Ep. 167: OHIO - Crashed On Purpose: The TikTok Killer Mackenzie Shirilla
01:36:15 Share

He's the most terrifying serial killer you've never heard of. Haddon Clark has confessed to several murders, but investigators say he could have over 100 victims. At the center of the mayhem, a cellmate of Haddon's that was able to get key evidence into Haddon's murder spree across America,

Hey!

Sending money direct to her bank account is super fast, and Aunt Tina gets more time to be the bingo queen. Western Union. Send money in-store directly to their bank accounts in the Philippines. Services offered by Western Union Financial Services, Inc., NMLS number 906983, or Western Union International Services, LLC, NMLS number 906985. Licensed as money transmitters by the New York State Department of Financial Services. See terms for details.

Warning. The following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned.

Strongsville, Ohio is a suburb of Cleveland, and until now you might not have heard of it. But in the summer of 2022, this town was thrust into the spotlight after a tragedy rocked its community. On the evening of July 31st, a group of teenagers were hanging out at a house party. They were all having fun, completely unaware that everything was about to change.

For some, this was unknowingly the last night of their lives. And for others, it would be an evening that would haunt them for the rest of their life. After the house party ended at around 5:30 a.m., Mackenzie Sherilla, Dominic Russo, and Davion Flanagan all got into a car and started making their way down Progress Drive. Video footage from the street showed the vehicle speeding down the road.

And then, just as quickly as it sped by, the vehicle was seen crashing into a brick building at 100 miles per hour. Sadly, as loud as that crash was, no one seemed to have heard it. And it wasn't until about 45 minutes later when someone drove by, when the police were finally notified about the crash. As soon as first responders ran up to the car, they knew it wasn't good.

The Camry was completely split in half. Debris covered the ground. And when they finally were able to get inside, they were faced with a horrific image. Two of the vehicle's occupants, Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan, were dead on arrival.

But the driver, Mackenzie Sherilla, was still breathing. And at first, this appeared to be a horrific accident. As word spread, the community was devastated over the deaths of these two young men. But at least the driver made it out alive. However, soon enough, investigators would learn that this accident might not have been an accident at all.

So this is the story of Mackenzie Sherilla. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browen. And you're listening to Murder in America.

Mackenzie Ford Sherilla was born on August 2, 2004, to John and Natalie Sherilla of Strongsville, Ohio. And although we don't know much about her childhood and upbringing, we do know about her teenage years. Mackenzie Sherilla was your typical teenage girl who was trying to get through high school. According to her peers, she was one of the popular girls at Strongsville High. She had a big outgoing personality and everyone knew who she was.

Mackenzie also enjoyed the finer things of life and would often show up to school wearing expensive designer brands. However, she wasn't always that way. Years prior, Mackenzie dressed like your average teenager, but now that she was in high school, she became a lot more expressive in her clothing choices.

Some of her peers said that she dressed like she was going to apply for a job at a strip club, as she was always wearing crop tops, short shorts, and knee-high boots. It was known at Strongsville High that Mackenzie liked attention. She cared a lot about her image. And not just her in-person image, but also her online image. Like many girls her age, Mackenzie spent a lot of time on social media. She loved posting videos and pictures of herself on Facebook.

Instagram and TikTok, and her dream was to one day become an Instagram influencer, and she was actually making some progress towards that goal. In fact, some businesses had even sent her some clothing and accessories, and in turn, she promoted those products on her accounts. But she also showed her more rebellious side on her social media. It was very obvious that Mackenzie loved to party. She knew how to have a good time.

In fact, according to the show Mean Girl Murders, one of Mackenzie's peers said, "...having fun with Mackenzie was very much a serotonin rush. She also made it very clear that she loved to smoke weed. And in a lot of pictures on social media, she has joints hanging out of her mouth."

Mackenzie Sherilla was popular, rebellious, and depending on who you would ask, she also had a reputation of being a mean girl. She had this group of friends that would follow her around at school, kind of like Regina George and Mean Girls. Her two main best friends were Rosie and Nina, and they too shared a goal of one day becoming Instagram famous.

But wherever Mackenzie went, her group was always right there by her side. Any bathroom Mackenzie was in, her peers said that there were always 10 girls in there with her. Mackenzie's former friend, Jaina Maynard, would later say, "Mackenzie was definitely the queen bee, the star of the show, and it kind of seemed like they were her security guards."

And also like Regina George, many people at her school said that Mackenzie was a bully. There was even one instance where a girl at school was severely depressed and Mackenzie told her to kill herself. Jamie Flanagan would later say, Mackenzie would make it her business to humiliate people and she took delight in it.

And everyone started to see this change in Mackenzie when she got to high school. Jaina said, "Kenzie's change in high school was very drastic. Kenzie's personality shifted to kind of a darkness. She was very mean and just aggressive. It was a very toxic environment to just be around her.

Other peers said that if you were on Mackenzie's bad side, she would make your life a living hell. She and her friends even had a bitch list, where they made a long list of everyone they didn't like. So as you can see, Mackenzie wasn't the most liked girl at her high school, but still everyone knew who she was. They also knew who her boyfriend was. His name was Dominic Russo.

And unlike Mackenzie, he had a good reputation. Now Dominic and Mackenzie met in 2019, during Mackenzie's freshman year and Dominic's junior year. And immediately, she was smitten. He was the older guy at school that all the girls wanted to date. And not only was he handsome, but he was a really good guy with a promising future.

And out of all the girls at Strongville High, he chose to be with Mackenzie. By 2022, they had been dating on and off for about three years. Dominic's sister would later say that Mackenzie was glued to his hip. They were inseparable. And by looking at Mackenzie's social media, you can tell that she really liked to flaunt their relationship. Under the picture she posted of them,

She would use hashtags like #couplegoals and #coupleicons. But like many teenage relationships, Dominic and Mackenzie were not very stable. When you're a teenager, falling in love is intense. It's all consuming. And since your brains aren't fully developed, that love can turn toxic. Which is exactly how people described Mackenzie and Dominic's relationship.

As a little background on Dominic Russo, he was born to his parents Frank and Christine Russo and had grown up in a large loving family with seven brothers and sisters. On the outside, Dominic had dark curly hair, brown eyes, and stood over six feet tall. He was also very fashionable. According to his family, he was always very particular about his socks and shoes. But on the inside, Dominic was very special. He had a curious spirit and was always trying to learn new things.

Like recently, he had been learning about Bitcoin and he even invested in it. His brother said he was driven, ambitious and bright. He was also kind with a big heart. Dominic's nieces and nephews absolutely loved him. His mom Christine would later say, "In every picture he's hugging and kissing the kids. He loved them so much."

Dominic also loved playing basketball and making music. In 2022, he was 20 years old and was living next door to his parents' house, and downstairs in his basement he had created this recording studio where he and his friends would spend hours making music together. But Dominic also had big dreams for himself. Like many people his age, he was still figuring out what he wanted to do with his life, but the possibilities were endless.

He dreamed about one day opening up his own clothing line. He dreamed about making music for a living. And more recently, he even started talking to his family about enlisting in the military. He wanted to make a difference in the world. And to him, that would be through serving his country. But sadly, these dreams would never come to fruition. Because that summer, Dominic's life would come to a tragic end. Here's his brother Angelo describing who Dominic was:

Dom may have been young, but he made the most of each day and had an impact on the lives of his friends and his family. Dom was a businessman, an athlete, a song producer, and an entrepreneur. Dom was not only my brother, he was also my best friend. Many of my brother's interesting goals were centered on learning more about himself and how he could become a better person. He was always doing what he could to learn about others, how he could understand different situations,

Now at the time of our story in 2022, Dominic and Mackenzie were dating. Like we mentioned, they had dated on and off for about three years.

And on the outside looking end, things seemed to be going well for the two. That summer, Mackenzie even graduated from high school, which was a big milestone. Mackenzie Ford-Sherilla! But 2022 was also a hard year for Mackenzie. According to court documents, her mom and dad had filed for bankruptcy on May 19, 2022.

right before her graduation. And for any family, filing for bankruptcy is obviously going to cause a lot of stress. But from what I could tell, Mackenzie wasn't even living at home by the time all of this happened.

In fact, she had been living with Dominic at his house for a while now. I wasn't able to find out when they moved in together, but it was a nice situation for her. Dominic had already graduated high school and had a job of his own, so he supported her financially. He was also very attentive to her needs. Mackenzie would go on these strict diets and Dominic would make meals for her every single day. So at only 17 years old,

Mackenzie was getting to live with her boyfriend, have everything paid for, she had no responsibilities, and she had no adult supervision. Now, they did have Dominic's parents next door, and it was reported that Mackenzie actually grew close to them, but it was a completely separate house, so she still had a lot of freedom.

And she definitely took advantage of it. With no parental supervision, Mackenzie could smoke as much weed as she wanted. She could throw parties at her boyfriend's house. And she didn't have to pay for anything. And all of this combined with the fact that she was only 17 years old was a recipe for disaster. Mackenzie Shorilla still had a lot of growing up to do.

which was very apparent when looking at her and Dominic's relationship. The two were constantly fighting. According to friends and family, Mackenzie was the jealous type, and she would often get upset and blow up in a rage. Sometimes that rage manifested in angry screams, but other times she would get physical. These fights would usually end in the couple breaking up.

But it wouldn't be long until Mackenzie came crawling back. As toxic as the relationship was, she was very dependent on Dominic. He had been right there by her side for three whole years. And when things were good, they were great. But on the other hand, when things were bad, they were horrible. One of their biggest fights occurred on July 17th, 2022.

just a few weeks before the car crash. That day, Mackenzie and Dominic were driving down Interstate 71 when they got into another heated argument. It's unclear what they were even arguing about, but it got so bad, Dominic placed a call to his mom to see if she could come pick him up. However, she was busy at the time, so she couldn't. But Dominic knew that he needed to get away from Mackenzie before things escalated even more.

So the next thing he did was call his friend, who went by the name Hinch. Luckily, he did answer the phone, and Dominic quickly filled him in on the situation. But Hinch would later say that the entire time Dominic was on the phone, Mackenzie was just screaming in the background.

And at one point, he even heard her say, quote, I'll crash this car right now. Dominic's friend Hench knew that this was serious. So he quickly got into his car and made his way over to where they were, which was on Route 82. Hench would later say that eventually he spotted McKenzie's car pulled over on the shoulder between Pearl Road and Bagley Road. So he quickly pulled up behind them.

But when he did, he saw Mackenzie in the driver's seat, hitting Dominic over and over with both hands. Now there is a Facebook group called Free Mackenzie Sherilla, and in it, they posted some text messages between Mackenzie and Dominic's mother Christine. And on the day in question, Mackenzie actually texted his mom and said the following: "Can you come get Dom? He just grabbed my steering wheel on the highway trying to spin out my car and hurt me."

I'm scared to drive because it's raining, so I just need him to get picked up. If he doesn't get out of my car, I'm calling my dad, so please tell him to get out." Christine then responded, "Hench is on his way. Calm down for now, please." "To be honest, I can't calm down. He just tried to end my life. It's never okay to try and end somebody's life or put their hands on people."

Christine then texted back and said, "No one should touch anyone. No fighting for sure in the car. He should never put his hands on you." You need to tell him that. He tried to end my life today and told me, "Do you want to die?" I almost hit the wall and I could have died.

Now, there are two ways people have looked at this scenario. Like Dominic's friend Hench said, he overheard Mackenzie saying, "I'll crash this car right now." So, some people think that Mackenzie was threatening to crash the car, so Dominic grabbed the wheel, trying to get her to pull over. But according to Mackenzie's account, he was the one trying to crash the car.

so at the end of the day we don't really know what happened that afternoon we do know that dominic wanted to get away from mckenzie so he called his friend that friend then heard mckenzie threatening to crash the car and when he finally pulled up behind them on the side of the road mckenzie was hitting dominic with both hands whatever did happen that day it's safe to assume that their relationship was tumultuous and sadly this wouldn't be the only documented abuse between them

During that same month, Dominic recorded a video on his cell phone. On it, you can hear Mackenzie yelling at him to open the door. Dominic was inside of his house and Mackenzie was on the outside, and she wanted in. But things had really been escalating within her and Dom's relationship, and he didn't want her inside of his house.

He knew it would only escalate things even further. Now once again, we don't know what the two were fighting about, but Dominic refused to let her in. Then in the video, McKenzie threatens him,

saying that if he doesn't let her inside, she will key Dominic's car and rip off the door handle. You're going to key my car. You're not letting me in the house. You're going to key my car. You don't let me in the house, yes. You can't keep making all these threats. I can't let you in my house with how you're acting. Like, it's as simple as that. Dom, it's you and your dad. You think I'm joking. You think I'm joking. You think I'm joking. Like, I'm dead ass.

Now, the fact that Dominant felt the need to document this meant that there were some serious problems here.

You only record something like that if you're trying to keep some sort of record on what someone is doing. And according to everyone that knew Dominic, he was getting tired of Mackenzie's abuse. He also knew that they were nearing the end of their relationship. But he would never get the opportunity to break up with her because July 31st, 2022 was right around the corner. However, before we get into what happened that night,

We have to talk about another very important person to this story, and that's Dominic's friend, Davion Flanagan.

Davion's early life wasn't the easiest. He and his younger sisters were born to parents with drug addictions, so his early life was spent in and out of foster care. But in 2011, when his mom and dad were incarcerated, Davion and two sisters found out that they had been adopted by a couple named Scott and Jamie Flanagan. Finally, after years of instability and uncertainty, they had a home, a new family.

His mom, Jamie, would later say that when she took Davion and his sisters into her care, that it was obvious the children had been severely neglected. They were all underweight, and it was clear that they needed love and care. At that time, Davion was 8 years old, so he had some emotional scars as well.

Luckily, his parents immediately put him in therapy, and for years he worked through the trauma he suffered as a young child. And little by little, Davion began to heal. Eventually, he would even thrive. Here's Davion's mom, Jamie, describing the person that he was. My son Davion is and always will be so much more than cargo. He was precious, he was an amazing soul with a heart of gold.

He gave to the world what he wanted most in his own life: love. The kind of love that would rescue a friend in the middle of the night, no questions asked. The kind that would protect others and honor them. He made friends easily with his infectious smile. My son did not have a clique of friends, but instead was a friend to all.

He would go out of his way to show love and kindness to others, including those that were often cast aside by society. The less fortunate, the developmentally challenged, the hurting, and the unvalued. Davion made sure that everyone that crossed his path knew that he truly saw them, that he valued them, and that they were worth his time. Davion and my kids have had more than their fair share of heartbreak,

So as you can see, Davion was a special kid who was very loved.

And like Dominic, he also had big dreams for his life. In high school, he was a star athlete. He could pick up any sport and be good at it from the start. So he was mainly focused on football. That was his passion. Davion ended up playing football for Strongsville High School. He was their star running back. But sadly, due to a knee injury, he had to give it up.

However, that didn't stop him from pursuing his passions. Outside of football, Davion also loved to cut hair. He actually taught himself how to do it after watching YouTube videos. So after high school, he had dreams of opening up his own barber shop. Shortly before the car crash, Davion had applied to the Allstate Barber College in Cleveland. Unfortunately, they had a waitlist until the following year. So in the meantime, Davion was working at a moving company and saving up his money for his future.

But sadly, that would never happen. You see, that summer, Davion was reportedly butting heads with his parents, which is very common with kids his age.

You're transitioning from a kid to an adult, and sometimes that change is hard to adjust to. So, because of this, Davion decided to move out of his parents' house, and his good friend Dominic offered him a place to stay. Davion and Dominic were really close. They both shared a love for music, and even before Davion moved in with him, the two would spend hours hanging out in Dominic's basement making music together.

They just got along so well. So, when Davion needed a place to stay, Dominic welcomed him in. Now, I'm sure Davion was well aware of the issues going on between Dominic and Mackenzie, especially since he lived there with them. But no one could have ever known that those very issues would soon change all three of their lives. Which brings us to July 31st, 2022. That summer was filled with graduation parties.

from Strongsville's class of 2022. And Mackenzie was not one to miss a party. On this night, their friend Kelly was having a get-together at her house. So they all started getting ready for the fun night ahead. Now, it wasn't just Mackenzie and Dominic. Davion Flanagan was tagging along as well.

So that night, the three of them all get into Mackenzie's Toyota Camry and make their way over to the house party. Now, over the next 30 minutes or so, Mackenzie smoked some weed, but it was reported that she didn't drink. However, at some point, she turns to Kelly and asks if she wants to drop acid with her.

which caught Kelly by surprise because she didn't know Mackenzie did drugs other than marijuana. Here is Kelly describing Mackenzie and Dominic's relationship. So I'm like playing with my friends and then Mackenzie's like, hey, like Kelly, come here. And I'm like, what's up?

And she was like, "Do you trip?" Which meaning like, do you do it? And I was like, "No, I don't do that." And I was like, especially like my mom's here, like I don't want to do that. Like, I feel like she was like asking, she didn't say the words, but I felt like she was asking me if I wanted to trip with them at my house. And I was like, like she didn't say those words though, but I was just like, "No, I don't do that."

And then, like, the conversation went on. I don't even know what we were talking about. We just started talking about something else. And then I'm, like, right by them, so I could still hear what Kenzie was talking about. And she was talking about going to Mark's house. And she was like, should we do it tonight? Like, they were, like, debating still. Like, it sounded like they were debating on if they should trip or not. And they were talking about Mark's house. And then...

Like, 20 minutes later, like, they left. They left around, like, I don't know. I can't say the time and be, like, positive what time it was, but it was, like, 20 minutes, 30 minutes after they left. Not even. They were not there long. And she had a pen on her. I don't know if it was her specifically, but they had a pen and they had a bottle of Patron. But they didn't drink there. Like, they were there so, like, short amount of time. Like, they didn't even leave the spot they came in.

they were sitting in the same slot the whole time and then left. I didn't even think anything of it either. Like, I was just like, all right, bye guys. Because like, I don't know, I wasn't even worried like they were drinking or anything. So that night, according to Kelly, she didn't want to do acid with Mackenzie. And not long after, the three of them decided to leave her party. Every time I've ever been around, they were really cool with each other. But they're also not really close with me. So I'm sure like they weren't, they wouldn't do anything sus around me.

But I have heard from other friends that used to be close with them, like I said, Natalie and my friend Tess and all of them, they used to be really close with Mackenzie, and they're not anymore. They said they would argue, and when they argued, it would get really bad. They would lash out on each other, but it never seemed to actually end. According to the people that knew Mackenzie, if a party wasn't fun enough for her...

she had no problem leaving to find something else to do. So they only ended up spending about 30 minutes there. And after that, they ended up at their friend Paul's house. Now this party seemed to be a lot more fun to them. They ended up staying there for several hours. And towards the end of the night, Mackenzie even fell asleep on Paul's couch. One of Davion's best friends, Landon Turner, was also at the party that night.

And he told investigators that McKenzie and Dominic seemed perfectly normal. Were you guys just having a good time? Was there anything between McKenzie and Dominic? Yeah, those were the rumors I heard a lot. It was that Dom and McKenzie were fighting. No, there was no way in hell that they were fighting. That man, I remember walking in and that man was cuddling her. She was sleeping. Her head was on his lap. She was wrapped up in this big fuzzy gray band blanket.

on the front couch in the front room it's a big L-shaped couch because I was sitting in the corner and Dave was sitting down by my legs Kenzie was sitting here and then Dom was sitting at the end here and so she ended up sprawling out and he was sitting there cuddling her head petting her head making sure she was sleeping good like smiling at her like I knew like there was no if there was fighting I didn't know they couldn't have made it known like they didn't make it known at all but I know they weren't fighting like they didn't have that type of vibe nothing there everybody was just having a good time

So at around 5:15 am, Mackenzie wakes up and she, Dominic and Davion decide to drive back home. Instead of staying the full night there, they just wanted to sleep in their own beds. So they get up, tell everyone goodbye and they make their way out the door. And once again, Landon Turner said that Mackenzie and Dominic were definitely not fighting at the time they left the house.

Kenzie and Dom walked out together. Dom grabbed all of her bags for her. And Dom came and dad me up. Kenzie was like, "Hey, say bye to everyone because Rosie and Nina and them are sleeping in the back room." I was up in the front room still. And she was like, "Hey, say bye to everyone for us." And we're like, "Okay, we will." And that's when Rosie came walking up, gave Kenzie a hug, gave Dom a hug, and was like, "Bye." I know that-- Why did they leave so early?

They usually do that. That's a common thing with everyone. How many times have we had people over our house? It's just a common thing with us younger teenagers. As soon as you get up, it's like you're gone. We're just leaving. We'll end up and go to sleep, and then as soon as you wake up in that early morning, it's, I want to go back to my bed. That is common. And with that, the three of them get in Mackenzie's car to go back home. However, they would never make it.

At 5:30 a.m., there weren't many cars out on the road. It was quiet, dark, and most of Strongsville was still fast asleep. And because of that, there was no one around to witness what would happen next. However, there were security cameras. Now for whatever reason, Mackenzie randomly decided to take a different path home that morning, one that she rarely ever took.

But at 5:34 AM, security camera shows her car turn onto progress drive. She starts out slow at first, but then the security camera captures her picking up speed. Within seconds, Mackenzie's Camry is speeding down the road at 100 miles an hour, and she, Dominic, and Davion are headed straight towards a large red brick building.

It's unknown exactly what was going on inside of that car, but sadly, Dominic and Davion were not wearing their seatbelts. And with how fast the car picked up speed, they didn't even have time to react before the Camry crashed into the brick building. The amount of damage done in that moment was astronomical.

The Camry was a mangled, twisted mess. Glass and debris covered the ground all around the crash site, to where it almost looked like the car had exploded. It was completely crushed and nearly split in two. But the passenger side of the vehicle had the most damage. Now at any other time of the day, this crash would have gathered a large crowd.

dozens of people would have immediately come out to help. Strongsville's dispatch would have been flooded with calls. But not today. Because the crash was so early in the morning, no one heard anything. No one saw anything. So for the next 45 minutes, no one came to help. It wouldn't be until a little after 6 a.m. when a passerby noticed the wreck on his way home from breakfast and called 911.

And finally, at 6:15 a.m., first responders arrived on the scene. But what they were about to witness would haunt them for the rest of their lives. Here is the body cam footage from that response. Radio, this car is splitting in two. Radio, there's an occupant inside. Send us a squad now. We gotta bust the window out.

Send us some more units. Any more units of progress in Alameda? No! What are we doing? 31, Swan Oak. 60 on the west road, on the 3 on Alameda. This is not a fresh accident either. She's been here for a while.

Shifting my wardrobe from summer to fall is always a challenge, but luckily, Quince offers timeless and high quality items that I absolutely adore. Online shopping can be a little bit difficult, but Quince makes it so easy. When I was going through and adding items to my cart, there were so many options that I had to choose from and...

I was so obsessed with all of them. Every piece of clothing is so high quality. It will last you forever and everything is so cute.

Quince offers so many high quality products for all different types of people like cashmere sweaters from $50, pants for every occasion, washable silk tops, and so much more. The best part? All Quince items are priced 50-80% less than similar brands. So after ordering from Quince, I received the 100% European Linen Blazer, the Flo Knit Breeze Performance Tee, and the Flo Knit Breeze Performance Polo, and

I was absolutely stunned by the quality of the clothing and the European linen blazer is perfect. I mean, it fits me so unbelievably well. It's slimming and I can't tell you enough. It's just ridiculously high quality. So if you're having a hard time switching your wardrobe from summer to fall, I highly, highly recommend you shop at Quint.

It makes switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high-quality closet essentials. Go to quince.com slash america for free shipping on your orders and 365-day returns. That's quince, q-u-i-n-c-e dot com slash america to get free shipping and 365-day returns. quince.com slash america

You know when you discover a new binge-worthy show or a song that you bump on repeat and you have to share it with your friends so they can experience just how great it is? That's kind of what it feels like when you discover that Mint Mobile offers premium wireless for $15 a month when you purchase a three-month plan. It's such an incredible deal, there's no way you can keep it to yourself. Honestly, we all know how expensive phone service and wireless plans can be.

And a $15 a month deal from Mint Mobile is just unbeatable. And friends don't let friends overpay for wireless. So say bye-bye to your overpriced wireless plan and switch to Mint Mobile. All plans come with high-speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest 5G network.

You can use your own phone with any Mint Mobile plan and bring your phone number along with all of your existing contacts so it's easy to switch. Ditch overpriced wireless with Mint Mobile's deal and get three months of premium wireless service for $15 a month. So to get this new customer offer and your new three-month premium wireless plan for just $15 a month, go to mintmobile.com slash america. That's mintmobile.com slash america.

And now, let's get back to today's story. Hey!

Sending money direct to her bank account is super fast, and Aunt Tina gets more time to... Bingo! ...be the bingo queen. Western Union. Send money in-store directly to their bank accounts in the Philippines. Services offered by Western Union Financial Services, Inc., NMLS number 906983, or Western Union International Services, LLC, NMLS number 906985. Licensed as money transmitters by the New York State Department of Financial Services. See terms for details. Radio, we got at least two occupants in here. No one's moving. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

Oh my god times three guys radio three occupants. No one's conscious No one's breathing I'll sit window out Rookie oh My god, dude Who can hear my voice drivers and kind of radio the driver

He's breathing unconscious. I copy. Radio, they're going to need full extraction on all three. Come here. Call in the plate. Let him call it in. Holy shit, man. Not good, not good.

Let me see your knife. Let's cut this thing out. This is bad guys. She's alive. We gotta get her out somehow. Reach up and unlock this door. Oh my god. Oh my god, Kevin. Keep cutting. You doing good? Oh my god.

Sarge, we're good to try to get her out? Oh dude, I don't know if we can there. No, just pull the car this way.

When the officers were able to get Mackenzie's door open, they saw that her head was wedged underneath the dashboard, but it appeared she was still breathing. Eventually, she even started talking to the officers. However, the two other occupants, Dominic and Davion, were dead on arrival. Oh my God.

She's breathing. She's breathing. Her head's wedged. Let's see if we can get some IDs, guys. Oh yeah, they're all pretty young.

Oh my god. Can you find a younger female that's resident? I don't feel anything. I don't feel anything. She's breathing. I saw her stomach. Her stomach's moving. Look. We got two that are gone. Should we advise fire? That's our driver's breathing, unconscious, wedged. Left the roadway behind your car. I have a 17-year-old female McKenzie.

Went through the sign. Okay, that might be the driver. Is she talking? Yeah. She's talking a little bit. Advise fire to step it up. Did you try to pack it to them? No, I didn't. Alright. Jesus Christ. That's the worst I've ever seen. I'm probably going to have to send help to Rachel.

There's nothing we can do right now guys other than hope fire hurries up. That's it. Driver, 17 year old female still breathing, wedged in there. Two are going to be deal with. They're all young, possibly teenagers. She's been here for hours.

It's at this point when the police talk to the man who called in about the accident.

I was the one that called it in. You called it in? Yeah, I saw it. I was coming back from breakfast. Okay. And I pulled up to the corner there. Okay. We appreciate you giving us a call. Someone in it, obviously. Yeah. Yeah. So. That's a bummer. I didn't want to get stuck. And I'm like, I don't know what's going on. Right. No, I appreciate you giving us a call. Absolutely appreciate it. They fucking were hitting it, man. Yeah. I mean, obviously. And I saw that front end. They definitely hit it hard. Destroyed. Right.

Finally, firefighters arrived on scene and they went to work pulling the occupants from the vehicle. And to be honest with you, when you're coming there, you can barely see it from the sign. You can't barely see it. And how the person just called and kept going, I'll never know. You know what I mean? Like, oh, that car looks really bad. Maria's here too.

I need to get IDs. We need to get IDs on all of these people. What's that? Is this a girl? This is Davian Flanagan, I'm assuming. This is him. By this point, Mackenzie was awake. She was able to talk to the officers around her. And in this next part, you can even hear her scream as they work to pull her from the vehicle. Okay. Okay. We're going to call it, okay?

What's your name, dear? Mackenzie. Okay. All right. She said one of her friends is named Don. I don't know which one it was. Don, Don's the season number one. Thanks, man. Don't tell her. Now that Mackenzie was finally pulled from the vehicle, she was lifelighted and taken to the nearest hospital in Cleveland.

But for the two other occupants, Dominic and Davion, there was nothing they could do for them.

they were both deceased. And I really wanted to include all of that audio you just heard to give you an idea of what these scenes are like for first responders. I can't imagine what it's like having to see this kind of stuff every day, so a huge thank you to our first responders out there. But the next thing they had to do is arguably even worse than having to witness these scenes, and that's notifying the families.

Dominic and Davion's loved ones were about to have their lives completely shattered. No one ever expects that their child won't come home after hanging out with some friends. But early that morning, they both got those dreadful knocks on their front door. Davion's father, Scott Flanagan, would later say that when he got the news, he couldn't even speak. He said it felt as if all the air had left his body.

And then he had the difficult task of telling Davion's younger sisters what had happened. His little sister, Divine, said that her parents sat her down and said, "We need to talk to you." And immediately she knew something happened to her brother. Across town, the Russo family was just as devastated when they got that knock on their door. Here is the audio of the officers informing Dominic's parents.

The other two passengers, like I said, were Davion and who we believe is Dominic. Okay. What McKenzie told us. Okay. Okay. Both Davion and Dominic are deceived. Yeah.

- Can I take a seat? So, um... - You don't know what time it happened there? - No, we don't. Right now, what we do know 100% is somebody called it in, somebody passing by at around 6:15, 6:30. - Called in what, the power's just massed somewhere? - Yeah, so what it appears that happened is,

They were going westbound on Progress from Pearl Road. They went... Right here in Strongsville? Yeah, in Strongsville. That business that's right at the... on Alameda, right where Progress ends. That's... that ends right there. They hit that building. They hit the sign out front and then they hit the building. But they fall asleep at the wheel or something? I don't know. We don't know that. We don't know that. So two kids are dead. My son's dead. Another kid's dead. Go ahead. And the girl's in the hospital? She's in surgery right now.

Oh my God. Huh, Chris? I mean, is there another family member or friend or anybody that you might want us to call on your behalf? No. This is a f***ing nightmare. Somebody called in at 6.30 in the morning? Between 6.15 and 6.30, yeah. Came upon it passing it by. Yeah. Oh my gosh. This is f***ing horrible. She was in her car? It was in Mackenzie's car, yeah.

Yeah. Oh my gosh. Dominic's sister, Christine, said that her parents called her that morning and immediately she could hear something was wrong in her dad's voice. And then they just kept saying over and over again that Dom's gone. Christine said, quote, it was a complete shock as to what happened, why it happened, and was Kenzie going to survive?

Like we mentioned earlier, Mackenzie had grown close to his family over the years, and even in their devastation, their thoughts were with her at that moment. They wanted her to pull through, and they even thought about how sad she was going to be when she got out of surgery and realized that Dominic was dead.

Now, back at the scene of the crash, investigators found marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms, and other drug paraphernalia, including a digital scale from McKenzie's purse. At first, it looked like this was a tragic accident, with two promising young men dead and one girl clinging to life. They didn't know what caused the crash either, as McKenzie was still in surgery. But investigators did notify her family, and they quickly made their way to the hospital.

Here's the body camera footage of officers speaking with their parents.

No, stop! Let him talk! Guys, I know we've been dealing with this. Your daughter's okay. She's talking to us. I talked to her, okay? Your daughter's alive, okay? Your daughter's alive.

She was driving. Okay. What was that? Jacob and who? I think it... What's the name you said? Dom? Might be. Stop. Oh my god. Stop. What's his relation to... Yeah, then Dom was in the car. Stop. Oh my god. What? Are you kidding me? It's ongoing investigation. Speed is definitely a factor.

So we're drugs. - Dom is dead? Dom is dead? Is that what you're telling me? Look at me. Is that a dom is dead? - There's no way for me to say anything right now, man. This is a serious situation. - Dom was currently-- - I'm just saying dom, maybe it's a different dom. It could be a different dom. Might be a different dom. - What's that? - Does she know about this? - No, I don't know. We're gonna keep it that way for real. Okay, she's in work done now, okay?

Call a boss. Hey, so she's not gonna be up for a long time. She's in surgery. Oh God. All right, I gotta talk to you one more time. I'm just gonna let you know where we stand as a police department, okay? Where we stand today, okay? Full transparency here, there's drugs in the car, she had a bag of mushrooms on her and a scale.

Full transparency guys, I'm sorry I'm ripping the bandaid off. Drugs in the car. So she was awake but not awake so she wasn't. In and out of consciousness. She had to be fully extracted from the vehicle by FD. I know she has a severe leg injury. Like I said she was speaking and she had her seatbelt on. Yeah that probably saved her life. 100% saved her life. Oh my god. She had her seatbelt on. I don't believe the others did.

So as you can see, McKenzie's parents really did care about Dominic. They were devastated to learn that their own daughter caused his death. And so would the rest of Strongsville, Ohio. As the sun shined down on the city that morning, and the news spread about the deadly crash, the entire community began to mourn.

Here is an interview with William Vaughn, the football coach at their high school, followed by Davion's neighbor Jim Harper. These kids are part of my heart. You lose one and it hurts. It hurts to your heart. It was shocking. We've known Davion for about 14 years. They've been neighbors of ours. We've watched him grow up from this little scrawny kid to this big muscular football player.

And he was really like a third son for me. So it was devastating. - In addition to everyone's grief, the community was really rooting for Mackenzie to pull through. She was in critical condition. Her injuries included a broken femur, broken humerus, and multiple broken and fractured ribs that had caused internal damage. That day, she was in surgery for hours.

and in the beginning they didn't know if she was going to make it but miraculously she did after a few days in the hospital the people of strongsville went to social media and there they saw mckenzie posting selfies of herself in the hospital bed and at first they were just happy to see that mckenzie was okay she was clearly acting herself again posting on social media

During this time, she was also in communication with Dominic's family. In one message to his mother, she wrote, "...I remember turning onto the street and then my vision fades to black. It really kills me not being able to remember anything. I've been asking my therapist why I don't remember, and she said it's because of trauma. I'm gonna try and get hypnotized to make myself remember."

While Mackenzie recovered in the hospital, the community of Strongsville went to work and created a GoFundMe account for both Davion and Dominic to assist their families with their funerals. In addition, a GoFundMe was also created for Mackenzie to help pay her medical bills. Because in the beginning, everyone thought this was a tragic accident. And even though Mackenzie was responsible, she too was grieving.

On August 8th, Dominic's family held his funeral, and so many people from the community came to pay their respects. Mackenzie couldn't be there, as she was still recovering in the hospital, but she did post on Dominic's online obituary, saying, I love you, my nug. I will never stop thinking about you. A week later, Davion Flanagan's funeral was held, and here is his sister, Davni, speaking at it.

A couple weeks later, on August 24th, McKenzie posted on her social media page.

I miss you, Nug. I still feel like you're just going to walk in the door at any second. I miss your laugh, your perfect smile. I feel your energy around me every day. I just wish it was physical. God, you are the last person to deserve this. You had such a perfect life ahead of you. I wish I told you all this more. Please wait for me.

There was an outpouring of support and love for Mackenzie and many of her friends responded to the post saying, You got this, Kenz, and always remember the good times. It was obvious that everyone supported her as she navigated through the grief of losing two people she loved. But it's also at around this time when people noticed something a little unsettling on her social media.

As Mackenzie was in the hospital, a business commented on her Instagram wanting to collaborate with her. And under it, her mom commented: "Hello, this is her mother. She's actually been trying to contact you guys for a PR email. It was a tragic accident and she did not purposefully mean to put an end to any of her close friends' lives. This is just as painful for her as it is everyone else. Or maybe even a little bit more painful.

Then underneath that, Mackenzie commented: "Thank you for the comment. I would love to work with you guys. I've been emailing you guys a lot. Such a great opportunity. Thank you." Now Mackenzie did want to be a social media influencer, so I'm sure it was exciting to have a brand reach out to her. But given the fact that she had just ended the lives of two young men, it just came across as inappropriate to be so publicly excited about a brand collaboration.

Now, soon after this, Mackenzie would get released from the hospital. Her physical wounds were healing, but the grief and mourning that Dominic and Davion's family felt was just beginning.

And like with any tragedy, they wanted answers. For the past few weeks, investigators had been trying to get to the bottom of what happened that morning. And one of the first things they looked at was whether or not Mackenzie had been intoxicated while driving. They knew Mackenzie didn't have any serious medical conditions that would affect her driving, so that had to have been the answer. After all, she was at a party that night.

Her blood alcohol was tested and she didn't have any alcohol in her system. No, they did find a lot of THC in her system. And like everyone said, she had been smoking weed that night. So by all accounts, it appeared to be nothing more than a tragic accident after smoking too much weed and getting behind the wheel.

However, as more evidence was uncovered, investigators started to think that this might have not been an accident at all. And it all started with that surveillance footage of the crash. In the week after the accident, investigators were able to gather the footage from nearby businesses. And when they watched them, they were shocked.

In it, they saw Mackenzie's vehicle turn onto progress drive at a normal speed. She even used her turn signal. And then they watched as Mackenzie's car went from 0 to 100. Strangely enough, they also saw that she never once pressed her brake, which was weird to them. She was speeding down that road for a while before she crashed into the building.

Let's say she accidentally pushed the gas too hard. She had plenty of time to correct herself, but instead, she continues down the road for several seconds without ever swerving or pushing the brake. I'm going to play the sound of the crash one more time just so you can hear how long she was speeding before she crashed.

So as investigators are seeing this, they are thinking to themselves that something had to have been wrong with her brakes. Why else would she be speeding down the road at 100 miles an hour and not even attempt to stop? So they ended up doing some tests on her vehicle and the official report indicated that there was nothing wrong with the braking system or the acceleration system.

Meaning, Mackenzie had to have pushed the gas pedal all the way down that entire road before she slammed into that building. But the question was, why? Yes, she had THC in her system from smoking weed.

But weed doesn't have the same effect on people as alcohol does. The National Library of Medicine did a study on the effects of cannabis compared with alcohol on driving. And alcohol actually increases risk-taking behaviors.

So when people get behind the wheel after drinking, you'll usually see them speeding down the road or aggressively switching lanes. But with cannabis, the study showed that drivers will do the complete opposite. High drivers tend to overestimate their impairment. So they'll put extra distance between the vehicles on the road and they'll usually drive a lot slower than they're supposed to. Now I will say every person is different, so it's not impossible.

But it did seem unlikely that Mackenzie was so high, she started speeding down the road at 100 miles per hour. Plus, she used her turn signal before turning onto the road, so it seemed as if she was in the right state of mind. Now, we also have to consider the fact that she was trying to take acid that night, and police did find shrooms in her back.

Now I could definitely see people crashing like that if they had taken a lot of acid, but according to Mackenzie and everyone she was with, she never ended up taking it that night. Now as investigators are uncovering all of this, they can't ignore this overwhelming feeling that this crash had to have been intentional.

But while detectives are building their case, Mackenzie Sherilla is moving on with her life. Interestingly enough, one of the first things she does when she gets out of the hospital is go to a concert. By then, her case had caught a lot of media attention, and she even started gaining more followers on her various accounts. But one TikTok video that she made was extremely disturbing and insensitive.

In the video, Mackenzie just has this smirk on her face and the audio in the background says, quote, I'm not even cool. I'm just one of those girls that can do a lot of drugs and not die. So this was incredibly disturbing. With this TikTok, Mackenzie is essentially bragging about the fact that she did a lot of drugs, got into a crash, and is still alive.

And she's smirking throughout the entire thing as if that very crash didn't end two innocent lives. And that's not even all she would do. When Halloween of 2022 came around, just three months after the crash, Mackenzie posted another TikTok of her and her friends. They're in this hotel room laughing and dancing. And then the video transitions into their Halloween costumes.

Now, if any other person had posted this, no one would think twice about it. But that year, Mackenzie decided to dress up as a corpse, a sexy corpse, if you will.

And again, this is only three months after she just killed two people. Why on earth would you choose that as your costume? Soon after this party, she went to another Halloween event and posted more TikToks. And this time she was dressed up as a joint, which again was very insensitive considering she was high when she crashed her car. So when the community of Strongsville saw these TikToks, they were shocked.

One person commented, "Going to a party dressing up as drugs for Halloween? Not behaviors of someone who regrets their decision." Another person wrote, "Nor someone who was remorseful at all." Davion's father Scott would later say, "We were just absolutely blown away by the sheer audacity, the sheer lack of empathy that those pictures entail. Show some remorse."

"Put your phone down for five minutes and grieve." And it wasn't just the community who was witnessing all of this. The Strongsville Police Department was too. In the months after the crash, they had been gathering all of the evidence they could. And like with any tragedy, they had to see if foul play was involved. But with all the evidence they gathered, they couldn't seem to rule it out.

Detectives spent months interviewing people close to McKenzie, Dominic, and Davion. And there were people out there that believed McKenzie would not have crashed the car on purpose. But there was others who said she would have. For instance, that one friend of Dominic's named Hench told investigators about that phone call, where he overheard McKenzie yelling, quote,

"I'll crash this car right now." Then when he pulled up afterwards, he saw McKenzie hitting Dominic. That was definitely something detectives had to consider, especially since it happened just weeks before the crash.

Throughout their interviews, detectives were trying to get an idea of what Mackenzie and Dominic's relationship was like. And according to almost everyone, it was incredibly toxic. The two fought all the time. And obviously, it wasn't just Mackenzie. Dominic wasn't the perfect boyfriend, but many people said that she was extremely dependent on him.

dominic's older sister christine said that mackenzie was controlling possessive and jealous she demanded that he drop her off at school and pick her up take her on expensive vacations and provide for her financially and when she and dominic would have problems mackenzie would threaten to harm herself here's dominic's older brother angelo

There's many times, like, they were having issues even years ago where Dom would want to break up with her or something. And it wouldn't be, like, that simple. It would be, like, you know, like, from time to time again, it almost, like, she had, like, issues. You know, like, self-esteem issues. Like, she'd get crazy about stuff, like, accuse him of cheating and stuff when he's not. You know what I mean? Stuff like that. And just...

Then for a while, you know, I would talk to her and you know what I mean? Then it would be like, not constant, but there'd be like every like week, like couple of weeks at one point or like week or so where they're almost breaking up and then she'd be threatened to hurt herself. And this is back when she's in probably 10th grade, like she's still a sophomore. Dom's like a junior or senior or whatever, you know? And like, yeah, stuff would arise and yeah,

It would like never really take like a healthy course, to be honest with you. And over time, my relationship with her really subsided. I stopped talking to her. I stopped like really trying to be there for her because I just seen that she was very, very selfish. Anytime Dom would kind of want to break up with her, she'd kind of go crazy. Describe crazy. Like what kind of crazy? Like there is times where she called Dom and said, if you break up with me, I'm going to do it. So word for word.

And then Dom, he was a very, very selfless person. And he did, like, obviously, like, they were together for a long time. And they built, like, a relationship. And they cared for each other deeply. Do you see what I'm saying? And even though Dom did care for her deeply, I'm not disputing any of that. But he's seen all the toxicness that she was putting onto him. And every single time he would distance himself.

Angelo told investigators that he and Dominic had a close relationship, and Dominic had been telling him that he'd been wanting to break up with Mackenzie.

Their family would witness firsthand how Mackenzie would treat him, and he was tired of it. His mom even told detectives about a trip that their family went on months before the accident, where Mackenzie threw a fit over a bag of chips. - We went canoeing last year. I took off work, I went to court, and we were all four, me and Dom and Kenzie, were gonna go canoeing. So I packed snacks for the canoe and cooler and all that.

So we had a bag that had like chips and that sort of thing that was sucker. You didn't put in the bags because they crushed. Well, we forgot. She ruined the entire canoe trip. She sat there and threw a fit and forgotten those chips that she had nothing to eat. And I kept saying, we're enjoying our day. There's no fighting. We will find something for you to eat.

You know, we even stopped at the one bar. She was not satisfied with anything. No, nothing. It didn't matter what I had. It was not, she did not have those chips. Okay. So we ended up stopping at one of the places that was like a bar or restaurant or whatever and finally found her.

whatever, but the whole for and downloads just stressed out this whole time, just because she was so about those chips and the, and the thing she's, she's very crafty on how she would do stuff. Cause she would stick her day, me and Andrew in a canoe there, there, she would stick her digs and her comments so that we couldn't hear.

And all I would ever say, I always try to be neutral because I'm always thinking, well, these kids are going to break up, but they're going to get back together. And I'm going to say something that's going to damage the whole thing. And I would just say, there's no fighting. We're having a great day. We're canoeing. We'll get through it. We'll find you something to eat. Don't worry. You know what I mean? And it was just a big tantrum. Everything was a tantrum. You forgot chips. Okay, I get it. Do you know what I mean? But...

but that is not enough to be a tantrum to ruin the day. - So after years of this kind of behavior, Dominic was growing tired of their relationship. And during July of 2022, shortly before the crash, he even told his brother Angelo that he wanted to break up with Mackenzie for good. He had outgrown her and was ready to move on. But this posed a problem for Mackenzie.

Not only was Dominic her boyfriend of the last three years, but she was also completely dependent on him. He gave her a place to live, he made her meals, bought her designer clothes, and he paid for everything she ever needed.

Without Dominic, Mackenzie would have to give up the life she had grown accustomed to. Investigators theorized that Mackenzie could feel Dominic pulling away. She knew it was only a matter of time until he would break up with her. So from there, she started planning. Interestingly, investigators found through Mackenzie's phone records that she had actually driven by the crash site just three days before the accident.

which was odd to them. This area is a very industrial part of town and it's not along her normal drive home. In fact, she didn't work or live in the area so it was very out of her way. So when investigators saw that she drove this route just days before the car crash, they came to the conclusion that she was doing a dry run. Knowing Dominic was about to break up with her, she planned on crashing her car.

killing them both. And Davion just happened to be collateral. Now I will say there are a lot of people who believe this is a bit of a stretch. The people who were with Mackenzie and Dominic on the night of the crash say that they weren't even fighting and things seemed to be fine between the couple. And yes, their relationship was toxic, but Mackenzie would have never done anything to actually hurt him, especially since Davion was in the car that night.

These friends said that Mackenzie would threaten to hurt herself if they ever broke up, but they said Mackenzie was not a murderer. They also said that after the accident, Mackenzie was devastated. She even made a shrine of Dominic in her bedroom, constantly played his music, and she wouldn't wear anything other than his t-shirts. She was also mentally declining. While she was in the hospital, her parents wouldn't allow her to go to his funeral.

And she started freaking out. So much so, her parents even called the police to get her a psychiatric evaluation. So with all of this information, the community of Strongsville was pretty divided. There are some people who truly believe this was a horrible accident and others who believe Mackenzie intentionally crashed the car.

But one thing investigators kept going back to was that surveillance footage. It showed Mackenzie driving completely normal before turning onto progress drive, even using her turn signal. Then at 5:34 AM, Mackenzie used her white furry Prada slipper to push the gas pedal all the way down to the floor until her car hit that brick building going 100 miles an hour.

The Toyota's event data recorder also backed up this information. It revealed that Mackenzie's foot had pushed the pedal to the floor and never let up. And given the fact that there was nothing wrong with her vehicle and there were no signs of obvious impairment due to alcohol or THC, investigators were now confident that Mackenzie Sherilla purposefully crashed her car that night with the intention of ending their lives.

So, with that, on November 6, 2022, Mackenzie Sherilla was arrested for two counts of aggravated murder and 10 other charges including felonious assault, aggravated vehicular homicide, drug possession, and possessing criminal tools. She was held at the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Justice Center on a $500,000 cash bond. Here's the audio from her arrest.

Hi Mackenzie, step out for me. I'm Detective Hazoo, I'm the one who's been investigating the crash. You're under arrest for aggravated murder times two, okay? Nobody's gonna ask you any questions, nobody's gonna bother you. Can I have your key please?

Could you please be careful taking this one off so it doesn't break the bracelet? You got it. As word spread about Mackenzie's arrest, there was a mix of emotions throughout the community. The people who believed it truly was an accident were horrified that she had been charged with murder, while others believed that justice had finally been served. As you can imagine, Mackenzie's parents were completely shocked to hear about her arrest. The audio is a little hard to hear, but Mackenzie's dad tells the police.

The officer then says, "Well, she's an adult. She can't make any phone calls right now."

Her dad then says, "Well, I still need to speak to my daughter so she understands not to say anything to you guys. Am I going to be able to have a two-minute conversation with her? Why doesn't she get a phone call? She had legal rights." The officer says she was just brought in. They are going to process her and as soon as they get the time for her to make a phone call, she will be able to make a phone call. She is 18 years old. She is an adult.

Her dad then says, raising his voice, "Yeah, well, she's a dumb 18-year-old that just turned 18. She is not allowed to speak to you guys. Don't ask her any questions. She's not allowed to speak to you." But there was nothing they could do for her. Like the officer said, she was an adult now. And in August of 2023, a year after the crash,

Mackenzie Sherilla would go on trial, pleading not guilty. She ultimately opted out of having a jury trial, and instead, Judge Nancy Margaret Russo would determine the verdict. During the trial, Mackenzie showed up to court wearing modest clothing and no makeup, a stark contrast from the look she had on her social media accounts. And this was a big week for the community of Strongsville, Ohio.

The girl who had completely devastated their town would soon learn her fate. During their opening statements, her defense attorney, Jim McDonald, argued that Mackenzie had simply lost control of the car

due to common reckless driving amongst teenagers, simply stating it was "kids being kids." He also stated that according to her Toyota's event data recorder, McKenzie had jerked the steering wheel to the right, then to the left, about five seconds before the crash. He theorized that this showed she attempted to avoid the impact at the last second.

He even suggested that Dominic may have been the one to grab the wheel. Her attorney stated that Mackenzie had wrecked the car due to being irresponsible and inexperienced, but he did not believe that she intentionally set out to murder Dominic and Davion.

Is it just kids being kids? Is it Dominic grabbing the steering wheel? Is it Mackenzie maybe speeding and saying, oh my God, dark out, it's light, I'm coming up to this, I better do something. And she goes like that to avoid an accident, not acting purposely, but in fact trying to avoid it.

Is it sudden acceleration? Panic. Mackenzie's defense was quick to say that she was clearly responsible for this crash, but they blamed it on her use of THC that morning and that it had never been her intention to kill her male occupants. The defense also brought forth doctors at Metro Health, where Mackenzie had recovered.

And they testified that following the accident, she had expressed feelings of grief, guilt, and shame. However, the prosecution presented a different theory. Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim Troop argued that the relationship between Mackenzie and Dominic had soured that summer, and that Mackenzie had every intention of taking his life, as well as her own, on the morning of July 31st.

as for Davion Flanagan, Tim Troop stated, " was just cargo. Whatever she had in for Dominic, was just along with his friend and got sucked into a toxic relationship and just got in the wrong seat that night." Prosecutor Michael O'Malley expounded on this by adding, "He was just a suitcase in the back seat in the defendant's mind."

The intent was obvious upon seeing that video that there was only one goal and the computer demonstrated that there was no attempt to slow down or stop, that it was full speed into a building and said tragically it cost two people their lives.

The prosecution said that McKenzie was driving completely fine, right up until she turned onto that road. Tim Troop stated, "It's as if she was winding up when she drove from Pearl onto Progress. Then, once she was aligned with the Plidco building, she punched her Prada slipper onto the accelerator and held it all the way down for four seconds before making impact with the building."

Assistant prosecutor Allison Kupak also told the judge that when a detective showed up in the hospital later on, McKenzie simply asked him if they could just take her license away for 10 years. Allison Kupak said that shows intent and consciousness of guilt. Now, McKenzie's mother, Natalie Shrilla, would end up testifying. And she said that McKenzie had actually been diagnosed with a disorder in 2017 called POTS.

which caused her to pass out if her sodium levels were low. This syndrome can make people feel dizzy and lightheaded,

And she believed that Mackenzie passed out at the wheel that night due to her low sodium levels. And Natalie says that's why she doesn't remember anything from the crash. But the prosecution would later bring up that Mackenzie had no medical documentation that she was diagnosed with POTS. And she had actually renewed her license after the accident and she never mentioned anything about having a medical condition.

In the end, the trial lasted four days. And on August 14th, 2023, Judge Russo had reached her verdict and addressed the court. This trial is a culmination of decisions made by one person, the defendant. Those decisions have forever altered the futures of three families, and of you also, Mackenzie. And your decisions forever robbed Dominic and Tavion of the futures that they had before them.

If there is one thing that can be taken away from this case, as painful as it is, it is this: every decision we make is important. Every action we make is important. Regardless of whether the decision is a good one or a bad one, or the actions are good or not, the result is the same. The consequences ripple through time and affect many more people than one might think at the time of the decision.

In criminal cases, the state carries the greatest burden under our law, proof beyond a reasonable doubt. As I previously stated, I considered all the evidence presented, and at this point I would like to comment specifically on Exhibit 802, the crash video. This is the type of evidence you can never unsee. You can never forget the visual or audio of this exhibit. It was chilling and tragic.

As you review that exhibit, you know that you are watching the oncoming deaths of two people and there is nothing that will stop it. The video clearly shows the purpose and intent of the defendant. She chose a course of death and destruction that day. Exhibit 802 crystallizes the deadly decision making of the defendant. She morphs from a responsible driver to literal hell on wheels as she makes her way down the street.

Mackenzie alone made the decision to drive her car, to drive an obscure route, a route she visited a few days before.

and her route not routinely taken by her. Mackenzie alone chose the time to make the drive, early in the morning, when any reasonable person would expect that few people would be nearby to lead the sit or offer life-saving assistance. She made these decisions despite knowing, as any reasonable person would, that her mission of death could have involved others, not even in the car with her. Other people, other cars, pedestrians.

She had a mission and she executed it with precision. The mission was death. Mackenzie alone decided to push the pedal to the floor and demand the ultimate speed of that vehicle to 90 to 100 miles per hour. She alone decided what was to be. Mackenzie decided death was the ultimate goal that day. And she alone made that decision for Dominic Daviani. And she continuously asked for the mayor to achieve her purpose.

Whether or not she intended to also kill herself is a matter of speculation. They have no relevance to the rank of the evidence in this case. The totality of the evidence clearly demonstrates that Mackenzie Shurilla acted purposely and intentionally. In the early morning hours of July 31st, 2022, her purpose was to kill Dominic Russo and be found with Lannigan.

No reasonable fact finder could view the totality of this evidence, and this case can come to any other conclusion. Her actions were controlled, methodical, deliberate, intentional, and purposeful. This was not reckless driving.

this was murder or renders the following verdicts account one the court having had count one tried to pursuant to waiver finds its defendant mckenzie shirilla guilty of murder to win dominic russo in violation of the party vice code section 2903.02a that starts with count one count two the court having had capital tried to pursue into labor

McKenzie Chirillo was found guilty of two counts of murder and Dominic and Davion's family members were relieved that there was finally justice for their sons. The prosecution had successfully argued that McKenzie's actions that morning were deliberate, premeditated, and that she had used her car as a murder weapon.

Before the sentencing hearing, Natalie Sherilla addressed the court and continued to defend her daughter and her innocence in the crime. Throughout this, McKenzie sat with her hand over her mouth in disbelief, and behind her, her parents did the same.

But with that, Mackenzie Sherilla was found guilty of murdering Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan. Next was the sentencing phase of the trial, and the victim's family members were given an opportunity to speak. Here's Dominic's mother, Christine Russo. No one wanted this to be a murder or to punish Mackenzie Sherilla for this accident. But this was not a car accident. The evidence and science proved

that Mackenzie Shrilla murdered my son, Dominic, as well as Davion. There's no fix put in in this case, as the Shrillas would like to proclaim. I want to thank Strongsville Police Department and the state of Ohio for seeking the truth behind this crash. Thanks to them, we all know what happened in that car that day. What we don't know is why. I wish I could change this every day. I lost three children.

at that crash not a minute goes by each day that i don't think about my son as well as davion my heart is forever broken the cries heard from the shrill family and friends after the verdict are nothing more than a lack of remorse mckenzie cerullo had a choice dom and davion did not we are all left here to mourn but what dave tom and davion lost can never be remedied in any way

or by any particular sentence. July 31st, 2022, I called Mackenzie's mother, hysterical with the loss of my son and Davion. I knew Mackenzie was in the hospital. And the first statement said to me was, "Oh, please don't listen to what everyone's saying on Facebook." Yeah, my son is dead. His friend is dead. And I'm checking on yours. Social media is what's important. Social media has made a game

out of the life of Mackenzie and is making a game out of this heart-wrenching tragedy. No one can imagine the pain of losing a child unless they have lost one themselves. The pain is forevermore. Time does not heal this wound. Mackenzie, going to prison because you did this. Be thankful that you're still alive and have a future, whatever that may be. Dom and Davion were robbed of their futures, their hopes, and their dreams.

Mackenzie showed no mercy on Dominic, nor did she on Davion. Only God at this time can have mercy on her soul. Thank you. Mackenzie's mother, Natalie, responded with this. I just want to say to the families that I'm broken, sad, and lost, and my heart hurts for everyone, okay? Davion was her new friend, and Dom was the love of her life, and he was part of our family, okay? I'm just so sorry that this happened, and we're heartbroken.

Okay, and then, "Your Honor, this was a terrible, tragic, nightmare accident to have happened that she has no memory of, and she will never emotionally or physically recover from it. She almost died too, and we're asking that you please not run the sentence as consecutive. He was family and we all loved each other." That morning of the accident, she called, I got a phone call that there was a car accident. Okay, so we went to the hospital, and I didn't even know who was in the car.

The names had not been confirmed yet. And I was like, I'm going to cry because I miss Dom so much. We loved him so much. So I called Dom like over and over again, praying that he was going to answer the phone. And he didn't answer the phone. So then I tried to call his mom and she didn't answer the phone either. And I still didn't know who was in the car. I didn't even know she was alive. I didn't know what was happening. So then we were in the waiting room.

And then his mom ended up, she did call me, so I answered the phone and I was like, oh my god, like I don't even know who was in the car, like what's happening, was that Dom? And she said, what do you mean, my son is dead. And I was like, I'm so sorry. And then she said something like, and now I have to wait until your kid's out of the hospital. And then I didn't hear the rest.

I just, I was like, we loved him so much and I hung up the phone. I did not talk about social media. I didn't even know what was going on yet. Okay. Dominic. Okay. I'm asking you for a leniency because this was a tragic accident that she does not remember. And Davion, we don't, he's a new friend. I'm so sorry. Does that mean his life is worthless? No, no, no, no.

No, God, no, not at all. They all loved each other. They all spent every day together. If you would have a moment, all you would need is five minutes of a conversation to have with her to learn who she is. You would just need five minutes to learn who she is and what she's capable of not doing and doing, and you would see for yourself. Here is Angelo Russo, Dominic's older brother. Nothing said or done here today can describe the loss or repair our lives after this tragedy.

Kenzie's statement in the hospital to Detective Azu, "Can't you just take my license away for 10 years or something?" That statement is McKenzie's- That statement is McKenzie's Sharilla. The most selfish person I know, ironically, Dom was the most selfish person I know. McKenzie's Sharilla murdered Dom and Davion in cold blood and had already moved on. Kenzie killed Dom over the thought of losing him and she made Davion collateral damage.

She was driving, going to concerts, and dressing up for Halloween. No thoughts of the families and lives that she had destroyed. As I said, Dom read a book every day. He started two companies. He recorded his own music as well as recording music with myself and with friends. Dom helped anyone who ever needed a hand. He was an inspiration to everyone who had the honor of meeting Dominic. We love you, Dom. We love you, Davion. And God bless the both of you. Thank you so much.

Other victim impact statements were heard from Davion's mother, Jamie Flanagan.

He alone understands the pain and loss that they have gone through and was always there for them. This fact alone breaks my heart for my girls, for my family. So many dreams shattered, a future stolen. We will never get to see the amazing man that he was surely to become. His life was precious. Like I said, he was so much more than cargo.

I pray daily for strength and perseverance for myself and for my family. I also pray that Mackenzie will find true remorse in her heart and true repentance. We thank all of those that worked so hard to help us bring justice for our son. We are forever thankful. Davion, we miss you terribly, but as Christians, we grieve with hope. We will make sure your memory lives on, and we ache for the day that we are united again in eternity.

Thank you. And now it was time for Mackenzie Shurilla to speak to the court. The families of Donna Davias, I'm so deeply sorry.

And with that, on August 21st, 2023, Mackenzie Sherilla was sentenced to two concurrent life sentences for the murders of Dominic and Davion.

with a minimum of 15 years to be served. A sentence that many people in Strongsville were pleased with. Davion's father Scott would later say, "The only salvageable thing to happen for her is to change who she is. She needs time to do that, time in prison to reflect on the life she took from this world and to find some pathway to a better version of herself."

We want her to learn from this and to go out in the world and be a source of good and light." Davion's mom, Jamie, also agreed that Mackenzie received the proper sentencing, but she admitted that there were no winners in the outcome of this case.

Today, the Flanigans have decided to carry on the legacy of their son through the Davion Flanagan Memorial Fund. The fund will provide scholarships and financial assistance to underprivileged students who wish to attend the Allstate Barber College where Davion had wanted to go. So far, the fundraiser has received over $43,000. As for Dominic's family, some believe that justice was not served.

Dominic's sister, Christine Russo, admitted that she wanted the sentence to run consecutively and not concurrently, meaning that Mackenzie would have to serve a minimum of 30 years, 15 years for each murder, before she's eligible for parole. She told People, "Nothing can make this better, just hoping and praying that our pain eases even slightly."

There's a huge hole in us all. We will never be whole again." However, Dominic's father, Frank, had a different opinion. He told NBC News: "She's just a little kid. She fucked up. She did a damn stupid thing, but now her parents are destroyed, her family is destroyed too. I wish there was a way she could get some kind of help, some kind of treatment." But he actually believes that Mackenzie does know what happened that morning of the crash.

He said, "I wish she would just tell us exactly what happened, and I'd be willing to reduce the sentence." July 31st, 2022 forever changed the community of Strongsville, Ohio. Not only did it take the lives of two great young men,

But the aftermath of the crash seemed to have created divisiveness as well. Parts of their community believe that Mackenzie got exactly what she deserved, while others think she was wrongfully convicted. At the end of the day, we might never know exactly what happened inside of her car that July morning.

Mackenzie says she can't remember, and Dominic and Davion were robbed of their testimonies when her car slammed into that brick building. But in the eyes of the law, Mackenzie Shurilla is guilty of their murders, and today, she is currently serving out her sentence at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. She'll be eligible for parole on October 29th, 2037.

All right, everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in to this week's episode of Murder in America. This was one of those cases that was all over social media when this happened. I know that I made a TikTok talking about this like almost a year ago, I think. And it's definitely crazy, a crazy story with so many twists and turns. And that TikTok that Mackenzie made is incredibly disturbing if you decide to, uh,

Look it up. I believe we're going to post it on our social media, but just in case we don't, I would search it up and watch it yourself. I just want to thank all of our patrons that helped make this show possible. So we recently changed up our Patreon. We have some new changes coming in September, better episodes, longer episodes. So if you want to help support the show, you should definitely sign up for our Patreon. There are dozens, I believe over a hundred bonus episodes that you can access online.

on the Patreon right now. You can also get early ad-free access to every episode of the show, so if you don't like the ads, definitely consider signing up for Patreon. Your Patreon memberships help to keep this show running, so thank you guys so much for everything that you've done for us. Also, be sure to follow us on social media at Murder in America.

Do not forget to listen to our new show, The Conspiracy Files, which is available on all streaming platforms. And check out my YouTube channel, The Paranormal Files, if you're in the mood to get a little spooky. Anyways, we love you guys. Thank you all for tuning in this week, and I'll catch you on the next one.

I'm sending my brother money directly to his bank account in India because he's apparently too busy practicing his karaoke to go pick up cash. Thankfully, I can still send money his way. Direct to my bank account.

Yes, I know I'm sending to your bank account. Western Union. Send it their way. Send money in-store directly to their bank account in India.