US4 min(s) read
Published 08:44 01 Jun 2026 GMT
Interest in Mackenzie Shirilla's case has surged once again following the release of Netflix's true crime documentary The Crash, with newly released text messages between the convicted killer and her father now spreading rapidly across social media.
Shirilla, now 21, is serving two concurrent life sentences after being found guilty of intentionally crashing a car into a brick wall in Strongsville, Ohio, in July 2022. The collision killed her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and friend Davion Flanagan, while Shirilla survived with severe injuries.
The renewed spotlight on the case has prompted the release of additional files from the Strongsville Police Department, including a series of personal text exchanges between Shirilla and her father, Steve Shirilla. The messages offer a glimpse into their relationship years before the fatal crash.
On July 30, 2022, Shirilla was driving a 2018 Toyota Camry after attending a graduation party and visiting a friend with Russo and Flanagan. Surveillance footage captured the vehicle accelerating into a brick wall at more than 100mph shortly after 5:30AM.
Russo and Flanagan were pronounced dead at the scene, while Shirilla was airlifted to the hospital with multiple fractures and serious injuries.
Four months later, she was arrested and charged with several offences, including two counts of aggravated murder and one count of drug trafficking. Following a bench trial, she was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years. She remains incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women and is expected to become eligible for parole in late 2037.
Steve Shirilla has consistently maintained that his daughter did not intentionally kill Russo or Flanagan.
Appearing on the True Crime This Week podcast on May 27, he said his daughter showed remorse for the deaths and denied that she deliberately caused the crash.
“She was 17. She’s a dumb kid. She didn’t do it on purpose,” he told host James Renner.
“I’ve asked her…’Did you do this on purpose?’ And she’s going, ‘No’,” he alleged.
“And I would think if my daughter was that mad, that mad at that boy to want to kill him that way, Davion would have never been in the car [also]. … That makes no sense.”
Among the documents released are several messages exchanged between father and daughter in 2020.
According to The Tab, Steve texted Shirilla on March 23, 2020, writing: “I do love you, and I did not say anything about Dom when you were leaving with Mom. Please let them help you at the hospital.”
Two days later, he sent another message that read: “Come home, please. I love you. Your choice.”
On March 27, he again reached out, saying: “When are you coming home. You’re not going to be in trouble or get punished. Just come home.”
One exchange that has drawn particular attention online involved a request for warm milk.
“Will you make me warm milk?” Shirilla asked on April 2.
“Just saw this. Do you still want?” her father replied, later claiming his phone had been dead when the original message arrived.
Additional texts show Steve setting boundaries with his daughter in the months before the fatal collision.
On May 3, Shirilla asked if she could stay at Russo's house, explaining that she wanted “a night with friends” and to be “away from home”.
Steve rejected the request, replying: “No. Sorry, don’t argue about it, it’s a no.”
When Shirilla continued trying to change his mind, he responded: “Kenz, I’m not doing this with you. I’m sorry, the answer is no.”
The texts have become a major talking point online as viewers continue discussing The Crash, which premiered on Netflix on May 15, 2026.
In the documentary, Shirilla maintains that she is “not a murderer” and says she has no memory of the crash, continuing to attribute the incident to postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).
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