US5 min(s) read
Published 13:34 26 May 2026 GMT
A body language expert has pointed out something Mackenzie Shirilla did with her eyes during her interview with Netflix.
Shirilla, now 21, is currently serving 15 years to life at the Ohio Reformatory for Women after being convicted of the deaths of her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and friend Davion Flanagan, 19.
The pair died on July 31, 2022, when Shirilla crashed her Toyota Camry into a large Plidco Building in Ohio at more than 100 mph.
During the 2023 trial, prosecutors argued the horrific collision was intentional, claiming Shirilla never tried to brake or lift her foot off the accelerator before impact.
Investigators also alleged the driver had previously threatened to crash the vehicle during arguments with her late boyfriend.
Shirilla was eventually found guilty of all 12 charges against her, including murder, aggravated vehicular homicide, felonious assault, and drug possession.
On May 15, Netflix premiered its new documentary, The Crash, which dives into the events leading up to the fatal incident and includes interviews with family members, investigators, and people close to the case.
The documentary also marked the first time Shirilla had sat down for an on-camera interview.
Director Gareth Johnson explained how hard it was to secure the interview, saying: "She was never interviewed by the police either before or after her arrest. It would be unprecedented if she spoke to us, and luckily she said yes."
Producer Angharad Scott added: "It was extraordinary, after months of research for the story, to finally sit down and put to Mackenzie all the questions everybody else has been asking."
The filmmakers shared thar they were given just one hour with Shirilla and that her lawyer remained present throughout the interview.
During the film, the convicted killer maintained that she has no memory of the moments leading up to the crash. "I’m not saying I’m innocent. I was a driver of a tragedy, but I’m not a murderer," she said.
Shirilla also pointed to her diagnosis of POTS, or postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which she claimed can cause her to "black out".
"The most logical speculation seems to be a medical emergency," she said.
When asked how she could still have maintained control of the car, Shirilla responded: "I’m unsure, because I have no recollection of that morning, but I know nothing about it was intentional, because that’s not in my character."
A body language expert known as Observe on YouTube later analyzed Shirilla’s interview and focused heavily on her eye movements during questioning.
"What I do find to be more highlighted... is the eye behaviors that she has during that. She's still regularly looking down and to the side, but we have to then pay attention to something more like her blink rate," he explained.
"And her blink rate during this time also greatly increases. So an increase of blink rate like that can mean a couple of different things. It can mean an increase in psychological processing," he added.
The analyst suggested one possible explanation could simply be that Shirilla was thinking more carefully about her answers.
"That might make sense as a question is asked, she answers. Maybe she has to blink a little bit more to think about it as she's thinking through it, because, you know, more gears are turning more or less," he said.
However, the expert said the reaction appeared different from the rest of the interview: "That's not what she's done in the other questions, and it's not what she does in the rest of the questions either. It's kind of a bit of a spike here."
The YouTuber then gave another interpretation. "The other possibility is it could be a blocking gesture as a person's uncomfortable with a situation, a scenario, a feeling, an emotion," he said. "You can see these eye-blocking gestures come in here, and that would be an increase in blink rate and also prolonged blinks in there as well."
According to him, that explanation fits best with Shirilla’s behavior during the interview.
"There is a third possibility that she's trying to hold out or hold in a certain level of emotion, but that doesn't fit contextually with what she's presenting here.
"What fits the most contextually is the eye blocking option. And so even in this, it's showing that she has a desire to separate herself, block herself off from this line of questioning, which I feel like highlights even a little bit more," he added.
Shirilla opened up about the emotional impact of her conviction and imprisonment in the documentary.
"I try to wake up and be the best person I can be every day," she said, adding that she constantly thinks about Russo and Flanagan. "It’s still, like, a void of losing them."
After the formal interview ended, the documentary revealed that her lawyer had been sitting in the room throughout the conversation.
The filmmakers also included footage of Shirilla checking how she had come across on camera.
"I don’t want to force anything and just say too much or sound crazy," she told her attorney before returning to the interview. "I’m big on 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," she added.
.webp_ke6C2y?tr=cr-169.8.1505.1344,f-webp,q-70,w-100)
