Who Are Mackenzie Shirilla’s Parents? Inside Their Fight After Her Conviction

Following the release of Netflix’s The Crash, people are taking a hard look at Mackenzie Shirilla’s parents and the deadly 2022 case that sent their daughter to prison. The documentary premiered on May 15 and digs into the crash that killed Mackenzie’s boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and their friend Davion Flanagan, 19.

Mackenzie was 17 when she drove her 2018 Toyota Camry into a brick building in Strongsville, Ohio, on July 31, 2022. According to People, prosecutors argued the crash was not an accident. Vehicle data showed the car reached nearly 100 mph. The accelerator was pressed all the way down in the final seconds, and Mackenzie did not brake before impact.

Mackenzie’s parents are Natalie Shirilla and Steve Shirilla. They have stood by their daughter and continue to insist she did not intentionally kill Dominic and Davion. Natalie and Steve mostly stayed out of the spotlight after Mackenzie’s 2023 conviction.

However, their involvement started in the earliest hours after the crash. Bodycam footage shown in reporting captured the moment officers told Steve and Natalie at the hospital that two passengers had died. Steve clutched his chest and began crying. Natalie appeared stunned and repeatedly asked, “Dom is dead? … Dom with the curly hair? It could be a different Dom.”

Both parents have spoken publicly since the conviction. They told 3News in 2025 that they believed Mackenzie’s original attorney failed to use evidence they thought could help her case. "We gave her attorney the text messages, we gave her attorney the medical records, we gave her attorney the car expert," Natalie stated. "He didn't use any of it."

In The Crash, Natalie and Steve doubled down on their belief that Mackenzie did not purposely crash the car. They claimed they gathered evidence that did not make it into court. Natalie also showed alleged text screenshots from Mackenzie, claiming Dominic was “trying to end my life.” That claim challenged the prosecution’s version of a prior car incident.

Judge Russo found Mackenzie guilty in August 2023. The Ohio Court of Appeals later described the case as a high-speed crash in which Mackenzie, then 17, drove at speeds reaching 100 mph before hitting a brick building and killing both passengers. She was convicted of four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault, and two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide.

The court sentenced Mackenzie to an aggregate term of 15 years to life in prison. Her two murder sentences run at the same time, not back-to-back. That means she becomes eligible for parole after 15 years, but release is not guaranteed. She could remain in prison for life.

Mackenzie still denies that she meant to kill Dominic and Davion. “There was no intent whatsoever there,” she said. “I have excessive amounts of remorse for Dominic, for Davion, both of their families. This was not intentional, and I will do everything I can to prove that to the world and the families.”