Steve Shirilla says his daughter, Mackenzie Shirilla, had no reason to involve late friend Davion Flanagan in a plan to kill boyfriend Dominic Russo, arguing something happened in the car that “no one’s ever going to know.”
When Steve Shirilla walked through the story of his daughter’s case on a podcast interview this week, the defense was direct: he doesn’t believe the late friend Davion Flanagan would’ve been placed inside any plan to murder Dominic Russo.
Shirilla, Mackenzie’s father, made the argument during a Wednesday, May 27 episode of True Crime This Week. Mackenzie Shirilla, 21, is serving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life over the July 2022 deaths of Russo and Flanagan.
“I’ve asked her, ‘Did you do this on purpose?’ And she goes, ‘No,’” Steve Shirilla said on the podcast, hosted by James Renner. “I would think if my daughter was that mad, that mad at that boy [Russo] to want to kill him that way, Davion would have never been in the car. This makes no sense.”
He then returned to a point that has defined his stance throughout the coverage: the specific moment in the vehicle. “Something happened in that car. No one’s ever going to know. She’s innocent of the charges they put upon her.”
The conviction still stands. Mackenzie Shirilla was convicted of 12 felony charges during a 2023 bench trial. including murder. after driving her Toyota Camry at over 100 mph in Strongsville. Ohio. and intentionally hitting a brick wall with Russo and Flanagan in the vehicle. She was the only one to survive the crash, which is the subject of Netflix’s documentary titled The Crash.
Netflix’s The Crash premiered on May 15, and Steve Shirilla appears in it as well. In the documentary. he backed his daughter despite the program exploring her marijuana use; he said. “I don’t have a problem with her smoking dope.” He added. “If you’re going to smoke a drug. that’s the one I believe you should take.” Cannabis was detected in Mackenzie’s system at the time of the incident.
The documentary also arrived while Mackenzie’s own public comments from behind bars continued to circulate. Days before. she spoke about her post-prison plans should she ever reach an early release. telling her mother. Natalie Shirilla. via phone from the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville. Ohio. “I’ma be a life coach and stuff. ” according to a Saturday. May 30 report by TMZ. She reportedly added, “I’m just going to be everything. I’ma do everything.” (Mackenzie is not eligible for parole until October 2037.).
In another jail call that was reported. Mackenzie referred to herself as the “third victim” of the fatal car crash that killed Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan. while she was behind the wheel. She made the comment while speaking to Natalie Shirilla during a phone call from the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center.
Her optimism is now meeting new scrutiny from prison records that have reportedly been obtained by Us Weekly. Those records show she faced multiple disciplinary actions while in prison. including for a NSFW video call in 2025 in which she allegedly showed her breasts to a visitor who flashed “a dildo sticking out of her pants twice.” The records also include allegations involving the 2024 possession of altered clothing and four “nude magazine pictures.”.
Even with Steve Shirilla insisting that Davion Flanagan could never have been part of a plan to kill Russo—and even as he argues that the truth of what happened inside the car can never be known—Mackenzie Shirilla’s case remains defined by the conviction. the Netflix documentary. and the competing accounts of her intentions and behavior.
Mackenzie Shirilla Steve Shirilla Dominic Russo Davion Flanagan True Crime This Week James Renner The Crash Netflix Strongsville Ohio Toyota Camry parole October 2037 Ohio Reformatory for Women Cuyahoga County Corrections Center
Sounds like he’s just saying stuff to make his daughter look innocent.
Wait so the dad won’t say what happened in the car? like ok but the conviction still stands… How does that even help.
I watched a clip about this and I’m confused because they keep saying “plot” but it was a crash? Like did she hit the wall on purpose or was it an accident and they just blamed her after? The Netflix thing makes it sound one way but the court made it sound another.
“No one’s ever going to know” is such a convenient line. If she really didn’t do it, why not say what “happened in the car” instead of vague podcast talk. Also people always bring up the friend like that changes the fact she was driving 100+ and only one survived… seems pretty sus to me.