US5 min(s) read
Published 09:34 26 May 2026 GMT
A woman who claims she dated Mackenzie Shirilla while behind bars has revealed the haunting nickname inmates allegedly gave the 21-year-old inside prison walls.
Shyann Topping says she met Shirilla at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in 2023, shortly after Shirilla was convicted over the deadly 100mph crash that killed her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and friend Davion Flanagan.
Topping claims the pair quickly became romantically involved, but one conversation early in their relationship has stuck with her ever since.
Topping told PEOPLE that another inmate had allegedly spread a false rumor accusing her of trafficking children.
Wanting to clear things up, she sat down with Shirilla and showed her prison ID card to prove what her real charges were.
"I gave her my ID card so she could look and see what [my real] charges were, and she was like, 'Oh, it's okay, don't take it personally,'" she recalled.
But she says Shirilla then laughed before adding: "They call me 'Shirilla the Killa.'"
At the time, Topping says she did not think much of the nickname because she had quickly fallen for Shirilla.
The 27-year-old, who served two years on drug charges, claims she started dating Shirilla just weeks before her own release from prison.
Speaking previously about their relationship, Topping described Shirilla as having a "popular girl aura" inside the facility, per US Sun.
Shirilla was convicted in 2023 after prosecutors argued she deliberately drove her car into a brick building in Strongsville, Ohio, in the early hours of July 31, 2022.
The crash killed Russo, 21, and Flanagan, 20, at the scene. Shirilla, who was 17 at the time of the crash, survived and was later sentenced to two concurrent life sentences with the possibility of parole after 15 years.
Topping says that while they were together, Shirilla often spoke about her future beyond prison.
"She said she was just gonna live it [if she gets out], like she’s gonna go back to concerts.
"She’s gonna travel," she claimed.
"She’s gonna be an influencer and write a book when she gets out about everything that happened."
"She said it might take some time, but she’s gonna get out and live it again," she added.
The former convict also claimed Shirilla spent hours on her appearance while incarcerated and enjoyed painting and art projects for fellow inmates.
"She would do art a lot… would paint cups for people, paint people’s shoes, draw, stuff like that,” she said.
According to her, Shirilla worked on the prison maintenance team and could sometimes be demanding in their relationship.
"If we did argue, it’s because I didn’t come outside on time or didn’t come outside for that yard," she recalled.
"And she’d be like, 'I was waiting for you. Where were you? Like, if this is how it’s gonna go, I just won’t talk to you.'"
Topping says that during their relationship, she genuinely believed Shirilla may have been innocent because the only version of events she knew came directly from Shirilla herself.
"When I was in [prison], I honestly believed maybe she's not guilty because of the limited information I had," Topping explained.
"Then I began to think, 'OK, maybe we can get her out.'"
She even believed Shirilla could one day use her story to help the victims’ families financially.
But everything changed once she left prison and started researching the case herself.
"Then, when I saw all the evidence, I was like 'whoa,'" Topping said. "When I left prison I did not view Mackenzie as the monster she [is now being] portrayed as."
"When I first got out I was like, 'Oh, they don't know what this girl's been through.'"
The ex-girlfriend now says she believes Shirilla manipulated how she was perceived behind bars.
"I just realized that maybe she is not a good person, that maybe she was just showing me what I wanted to see because she found me attractive," she said.
She also feels like Shirilla’s alleged plans for fame were self-serving. "Now I’m thinking, okay, she was just trying to grab a piece of fame," Topping claimed.
"I don’t think she would do any of that for the families if she got out."
"I think she would throw up a big middle finger to them like, I got away with it."
The alleged relationship ended shortly after Topping’s release, though she says the pair stayed in touch through video calls for a period of time.
"Mackenzie was upset that I was leaving. She would tell me all the time, 'I wish we met sooner before you were about to get out. I wish you would have talked before this,'" Topping recalled.
The pair is no longer in contact, and Topping says she is not surprised.
"She could be the sweetest girl ever, but if she doesn't like you she's the Devil," she said.
Topping began sharing her story on TikTok before the release of the Netflix documentary The Crash, which has reignited interest in Shirilla’s case years after the fatal collision.
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