You just don't think that way.

All of the records will show, from when the police first responded,

she had no recollection of the events,

and that is consistent with what happens many times in accidents.

My attorney was very reassuring of there being no evidence

and that anyone can see that there was no intent.

How can you come to any conclusion other than, if anything, she's reckless?

Your Honor, at issue in this case, primarily,

is the defendant's state of mind at the time of the fatal crash.

The evidence in this case is clear.

She drove the car into the wall.

She made up her mind, and she never went back.

[eerie music playing]

[Scott] The prosecutor would alert us

to what they were gonna show in the courtroom.

This is two-tenths of a mile from the ultimate crash site.

[Scott] We saw the video for the first time.

[Tim] You will hear the Camry coming

before you see the last few seconds before impact.

-Oh my gosh. -It was torture.

And you kept saying it was like a bomb went off.

-Yeah, it was like a torpedo. -[Christine] A missile.

[car engine roars]

[car crashing]

-Brutal. -[Christine] Mm-hmm.

Brutal.

That's embedded. You never get rid of that.

[Scott] There was a pause, and my wife, Jaime,

went into the bathroom and threw up.

100% acceleration through the entire final five seconds.

[somber music playing]

No service brake was deployed during that final five seconds.

-What other explanation do you have? -[Christine] 100 miles an hour.

100% acceleration. Never hit a brake.

It was a big slap in the face, thinking we're there for her

'cause we feel bad for her too, and then it's all a lie.

[reporter] It's day two in the trial of the Strongsville teen

charged with murder in a deadly crash.

[somber music continues]

When I first got this case

and saw that the charge was murder,

I thought to myself, "Boy, if she's driving the car,

and it was her purpose to kill these people,

she must have wanted to kill herself too."

In fact, we know that she was not suicidal.

I would never, ever see her purposely wanting to hurt herself.

Say that is, and she's so sad, like mentally,

I… I don't think that's the way to do it.

[Faythe] Kenzie loves herself a lot.

She wouldn't even have a McChicken with me at McDonald's

because she cared so much about her own health.

I don't feel like somebody like that,

who's caring so much about their body and so much about

themselves and how they're doing,

would be suicidal.

[Rosie] Her birthday was coming up.

She had an expensive designer outfit ready to wear.

She had presents ready, wrapped up from Dom,

that she still has never opened.

Nothing makes sense. It really doesn't.

[Tim] Mr. McDonnell brought up the issue of her trying to kill herself.

How could anybody do that?

Everybody that's heard this evidence can't figure out

how could anybody do that.

We don't have to prove that she was suicidal,

but she put that car into the wall,

and the results were as foreseeable

as if she drove that car off of the Grand Canyon.

[James] Is it just kids being kids?

Is it Dominic grabbing the steering wheel?

Those are all possibilities.

[music fades]

What do you think happened to cause the crash?

Through all the evidence that has been presented,

the most logical speculation seems to be a medical emergency.

I always tell everybody that she has POTS.

[tense music playing]

POTS stands for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.

It's a blood pressure disorder.

You can either get dizzy, lightheadedness, you can black out.

With POTS, you just black out.

It can happen very fast.

If I move a certain way, it just comes out of nowhere.

I could just be sitting like this, and it could hit me.

You can move the microphone. It goes side to side.

[Natalie] Okay.

[music fades]

[clerk] Can you state your name and spell your last name for the record?

Natalie Shirilla, S-H-I-R-I-L-L-A.

[Tim] When was Mackenzie diagnosed with POTS?

2017.

[Tim] And so you were aware of these POTS incidents,

yet you still went to the BMV and said, "Give my daughter a… a driver's license."

Yes.

[Tim] But as a mom,

this thing is so serious to you, correct?

It can be.

You never told her not to drive the car because of this POTS diagnosis?

[Natalie] She's been able to manage it.

[Tim] You're here to tell us that this was the reason

that she crashed the car into the PLIDCO building.

Isn't that the… Isn't that the bottom line?

It… It could be.

-[Tim] Could it be? -It could be.

-[Tim] No further questions, Your Honor. -[judge] Redirect.

-That's it? -Yep.

[Tim] If that was an obvious element of defense,

we were never provided with a opinion from a medical person

stating that Mackenzie had suffered

some kind of POTS incident that caused this.

Um… And I think that's because

that's not what happened.

[Christine] It's physically impossible.

If she passed out, then her foot would have eased off the gas.

-Wouldn't have stuck down like that. -It makes no sense whatsoever.

[tense music playing]

[Tim] Mackenzie drove that car down Progress,

going up to 100 miles an hour.

This would have taken intense engagement with the steering and controls of that car

just because of the nature of the turns on the road.

There's an S-curve, and it goes up, and then it goes down.

That is not a piece of road that someone could navigate

at 100 miles an hour while blacked out.

[music fades]

[interviewer] How does a medical emergency account for the control of the car?

I'm unsure. I have… 'Cause I have no recollection of that morning.

But I know nothing about it was intentional

'cause that's not in my character.

[clerk] Please state your full name.

I'm Christine Russo. I'm Dominic's mother.

[Tim] Did you, at any point, um, provide the Strongsville Police Department

with some videos that you had obtained

that had conversations between Mackenzie and Dominic?

Yes.

[Tim] And how did you come into possession of those videos?

They were recorded on a phone that happened to be in my son's home.

Christine Russo had brought to the investigators' attention

some recordings made by Dominic just a matter of days before the crash.

[Mackenzie] Dom, open the door.

[Dom] I can't open the door. I can't sit here and fight.

We gotta go to dinner to see my grandparents. I can't…

[Mackenzie] You're not going to dinner if you don't open the door.

I'ma let you know that now.

You're gonna come open this door right now

or there's gonna be a serious fucking problem.

Okay, ready? I'm gonna count to ten. The door's gonna open, okay?

You're gonna open the door and stop hiding behind the door

like a little fucking bitch.

[Dom] Step away from the door. Maybe I can come outside and talk.

[Mackenzie] No, we're not fighting outside.

You're gonna open the door right now.

-[Dom] Why aren't we fighting outside? -[Mackenzie] One minute.

[Dom] Now my mom's trying to call me. I gotta--

[Mackenzie] No. If you hang up on me, we're done. I'm leaving.

[ominous music playing]

-[Dom] Kenzie, there's nothing I can do. -[Mackenzie] There is.

Stop being a little bitch.

[Dom] I can't let you in with how you're acting.

It's as simple as that.

[Mackenzie] Okay, I'm gonna break into your house, then.

[Dom] Dude, what the hell? What the actual fuck?

[pounding]

[Mackenzie] You don't let me in the house that I sleep in every night, we are done.

-I was disgusted, and I really think that… -Yeah.

It just really made me mad.

Yeah, I felt sorry for Dominic. I can't believe he didn't say anything.

[interviewer] Had you ever seen that side to her?

-No. -Nope.

Didn't see that side of her at all.

[Tim] How would you describe Dominic's tone on these videos?

Very calm.

[Tim] How would you describe the defendant's tone on these videos?

Irate and angry.

[Tim] Thank you. I have no further questions.

[Scott] You could sense a mood in the courtroom.

It was as if people were coming to the realization

that she could actually do it.

She was volatile enough

and angry enough

and desperate enough… to do just about anything.

[tense music playing]

When that came out, there was no hiding who you were anymore.

It just all painted a huge picture.

She actually intentionally murdered him.

[music fades]

This catastrophe took place

at the conclusion of a rocky and tumultuous relationship

between Mackenzie Shirilla and Dominic Russo.

Whatever happened, Judge, was because of that relationship.

That is why this took place.

And what about Davion?

He's just cargo in the backseat.

If you knew you were gonna kill your boyfriend,

what did Davion have to do with that?

He had nothing to do with that.

You could have let him out, let him walk away.

She treated him with the utmost disregard.

We trust the court, and we wait for your verdict. Thank you, Your Honor.

We ask you to find her guilty on all counts.

[somber music playing]

[judge] There is nothing that I can do or say today

that will return these two young men to their families.

This trial is the culmination of decisions made by one person.

The crash video.

The video clearly shows purpose and intent of the defendant.

She chose a course of death and destruction that day.

She morphs from a responsible driver to literal hell on wheels

as she makes her way down the street.

Court renders the following verdicts.

Count one.

The court, having had count one tried to a pursuant to waiver,

finds the defendant Mackenzie Shirilla

guilty of murder, to wit, Dominic Russo,

in violation of Ohio Revised Code section 2903.02a,

is charged with count one.

-Count two. -[handcuffs click]

The court, having had count two tried to a pursuant to waiver,

finds the defendant Mackenzie Shirilla guilty of murder,

to wit, Davion Flanagan,

in violation of Ohio Revised Code Section 2903.02a,

is charged with count two of the indictment.

-[Mackenzie] Mom? -[Natalie] Hey, hey.

-[Mackenzie] Oh my goodness. -[Natalie] I know, Kenzie.

[Mackenzie] I didn't think that was gonna happen. She was just like…

She just made it seem like I was just a murderer.

[Natalie] I know. I know, sweetie.

[Rosie] I was, like, shocked.

I genuinely do not think

that this could have been on purpose, intentional, or planned.

Like, it doesn't make sense to me.

[tense music playing]

We were all friends.

A local case has drawn national and international attention.

Sentencing will take place tomorrow for 19-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla.

Mackenzie Shirilla could face up to life in prison.

[Mackenzie] How much time do you think I'm gonna get?

I'm sure they're gonna go with the max.

-[Natalie] The max? -[Mackenzie] Okay?

[Tim] A conviction for murder carries a life sentence.

The sentencing judge chooses between 15 years to life

or 30 years to life before the possibility of parole.

[music fades]

I just wanted my son's life to have… concrete value

in the term of years.

And if that was 15, okay.

If that was 30, I would be happier with that.

[Tim] We have received a series of letters

that have been submitted on behalf of the defendant.

They describe her as a good student and a loving and caring person,

um, and that she could never do something like this.

And I think that who she actually was

is directly contradictory

to what is painted by the letters submitted on behalf of her today.

♪ Got a figure like a pinup Got a figure like a doll ♪

♪ Don't care if you think I'm dumb I don't care at all ♪

♪ Candy bear, sweetie pie Wanna be adored ♪

♪ I'm the girl you'd die for ♪

[haunting music playing]

I feel like anybody's social media isn't really them.

It's how they want the world to see them.

And at the time, that's how my 17-year-old brain was

wanting to be seen.

♪ Think I'm dumb I don't care at all… ♪

This video was made in 2021. [laughs]

You can see the date right there. April 2021. A whole year before.

Anybody my age, like, grew up with Marina and the Diamonds.

This is just, like, a song that everybody knows,

and then it turned into a TikTok trend.

We all have made our videos to this exact sound. Like, to the trend.

♪ Got a figure like a pinup Got a figure like a doll ♪

♪ Don't care if you think I'm dumb I don't care at all ♪

♪ Candy bear, sweetie pie Wanna be adored ♪

♪ I'm the girl you'd die for ♪

I post probably, like, five to seven TikToks a day. Per day.

At that rate of content,

I don't even remember what I said yesterday.

-[ominous music playing] -You cannot use that against her.

Uh, Halloween of last year, before being charged.

["Vamp Anthem" by Playboi Carti playing]

♪ When them vamps outside Li'l bitch better be ready ♪

[judge] Are these post…

These are on Halloween of last year, so these would be post-crash,

um, just before she was charged in November.

I'm introducing these to the court to show the shocking lack of remorse.

Dressing up as corpses three months after she killed two people,

it just sickened us to the very core.

We're not seeing her post videos of her mourning

or videos of her regret.

We were seeing posts of her living her best life.

We were dressed as Playboi Carti. That's his makeup that he does onstage.

And I think most people my age know that.

Her and Dom loved Carti. Like, her and Dom really loved Carti.

That is what these kids do. Everything's on social media.

They make crazy videos all the time, so…

-Um… -[music fades]

Uh, if she didn't kill someone, I guess it wouldn't have been a big deal.

But she did. So now it just kinda sheds light on who she was.

[tearfully] To the families

of Dom and Davion,

I'm so deeply sorry.

I hope one day you can see how I'd never let this happen

or do it on purpose.

And I'm so sorry.

And to my family,

thank you for the support and all the love you guys give.

Thank you for fighting for me. I love you all so much.

All right, I'm done. Thank you, Your Honor.

[ominous music playing]

That was the worst apology I think I've ever heard in my life.

I know when someone's being fake or not.

And that was not… That was not real.

[judge] Hello. Could you start with your name?

Hi, Your Honor. My name's Davyne Flanagan.

Um, Davion was my older brother.

Davion was not just a big brother to me, but a role model in many ways.

He was the person I trusted the most because he made me feel safe.

He was the one who picked me up when I fell.

He was my best friend and the only person that has stayed with me since I was born.

I would like you to give Mackenzie the longest possible sentence.

Thank you, Your Honor.

[Natalie] 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.

[judge] I'm hearing a lot about your daughter

and not hearing very much about the two dead people.

Dominic, okay?

I'm asking you for leniency

because this was a tragic accident that she does not remember.

And Do… Davion, we don't…

-He's a new friend. And I'm so sorry. -[judge] What does that mean?

-His life is worth less? -No, no, no. No.

No. God, no. Not at all.

I understand what it looks like.

I'm… I'm… I'm saying that it was a tragic accident. She would never--

-[judge] We're gonna disagree on that. -[Natalie] I understand.

-I'm so sorry, guys. I'm sorry. -[judge] Thank you.

-[Natalie] I love you. -Love you.

[judge] 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.

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.

There's a very good likelihood, Mackenzie,

that you will spend the rest of your life in prison.

[music intensifies]

-[Natalie] Love you, Kenz. -[Mackenzie] Love you all.

[man] We know you're innocent.

[music fades]

[woman sobbing]

We are just thankful that we feel justice was served today.

Um, there's not a day that goes by that we don't miss our son,

and justice was served for him today.

Um, but honestly, there's no winners here.

There's no winners here today.

[somber music playing]

[Tim] It matters to me that Davion and Dominic's loved ones

feel that justice was provided,

and that Mackenzie was held accountable.

And she will sit in a cage for a long time because of what she did.

[music fades]

It's really hard every day in here.

I try to wake up and be the best person I can be every day,

stay out of trouble.

There's not a moment that doesn't pass where I don't…

I don't think about them or

I don't

feel the pain in my chest that…

It's still like a void of losing them and…

[door slams]

[interviewer] Is there any last word that you'd like to say?

Did I touch on that… the right…

Okay, so everything is, like… You think…

I don't wanna force anything and just say too much

or sound crazy.

I just wanna just make sure that I'm big on the…

the no intent.

There was no intent whatsoever there.

I have excessive amounts of remorse

for Dominic, Davion, both of their families.

This was not intentional, and I will do everything I can to

prove that to the world and the families.

And that's it.

I have the capacity for forgiveness.

I just wanna know the truth of what happened that night.

And I would be eternally grateful

for her to actually tell us how those last few moments were.

No matter how… damaging to her they might be to say,

just to say the truth and let us know

and let us grieve properly and have some closure.

[somber music playing]

[Natalie] We're not done yet, okay? And I can't talk about anything.

So just… have trust in… have trust in us, please.

Okay? But I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.

It's tragic, what happened to those two boys.

But think if it was your kid.

What if Mackenzie was yours?

How would you feel?

I'm gonna fight for my daughter.

And we have ironclad evidence

that disputes what was said in the trial.

This is the freeway incident…

where Mackenzie was accused of threatening to crash the car two weeks before.

These are text messages between Mackenzie and Dom's mom, Christine Russo.

Mackenzie says, "Can you come get Dom?"

"He just grabbed my steering wheel, trying to spin out my car and hurt me."

Christine says, "Hench is on the way. Calm down for now, please."

And then Mackenzie says, "To be honest, I can't calm down

when he just tried to end my life."

She never threatened to crash the car two weeks before the car accident.

He did. He did.

It wasn't her. She never threatened to do anything before.

So that removes that whole prior intent

from their story.

These messages are now part of an appeal

based on evidence that was never brought into the trial.

Mackenzie Shirilla, who is in prison for killing two people in a car crash,

is asking for a new trial.

[Natalie] We're gonna fight, fight, fight.

If I have to drive to the White House…

I'll take it all the way to the Supreme Court if I have to.

There's the Free Mackenzie Facebook page somebody started.

Thank you again, whoever all these people are.

And all the YouTube videos sharing all the information.

It is very probable that a car malfunctions.

-Yes. -Or someone passes out.

The black box tells us what happened, not why.

It wasn't intentional.

[man 1] Look at that face. Someone's gotta pardon her.

Mackenzie is too pretty for prison.

We're all in this together. Get her the hell out of there.

[man 2] Follow Free Mackenzie Shirilla on Facebook.

[music fades]

[Christine] Every time a news thing comes out, the Free Kenzie page,

an appeal comes out, it stirs everything back up.

She got 15 years. That's nothing. You know?

Sit down, be quiet, and leave us alone.

If they were truly sorry, I think they would do that.

She could get out at thirty…

-What? Thirty-two, thirty-three? -Mm-hmm.

Yeah, and start a family and live a happy life, you know?

[Frank] At least they can still go see their daughter.

Given she's in jail, at least they can still go visit her.

'Cause we can't visit Dom.

[Scott] I think the worst thing that could happen

is for Mackenzie to be babied for the next 15 years by her parents

and told she did nothing wrong and she'd never made a mistake in her life

and she's the perfect girl and she's been completely wronged

and the system's against her and the prosecution lied.

All those things are damaging to her psyche.

Those aren't gonna help her adjust and become a well-functioning adult

when she gets out of prison.

But just because of who you are when you're 17 or 18,

does that mean that's who you're gonna be for the rest of your life?

And it's my biggest hope that she does change.

[somber music playing]

[Davyne] What can you do to help? He wanted to go to barber school so bad.

We have a barber scholarship under Davion's name,

and it's basically where you can donate money

to a scholarship that will go to a student in need.

[reporter] The plan is to send at least one person to barber school fully paid.

But if their GoFundMe campaign raises enough money,

they'll be sending people to school for years to come.

[Scott] There is a handful of days in those two and a half years

that I've been happy.

Like genuinely, really happy.

The day we handed out the scholarship was one of those days.

Congratulations.

[man] Whoo!

It's just good to see that someone, even if they're not Davion,

achieve their passion and their dream

and to see how far that takes them.

[Scott] People are gonna know his name and people are gonna know his heart

and who he truly was.

And if we could do that, then Davion does have a future.

And he might not be in it, but his memory sure is.

-♪ Oh, you got power ♪ -♪ Ooh ♪

-♪ Superpowers ♪ -♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Do you even know how to wield them? ♪

-♪ All God's children ♪ -♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Are special ♪

-♪ But not like you ♪ -♪ Ooh ♪

♪ No, not like you ♪

-♪ You're just like a flower ♪ -♪ Flower ♪

♪ You're ever giving ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ That's a given ♪

-♪ All God's children ♪ -♪ All God's children ♪

♪ Are special ♪

-♪ But not like you ♪ -♪ Ooh ♪

-♪ No, not like you ♪ -♪ Ooh ♪

-♪ Ooh ♪ -♪ Lift it, lift it ♪

♪ Lift your head ♪

♪ To the sky ♪

[somber music playing]

[music fades]