One car accident can change everyone’s life. There are numerous examples of one out-of-control vehicle ending or maiming the lives of those in it. But how many of those are premeditated murders?
What counts as deliberate murder and an accident that took on wholly different and dark consequences? That varies from one case to the other. Mackenzie Shirilla, too, fell into one of these camps. The 19-year-old was involved in a July 2022 crash that took the life of her boyfriend and friend. Now, she has finally received a verdict.
Mackenzie Shirilla was found guilty of the July 31, 2022, car crash that took the lives of her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and friend Davion Flanagan, 19. She was 17 then and charged with drug possession, possessing criminal tools, aggravated vehicular homicide, and felonious assault. Mackenzie won’t get parole until she spends 15 consecutive years in prison.
What Was Mackenzie Shirilla Charged With?
Mackenzie F. Shirilla was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, felonious assault, drug possession, possessing criminal tools, and murder for a car crash on July 31, 2022, at around 5: 30 a.m. near Strongsville’s Progress Drive Business Park.
Shirilla, who was 17 at the time, was at the wheel of her Toyota Camry 2018, crashed the car at 100 mph into a 250,000-square-foot building. Dominic Russo, 20, her boyfriend, and Davion Flanagan, 19, her friend, were the occupants in the car along with Shirilla.
The driver slowly turned onto Alameda Drive from Pearl Road but suddenly floored the car down the three-quarter-mile street till it reached 100 mph. The surveillance video, as well as other data from the computer system of the vehicle, showed this.
In the video obtained, the steering wheel can be seen getting jerked to the right and then left before the airbags got deployed just seconds before the car jumped the curb and slammed into the building.
A passerby saw the crash after almost 45 minutes and called the police. The two men were pronounced dead on the spot, while Shirilla was trapped in her driver’s seat. Firefighters had to get her out. Then she was sent to Cleveland’s Metro Health for further medical treatment.
What Happened to Mackenzie Shirilla?
In the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, 19-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla was found guilty of the July 2022 car crash that took the lives of her boyfriend and friend. She was in tears when the verdict was announced.
Judge Nancy Margaret Russo presided over the 4-day trial without any jury. She found Mackenzie guilty of several counts of murder in the deaths of Davion Flanagan, 19, and Dominic Russo, 20. As reported by Cleveland.com, Judge Russo said:
“She had a mission, and she executed it with precision. The decision was death… She morphs from a responsible driver to literal hell on wheels.”
Prosecutor Michael O’Malley told the reporters that the office decided to prosecute Mackenzie as an adult and charge her with murder because of a video. It showed the final moments before the crash from the POV of a business located in the park where it happened. The Cuyahoga County prosecutor said:
“When you drive for four or five seconds with the pedal all the way down until you hit 100 mph into a building, we felt the charge was appropriate.”
The three involved had spent the night smoking marijuana at a friend’s house. The THC in Mackenzie’s blood was way over the legal limit prescribed under Ohio’s law. But the prosecutors didn’t charge her for driving under the influence. Instead, they went for the throat with murder charges.
Also, evidence collected from her phone showed her driving near the park where the car crashed a few days ago. To make matters worse, a video showed her arguing with her boyfriend, Russo, where she threatened to key his car.
Jim McDonnell, her attorney, said that prosecutors could not bring enough evidence to convincingly prove that Shirilla had crashed on purpose and not on accident like many teens do while driving recklessly.
However, she now faces life in jail after she was convicted of being the cause of the two men’s deaths. Moreover, Mackenzie won’t get parole until she spends 15 consecutive years in prison.
What are your thoughts about the Mackenzie Shirilla verdict?
Did she purposefully crash the car? Or was she reckless in her driving under the influence of marijuana?
Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Cleveland
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