Ohio teen dubbed Hell on Wheels convicted in deadly 100 mph crash
A teen driver hit 100 mph before slamming into a brick building, and telemetry data became central to proving prosecutors’ case for intent.
Mackenzie Shirilla’s case turned on a question courts rarely have to answer so starkly: when does catastrophic driving become intentional violence? A Cuyahoga County judge answered that question in August 2023, finding the Ohio teen guilty on all 12 counts after a 100 mph crash in Strongsville killed her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and his friend, Davion Flanagan, 19.
The crash happened on July 31, 2022, near Progress Drive and Alameda Drive, just after 6 a.m., after Shirilla, then 17, left a friend’s house in a Toyota Camry with Russo and Flanagan inside. Police and prosecutors said the car hit the large brick Plidco Building in a Cleveland suburb with such force that all three occupants were trapped in the wreckage. Shirilla was flown to MetroHealth in Cleveland. Russo and Flanagan were pronounced dead at the scene.
What made the case different from a deadly traffic wreck was the digital evidence. The vehicle’s event data recorder showed Shirilla’s right foot was fully on the accelerator and that the brakes were never applied before impact. Prosecutors argued that the crash was intentional, pointing to what they described as an increasingly volatile relationship between Shirilla and Russo, along with earlier threatening behavior, including a reported threat to crash while driving with Russo as a passenger two weeks before the deaths. In court records, prosecutors said Shirilla “did purposely cause the death” of the two teens.
The case moved from Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court to adult court after a judge found probable cause on the remaining charges, and a grand jury returned a 12-count indictment that included four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault, two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, drug possession and possessing criminal tools. Shirilla waived a jury and chose a bench trial, where the judge rejected the defense argument that the crash was an accident.
On Aug. 21, 2023, Judge Nancy Margaret Russo sentenced Shirilla to two concurrent life sentences with parole eligibility after 15 years, saying she did not believe she would be released at that point. Victims’ families asked for consecutive sentences and the maximum penalty of 30 years to life. Christina Russo said Dom and Davion were “robbed of their futures.” Shirilla apologized in court and her mother, Natalie Shirilla, said she believed the crash was a tragic accident and that her daughter did not remember it.
The conviction held on appeal in 2024, and the Ohio Supreme Court declined to review the case in April 2025. The story returned to the spotlight in May 2026 as Netflix prepared a documentary, “The Crash,” underscoring how digital telemetry, prior conduct and courtroom standards for intent can separate reckless driving from a homicide case.
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