US5 min(s) read
Published 09:52 02 Jun 2026 GMT
Netflix's true crime documentary The Crash is still very much at the center of public attention, with viewers continuing to be intrigued by Mackenzie Shirilla's murder case.
The doc covers the investigation into the deaths of Dominic Russo, 20, and Davion Flanagan, 19, who were passengers in a car that crashed into a brick wall at over 100 mph (160 km/h) in July 2022.
Mackenzie Shirilla, 17 at the time, was the person at the wheel, with first responders finding her wedged between the seat and door, with the two other passengers announced dead at the scene.
The trio were at a party before the crash, which took place in the early hours of the morning.
Toxicology tests ruled out drug and alcohol impairment, and Mackenzie would be found guilty of killing the two men in 2023.
The judge determined it to be a premeditated murder, and Mackenzie was convicted of 12 felony charges and sentenced to two concurrent life sentences, with the possibility of parole in 2037.
However, there were some key details left out of the hotly popular Netflix documentary.
Mackenzie has continued to maintain that she doesn't remember the events before the crash, despite evidence pointing towards the now-21-year-old driving into the wall on purpose.
While she is eligible for parole in 11 years, she was told there's a high chance she will spend the rest of her life in prison.
One of the key points of information which was brushed over in the Netflix doc was that Mackenzie seemingly drove the route leading to the scene of the crash, before the incident itself.
In Hulu's Mean Girl Murders, it is said that investigators believed she went on a "dry-run" of her route, to check road condition.
When police looked at her phone, GPS data revealed that her phone was in the same place as the accident, just three days before the crash.
An investigator explained: “I believe she [Mackenzie] knew exactly what she was going to do,” as there was no reason for Mackenzie to be there.
The Crash didn't include an audio recording taken by police between Mackenzie and her mom, Natalie Shirilla.
Speaking in a "unique language" which authorities thought to be pig latin, it sounded like Mackenzie was asking her mom to do her a favor.
Detective Zaki Hazou revealed that they are investigating the teenager for aggravated vehicular homicide, which was when Mackenzie started speaking to her mom in the odd language.
Police later claimed they knew what the translation was, alleging that she said: "Can we tell the police I had a seizure, can we tell the police something like that?”
Mackenzie then asked the detective if they can "just take my license away for like, 10 years," instead.
This piece of evidence was crucial in getting the teen thrown behind bars, though her lawyers argued that she suffered a medical event before the crash.
They claimed she had passed out due to postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), though there was no proof of a diagnosis.
Speaking in court, first responder Brett Stanislaw said that Mackenzie's vitals were normal, "which he said ruled out a stroke, seizure or other significant neurological emergency," court documents say.
As part of the Mean Girl Murders episode on Hulu, the then-teenager's classmates spoke about her character and some compared her to Regina George, claiming she had a "malicious list" of people she didn't like, and what she wanted to do to each person.
One explained: “Me and Kenzie had a falling out and she spread lies about it, put me on social media and called me names,
“It was very frustrating. I’ve had my fair share of almost fighting Kenzie. I know I’d be on that list.”
They added: “She [Mackenzie] was very mean and just aggressive. It was a very toxic environment to just even be around her.”
A different person said that “in reality, Mackenzie was just the meanest girl in school” and said she “tore everybody down”.
The convict's former friend, Rachel Anderson, claimed: "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."
Another former friend, Jaina Maynard, added that she was simply "terrible to people," claiming that she could have "been a lot more if she just chose a different route and got the help she needed."
Authorities looked into the possibility that someone tampered with Mackenzie's car, a detail which was left out of The Crash.
The doc said that the car hadn't malfunctioned, but failed to mention that a person may have been responsible for something going wrong with the vehicle.
Police were aware that the teen had "enemies," and made sure they covered all bases, including the idea that her car may have been tampered with.
There was no evidence to support this theory.
