Shyann Topping, who dated convicted killer Mackenzie Shirilla while Shirilla was housed at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, says she received threatening texts and her personal details were shared after she stopped talking to her. In interviews and TikTok video
The outdoor track at the Ohio Reformatory for Women is where Shyann Topping says her relationship with Mackenzie Shirilla began—quickly, intimately, and with momentum that seemed to carry them past the walls separating their worlds.
Topping says she noticed Shirilla after being transferred to the facility in 2023. then approached her and told her. “You look good.” In the days that followed. she claims the pair started dating almost immediately and moved so fast that. by day two or three. Shirilla allegedly confronted her with a demand that would later become part of what Topping says didn’t add up.
Topping says Shirilla told her: “Why aren’t you touching me?. I want you to be all over me. I want you to be out here for everyone in the yard to see me.” She described the early weeks as something like relief from the routine of prison life—“two weeks in prison feels like two months. ” Topping said. because “All you’re doing is seeing the same people every single day. 24 hours a day.”.
But the relationship fractures, Topping says, once she starts researching the fatal crash that landed Shirilla behind bars.
Shirilla is serving a sentence of 15 years to life for killing her 20-year-old boyfriend Dominic Russo and his 19-year-old friend Davion Flanagan in a brutal car crash. While Shirilla was incarcerated, Topping says they continued dating. She also says the dynamic changed after she got out of prison and began digging into details of the case.
In her telling, once Topping confronted Shirilla and asked questions about what happened, she received “very few answers.” She says she eventually realized she had been misled about the killings and that the relationship ended.
Then, she says, fear arrived.
Soon after the breakup—Topping says after she learned the details and stopped talking to Shirilla—she claims she began receiving texts from people connected to Shirilla’s case. In an interview with People on Tuesday, Topping described the moment she realized the situation had escalated.
“It was crazy because after I found out [the details] of her case and we stopped talking to each other and it fizzled out. people started texting me and saying crazy stuff to me.” She says the messages included her mother’s name and her home address. Topping says she believes the inmates locked up with Shirilla sent the messages. but regardless of who was behind it. she says it terrified her enough to stop posting.
She didn’t return to social media until a new wave of attention returned to the case.
Topping says she held off until Netflix released The Crash. a documentary she refers to as the moment Shirilla broke her silence publicly for the first time and proclaimed her innocence. Prosecutors. Topping says. have maintained that the crash was a botched murder-suicide—pointing to Shirilla intentionally accelerating the car to 100 mph. never once hitting the brakes before slamming into a brick wall and killing Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan. Shirilla, Topping says, disputes that. She insists she never deliberately murdered the two men and claims she passed out behind the wheel due to POTS. a chronic condition that can cause dizziness and fainting.
Topping says she believed Shirilla’s account—at least for a time.
“When I was in [prison], I honestly believed maybe she’s not guilty because of the limited information I had.” She says that belief shaped her plans when she got out of custody. She described wanting to “fight for [Mackenzie’s] release” and “possibly be an advocate” for her cause.
But her view changed as she learned more and reviewed evidence. Topping says she went from defending Shirilla’s innocence to questioning her character after she says she saw the case more clearly.
“When I first got out [of prison] I was like, ‘Oh, they don’t know what this girl’s been through.’ And then I started going through everything and seeing the evidence and I started thinking about her and I realized, ‘Oh my God, maybe she’s not a good person.’”
By August 2025. Topping began posting a series of videos on TikTok about her relationship with Shirilla. including multiple parts of her account under the handle @shyanntoppingg. The videos include #mackenzieshirilla and #prisontikok themes. and she frames her posts around the relationship story and the fallout that followed.
What she says she wants now is simple: answers.
In her story. the most important missing piece is what Shirilla told her during their time together—what details convinced Topping to believe Shirilla was a victim. and what she allegedly learned later that shattered that belief. For Topping, the threats are not just background noise; they’re a frightening echo that followed the breakup.
As The Crash continues to draw attention to the case. Topping’s allegations put her version of events back into the spotlight—this time not just as a romance from behind bars. but as a dispute shaped by what was said. what wasn’t explained. and what she says she was left to fear after she tried to uncover the truth.
Mackenzie Shirilla Shyann Topping The Crash Netflix Ohio Reformatory for Women Dominic Russo Davion Flanagan POTS true crime TikTok threats