All language subtitles for The.Crash.2026.NF.WEB.H264-EDITH.en[sdh]

[tense music playing]

-[walkie-talkie beeps]
-[electronic voice] Recording.

[walkie-talkie beeps]

[indistinct walkie-talkie chatter]

[man 1] Sixty on Westwood.
I'm gonna turn on Alameda.

[walkie-talkie beeps]

[woman 1] I copy.

[woman 2] Copy.

[man 2] It's a breakdown. Holy crap!

[woman 1] We're arriving.

[man 1] Forty-six on Progress.

[man 2] Radio,

this car is split in two.

Radio, there's an occupant inside.
Send us some squad now.

We gotta bust the window out.

Send us some more units.

[pounding]

[teacher 1] Welcome to the class of 2022
commencement ceremony.

Today, we share in the celebration
of the journey

that our children have shared

that is now culminating in the achievement
of one of their life milestones.

-[siren wails]
-[man 2] Oh my God. Times three, guys.

-Radio, three occupants.
-[man 1] Three occupants.

[man 2] Yeah, all pretty young.

[teacher 2] Davion Markel Flanagan.

Mackenzie Ford Shirilla.

Whoo!

[walkie-talkie beeps]

[man 2] Radio, the driver

is breathing, unconscious.

-Her stomach's moving. Look.
-[man 3] Oh, yeah.

-What's your name, dear?
-My name is Mackenzie.

[man 2] Mackenzie. Okay.

[woman 2] I have
a 17-year-old female, Mackenzie.

Mackenzie Shirilla.

-Mackenzie Shirilla.
-Mackenzie Shirilla.

She walked away. The only one alive.

It's so unfathomable.

How could this possibly happen?

[laughter]

This was no accident.

[reporter 1] She and her boyfriend
appeared to be soulmates.

The black box tells us
what happened, not why.

Guess it depends on how you look at it.

[reporter 2] The real question is,
was this a horrific accident

or was this murder?

[music fades]

[Mackenzie] Hey, guys,
let's spend the day together.

-[camera clicks]
-♪ Cameras… ♪

[woman] Whoo!

♪ Flashing ♪

♪ Cameras ♪

♪ Flashing… ♪

[woman] It's so crazy, 'cause, like,
we had just graduated high school,

and this is who I would hang out with
every single day.

Every single day, I'd wake up and hang out
with a combination of these people.

There was me,

Kenzie,

Davion,

Dom,

and my boyfriend, Bubba.

This was the best friend group
that I've ever had in my life.

We didn't have any worries in the world.

♪ I don't need no flash
To know that you're a star, babe ♪

♪ Whoa ♪

♪ 'Cause when you walk in the room
It's obvious who you are… ♪

[giggles]

Hey, TikTok, we're gonna start doing
something new on here,

and it is a food review.

I was getting a phone call or a text
from Kenzie every day.

"What are we doing tomorrow?
The next day?"

"Let's do this. Dom wants to go here.
Davion wants to do this."

♪ And they all for you… ♪

If Davion's there, everybody's laughing.
He's the funniest guy. He was just goofy.

♪ I don't need no… ♪

And Dom and Kenzie, they're such a duo.

♪ Whoa oh ♪

♪ ' Cause when you walk in the room… ♪

They had been together for four years.

♪ Oh yeah ♪

♪ Baby, they're all for you ♪

♪ Baby, they're all for you… ♪

[Bubba] Dom was
a very sweet, loving dude, man.

Are you just biting me?

He reminds me of Master Yoda
from Star Wars. He was so wise.

The bond in the group that we had
was gonna be unstoppable.

[Mackenzie] Rosie! Bubba!

♪ What's up, baby? Hold up ♪

[music stops]

[sniffs] Like, those are my best friends
that I hang out with every single day.

[sniffs]

And I was just with them.

And it's so crazy that that split second

just, like, changed
all of our lives forever.

[somber music playing]

[radio bleeps]

[man 1] Yep. Driver, 17-year-old female,
still breathing.

Wedged in there.

-Two are gonna be DOA.
-[man 2] Okay.

[man 3] He's a fucking
Strongsville football player.

He's a running back.

[man 3 groans]

-[woman] Okay, ten four.
-[man 1] Yeah.

[man 3] Rest in peace, buddy.

[woman 1] Life Flight ETA for a helicopter
is five to ten minutes.

[man 4] This is the worst crash
I've ever seen.

[man 3] Holy smokes. What's this?

[man 4] Was there any alcohol or drugs
in the vehicle?

-[man 5] Yeah.
-Yes.

-[man 4] What? Drugs?
-Yeah, drugs.

-[man 4] What type of drugs?
-[man 6] Weed and mushrooms.

-[man 5] Yeah, marijuana, mushrooms.
-[man 6] Marijuana and mushrooms.

-[man 4] Where's the drugs?
-[man 6] It's just in the pocket.

[man 4] Take 'em out.

[woman screams]

[man 4] We ain't going anywhere, okay?

-[man 7] Careful. She's gonna fall off.
-[man 1] Ten thirty-one. Gonna go.

[man 7] This way.
Head this way. Watch your step.

[woman 2] Confirm that.
The female's flat and collarized.

She's rambling, not making sense.

[man 3] Life Flight's here.

[music stops]

[electronic voice] Recording.

[man 1] Is that dad?

I need to talk to you both.

-[clears throat] What did they tell you?
-Nothing.

-She broke her leg.
-[man 1] She was life-flighted here.

-Yeah, we know that.
-Yeah.

-Was she alone?
-[man 1] No.

-Who else?
-[man 1] You wanna sit down.

-Oh my God.
-Oh dear.

[man 1] What way do I say this?

Progress and Alameda. Car into a building.
Two are deceased in the vehicle.

Your daughter was driving.

[father] Who died?

[man 1] I don't know…
There's one that we don't know.

Dom?

-No. Stop! Let him talk.
-[man 2] Guys…

[father whimpers]

I think it… I think it…
What's the name you said?

-Dom?
-Dom.

[man 2] Uh, might be.

-Stop. Stop!
-[father] Oh my God.

[man 2] What's his relation to…

-Boyfriend.
-[man 2] Yeah, then Dom was in the car.

-Stop.
-[girl] Oh my God.

-What?
-[girl sobs]

-[man 2] I…
-Are you kidding me?

[man 2] Ma'am, it's…

-What?
-[man 2] That's where we're at right now.

Dom is dead? Dom is dead?
Is that what you're saying to me?

Look at me. Is Dom… Dom's dead?

I didn't wanna believe what he was saying.
I wanted to wait for somebody to tell me…

-I was hoping it wasn't him.
-[father] Mm-hmm.

[father] At that point, I didn't even know
if she was conscious.

I didn't know
what was wrong with her. I… I…

She could have been paralyzed
for all I knew. We didn't know anything.

She's lucky to be alive.

But I was torn. I had a lot…

I had some guilt
being happy for my daughter

and knowing that Dom and Davion passed.

[somber music playing]

Dom and her were living together.

There was talk of getting married.

He was part of our family.

Someone my daughter
was planning a life with.

[music stops]

[electronic voice] Recording.

-[man 1] What's that?
-[man 2] Yes.

-[man 3] What a fucking nightmare.
-[man 4] Go ahead and take a seat.

[man 1] So, um…

-Do you know what time it happened at?
-[man 1] No, we don't.

Right now, it's so early
in the investigation that we don't know.

-They fall asleep at the wheel?
-[man 5] Don't know.

[man 1] We don't know that.
We don't know that. Um, so--

So two kids are dead.

My son's dead, another kid's dead,
and the girl's in the hospital?

[man 1] She's in surgery right now.

[man 3] Fuck.

Oh my gosh.

I didn't know what to do with myself.

My son just died,
so I really don't know what's going on.

Like, you're not thinking clearly,
and I didn't… It took… You're in shock.

[woman] You wake up and your
little brother's gone at 20 years old.

It's, like, Dom is really gone forever.

And there's no coming back.

He texted me at three o'clock
in the morning. "Love you, Dad."

-He texted you at three o'clock?
-2:53.

-[man] 2:53.
-Okay.

[low rumbling]

[indistinct radio chatter]

[reporter 1] Shock and sadness
in the Strongsville community tonight

after a car crash claimed two young lives

and injured a third
early yesterday morning.

[somber music playing]

[reporter 2] Investigators say
it appears the car failed to stop

at the end of Progress Drive,

went across the lawn, hit a sign,
and then crashed into the building.

I went to the crash site.

The way it…
it went straight into the building,

that didn't make any sense

'cause there was no skid marks
before the impact.

Right away, questions were going.

Were they drunk? Did they fall asleep?
Were they on drugs? I don't know.

[reporter 3] More than 200
tonight attended a vigil

at the intersection
of Progress and Alameda.

That's the location of the crash

that killed former
Strongsville High School students

20-year-old Dominic Russo
and 19-year-old Davion Flanagan.

[Bubba] I was Davion's best friend.

[Bubba on video] This is Dav.

[Bubba] He always had a smile on his face.

We were on the football team together.

It didn't feel like reality
until I got to the site of the accident,

and that's when, like, it hit.

[Rosie] There were so many people there,

and so many people were asking
so many questions to all of us

'cause they were like,
"You were with them."

"What did they take?
You know they were on something."

They didn't even give us a second
to process what had just happened.

[reporter] Flanagan played football

and was planning on attending school
this fall to become a barber.

[girl] My parents
were just trying to explain, like,

"Davion was in a car crash."

"He passed away."

I started, like, screaming and crying
and, like, you know, getting really upset.

I was like, "This isn't fair.
This isn't right."

[music fades]

Me and my sister and Davion
came from a little, uh, tough upbringing.

We were all adopted from foster care.

Davion was always the supporter
and bigger older brother.

He was always there for me.

No one should ever have to tell
their kids or their wife

that their son or brother,

um, had their life taken from them.

It was… It was brutal.

[reporter] The 17-year-old female driver
is listed in a critical condition,

and police are still investigating
the cause of the crash.

[Scott] We really were very much
praying and hoping

that Mackenzie was gonna be okay.

All that we know,
it was a car driving into the building.

But we didn't know why.
We didn't know how.

I wanna know the truth
of what happened to my son.

[dramatic music playing]

[man] I've worked on easily
over a thousand serious felony cases.

This is without a doubt

the most significant case
I ever worked on.

Strongsville does not have
very much violent crime.

This is a peaceful place.

Their police department
wanted a prosecutor

looking at this case with them.

It's my goal to do everything I can

to provide justice for the families

who have so cruelly had their loved one
taken from them

and try to figure out
what took place out there.

[music stops]

When the police arrived, they see
the interior of the car had exploded.

[tense music playing]

Mackenzie was still wearing her seatbelt.

Her head was beneath the dashboard.

The primary impact
was on Dominic's side of the car.

Dominic was laying in the front seat,

and Davion's laying
stacked on top of Dominic.

First responders did discover

a small amount of marijuana
in Mackenzie's purse.

A digital scale.

Also, eight grams of psilocybin mushrooms
concealed in her clothing.

That was a significant
piece of information.

I'm ticking through the potentials
of what could have caused this crash.

Was it operator error?

Was it substance abuse?

Or could it be a much more serious felony?

We needed to get a full picture
of who Mackenzie Shirilla was.

[uneasy music playing]

What?

-[clicks tongue] Look at that.
-[cat meows]

[Mackenzie gasps]

[woman] Me and Kenzie
met in middle school.

Growing up, we jumped from house to house
'cause we lived so close.

She was like a sister to me.

She's fun,

loving,

an amazing friend.

She would stick up for you.

I remember at school,
I was bullied a little bit.

And Kenzie was like, "Don't talk to her
like that. That's not okay."

She's a very loyal person.

When I heard there was a car crash,
I tried to call Kenzie, like, 50 times.

[tense music playing]

And not getting a response.

And it was immediate panic for me.

[electronic voice] Recording.

[Tim] The day after the crash,
police visited Mackenzie in the hospital

to find out, is she capable
of providing any kind of statement?

[Steve] She had a broken femur
above the knee,

three broken ribs,
a lacerated liver, lacerated kidney.

Th-This bone broke, snapped,
and it detached the tricep.

And both carotid arteries
had damage to 'em from her neck snapping.

She looked like she'd lost a fight.

We just couldn't tell her about Dom

'cause she was just going through so much.

The police started asking her questions.

Then I said, "Wait.
I think we need to get a lawyer."

'Cause you'd said, "Don't say anything
to them without getting a lawyer."

And he goes, "Okay, we won't ask you
any more questions."

[Steve] So then the police attempted
to get access to her cell phone.

That's when he asked me for the passcode.
So of course we gave it.

Go ahead. Go search whatever you want.

[Tim] In this day and age, your cell phone
contains a treasure trove of evidence.

We are looking
for evidence of intoxication,

communication with people.

Social media posts would give some insight
into the events leading up to the crash.

[indistinct chatter]

[music fades]

[Mackenzie] And then I got ready
to hang out with my friends again.

Oh my God, Skims baddie.

She's got the metallic swimsuit. So cute.

We actually went in the lake pretty deep
'cause it was, like, so hot.

[Rosie] In high school
is when I met Kenzie.

[tense music playing]

We started commenting
on each other's Instagrams

before we even
talked to each other in person.

We would, like, comment,
DM back and forth, or Snapchat.

[school bell rings]

She'd make cute little TikTok videos
of her trying on outfits.

She would come to school
with a purse instead of a bag,

which I thought was really cute.

I got along with her well.
I'm like, "You're cute."

She's like, "You're cute."
I'm like, "We get along so well."

When I met her, I had 200K
on TikTok and on YouTube,

and she had, like,
a few thousand followers.

She always wanted to be a model like me,

so me and Kenzie would hang out
and just go do photo shoots.

[music fades]

[Mackenzie] Look at this place.

I'm with Rosie right now.
We gotta do a photo shoot in this bitch.

[Rosie] With Kenzie came Dom,
with Dom came Kenzie,

everywhere they went.

[poignant music playing]

[Faythe] Dom and Kenzie,
they got together in freshman year.

He was three years older.

When we were younger,
it was a bit more like,

"Hey, you're dating an older guy.
This is a lot."

But boyfriends weren't really boyfriends
at the time.

They were very like flings
and "Oh, I wanna flirt and have a crush."

Okay, who's trying to dress up
and go to the Minion movie?

'Cause that looks fun.

We already got two people down.
Yep, me and him.

[both chuckle]

So we're ready to go. Who's coming?

[Faythe] Dom had his own place.

Kenzie moved in after we graduated.

[Steve] Even though she was 17,
we felt she was mature enough to do that.

[Mackenzie] I love you, baby puppy.

They were becoming a little tight couple.
They cooked a lot together.

Always super healthy.
It was always organic.

[Rosie] Dom would buy her clothes.

Oh my God.

That one looks like
the Skims shit but smaller.

I got that as a backup.

-Oh yeah, this looks really cute too.
-[Rosie] Yeah.

-It looks like it's gonna fit me.
-[Rosie] Super cute.

He really loved designer stuff
and just name-brand.

Oh my gosh.

-Dom, no you didn't.
-What?

-[Mackenzie] These are Guccis.
-[Rosie] Okay! Baller.

The boy wasn't hurting for money, okay?

I think that helped Mackenzie a little bit
because Mackenzie likes things.

[Natalie] Kenzie loved Dom
with her whole heart.

I think she was always planning
on getting married to Dom.

-Okay.
-[Rosie] So cute. [chuckles]

[siren wailing]

[music stops]

[electronic voice] Recording.

[Natalie] In the night,
Mackenzie asked, "Where's Dom?"

And I had to tell her…
I had to tell her that it was him.

That he… he didn't… he didn't make it.

So she screamed,
and I said, "I'm so sorry."

-She goes, "No, it's not. It's not him."
-Yeah.

"Please go check. Go check"

And I said, "Mackenzie, it's him,
because if it wasn't him, he'd be here."

That was devastating to hear her.
The sound. It was gut-wrenching.

[Natalie] Right after that,
she was asking,

"What about Davion? Is he okay?"

And I had to say,
"No, he didn't make it either."

And then she was like, "Oh God."

[tense music playing]

[Tim] We really wanted
to talk to Mackenzie

about what took place inside that car.

[Natalie] She remembers waking.

She remembers leaving the house.

Then she remembers turning on the street.

[music fades]

-And then that's it.
-That's it.

She was trying to remember.
Like, she's trying.

I'm like, "Mackenzie, you can't.
It's just not there."

[Mackenzie] I'm not doing okay, like…

It doesn't feel real. I keep saying this,
but it doesn't feel real.

I don't know what the fuck happened.

[voice recorder beeps]

Thank you for being there for me.

It just means a lot.
Like, I don't remember anything.

-Like, this is just the worst.
-[voice recorder beeps]

I can see how someone
could have some amnesia

from the… the impact of the crash.

But the timing just seemed really

perfect.

I don't understand how your amnesia
just lasted the exact right amount of time

to not be able to help the police
with their investigation.

[electronic voice] Recording.

[man] Hey, guys.

[Tim] A couple of days after the crash,

two friends of Davion showed up
at the Strongsville Police Department

and told them
that they could provide some information.

We can literally see where Davion has been

for the past
however long you need to know.

[man] Okay.

[Tim] One of the boys
had an app on his phone called Life360

that was connected to Davion's phone,

where you can monitor
each other's location via GPS.

-[friend 1] I wanna show you.
-[man] Explain it.

[friend 1] This is when they were going
down on Progress Drive.

It shows on this app
Davion was on his phone at 5:35.

-[man] Okay.
-And it says that they crashed at 5:36.

[friend 2] Before that,
they went to a little gathering or party.

-[officer] Graduation party.
-[friend 2] Yeah.

[friend 1] They might have
been on psychedelics.

[officer] Mm-hmm.

[uneasy music playing]

[Tim] This was secondhand information

that there were
drugs of some sort involved

at graduate parties the night before.

Maybe they were on the psychedelics
and she hit the gas…

[officer] All right, guys, thank you.
Appreciate you coming in.

We sent Mackenzie's blood sample
to a lab out of state

because they do not, at our local lab,

test for the psilocybin, for the presence
of that in someone's blood.

But looking at Mackenzie's phone,

there was evidence
of her tripping on mushrooms.

And it seemed to be
almost a daily ritual for her

to smoke marijuana from a bong…

[mellow music playing]

…with her camera propped up
in her clothing closet.

There were some photographs
of her using marijuana

in just the days
or even the day before the crash.

There was multiple videos of her
smoking marijuana and driving that car.

[music fades]

[Steve] I knew. I don't have a problem
with her smoking dope.

I don't have a problem with me smoking it,
with you smoking it.

If you're gonna take a drug,
that's the one I believe you should take.

It's… It's better than alcohol.
It's better than all the other crap.

She's not shooting up.

[mellow music playing]

[Rosie] As typical high schoolers do,
we were kind of, like, the stoners.

It would just be back-to-back fun.

-[Mackenzie] I cannot.
-[Rosie] Okay. State your names.

It's a TikTok.
We don't have that much time.

-I'm Rosie.
-Okay. Hi, my name's Kenzie.

-[Rosie] How are you feeling?
-How am I feeling?

Well, I'm always pimpin'.

-My name's Bubba. I weigh 245 pounds.
-[laughter]

-I'm feeling good.
-[Davion] Damn!

I haven't ate a damn thing
at all today though.

[Rosie] How you guys feeling?

[giggling] I'm geeking. This is crazy!

[music fades]

[Scott] Davion would say to us,
"All the kids are doing it."

"They're all smoking weed."

Me and my wife, Jaime, pushed back
on the narrative that weed is innocent.

"Weed isn't addictive.
Weed's not a gateway drug, Dad."

[indistinct announcer]

In high school,
football was Davion's number-one passion.

[crowd cheering]

-[man on PA] Davion Flanagan.
-[whistle blares]

But four games into his senior season,
he tore his ACL and his UCL,

and he pretty much was told
that his football aspirations

for college and beyond
was over at this point.

I think that's when he started to hang out
with some different people,

different crowds, started experimenting
with illegal substances.

[rock music playing]

[laughter]

[music stops]

He'd come home late, and I would say,

"Show me your friends,
and I'll show you your future, Davion."

[Davion] Oh! Oh shit!

♪ …roof down for the ride… ♪

"Please stop."

♪ Do you want to drive? ♪

I think he was just being
a selfish teenager at that point,

like, "Oh, I hate my parents"
type of situation,

where you don't hate them,
you just don't like to follow rules.

You can absolutely drive yourself insane
thinking about the what-ifs.

Could we have done something differently?

If Davion had listened to us,
maybe he never would've been in that car.

[somber music playing]

[Christine] This one over here,
that's my son David,

and he's kissing Dom, which is just…

It melts my heart.

Um, you couldn't buy this picture off me
for a million bucks.

It means the world to me.

He loved his nieces and nephews.

He was there for everything,
every family holiday.

We're a really close family.

-That's part of the worst part.
-[music fades]

He didn't get to see my kids grow up.

You know, you're thinking about your son,

and all of a sudden,
everything leads back to the crash.

In my head, that's just where it goes.
That's where my mind takes me.

What happened? What happened in the car?
What happened? You know?

[tense music playing]

[Tim] We knew
that the night before the crash,

Mackenzie, Dom, and Davion
went to a party.

On the way, there were some text messages
between Mackenzie…

and Rosie Graham.

[Rosie] I was just texting her
to bring over some weed for the night.

We were also talking
about doing the mushrooms,

which is why they brought them
and had them in the car with them.

Rosie would have been
the most likely source of information

on what was going on in Mackenzie's mind
leading up to the crash.

[outgoing call ringing]

[Rosie] The police called
to set up an interview,

and I was like, "I'm not doing it."

[music fades]

People always say
the police will try to say crazy things,

especially if you're alone
and you're a teenager.

It doesn't seem like we're trying to
figure out what happened in the accident.

It seems like we're trying
to track down the next drug dealers.

You have no idea how hard I tried
to get Rosie Graham to talk to me,

to cooperate with me.

But it's good to hear
that she talked to you guys.

I'm fascinated to hear
what she has to say.

[tense music playing]

[Rosie] First of all,
it wasn't a party at all.

Because in my opinion,
and everybody that was there,

we call that a sleepover.

And that was just a friend sleepover
that we would normally do.

I brought, like, a coloring book
and, like, colored pencils.

We were watching YouTube videos.

[Bubba] Me, Dav, and Dom,
we were watching a shark documentary.

Stupid shit on the TV.

A couple of times,
we'd go out and smack the bong.

[Rosie] We were having deep conversations
and just sitting around.

And we were also talking
about doing the mushrooms.

But then by the time they got over,
it was, like, 12:00 a.m.,

and we're all like, "It's too late."

[interviewer] So no mushrooms?

Um, yeah, we were all just kind of like,
"It's really late,"

and we had, like, weed to smoke,
so we just smoked weed.

Kenzie didn't even smoke that night.

She was on a smoke break
'cause she was coughing up black mucus

or bloody mucus,
something that was really bad.

[Rosie] Kenzie was sleeping
by, like, 3:00 a.m.

All I remember
is Dom just petting her head all night

and cuddling up to her on the couch,

and she was sleeping,
and he was caressing her hair.

[music fades]

[sighs]

All of us all had plans that next day
to go out and do stuff.

There was not one argument.
There was not one moment of tension.

There was not one bad vibe
towards anybody.

[tense music playing]

And then, really early in the morning,
around 5:00, Dom came into the kitchen,

and I was like, "Are you guys leaving?"

[Bubba] And it was right before they left,
me and Davion were talking.

He was supposed to work on my truck
with me the next morning.

And I offered to take him home.

It was set
that he was coming home with me.

And, like, last minute, he goes,

"I wanna shower
and maybe sleep for a little bit."

For some reason, he gave me a hug
and goes, "I love you."

I was like, "Love you too, bro."

Very weird. It was the first time
we said we loved each other for a while.

[music fades]

At that point, when they left the house,
you have this black hole.

The, uh, lack of knowing
what took place inside that car.

But then
Strongsville Police Department called me

about some of the video evidence
that they had uncovered.

[tense music playing]

I'm Trooper Elliot Rawson.

I serve as a crash-reconstruction trooper
with the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

We had obtained surveillance camera video

of the final moments
leading up to the event.

All right, so this is
the first camera vantage point, um,

from the intersection
of Progress Road at Pearl Road.

Here, we can see
the Toyota traveling southbound,

and it begins to make a right turn.

[mouse clicking]

As it traveled west
for nearly a half mile…

there was a slight bend

where the second piece
of video evidence comes from.

The camera was located
on the southern face of this building,

pointing southwest.

Based on my calculations,

the Toyota averaged
approximately 97.8 miles per hour

through this stretch right here.

That's beyond unsafe speed
for the roadway and conditions.

At this point,
the Toyota enters the intersection

where it struck the corner
of the commercial building.

[music fades]

[engine roars]

[tires screeching]

[car crashing]

My first thoughts…

It was just chilling.

If… If anybody was awake and alert
inside that car,

what a horrific last few seconds

they endured.

It was hard to comprehend that someone

could just drive into a wall
at that kind of speed.

I looked back at the video of Mackenzie
turning from Pearl Road onto Progress.

It just didn't add up.

It was not someone
who's driving with the music loud,

throwing beer cans out of the car.

This turning was controlled
and deliberate.

[ominous music playing]

And then when we get
the blood toxicology back,

the blood test indicated no alcohol.

They did find THC, the active chemical
contained in marijuana.

But this was not someone
who was unfamiliar with driving

under the effects of marijuana.

But the most significant piece of evidence

was that she has no psilocybin
in her system.

So this was not
some sort of party gone wrong.

She wasn't high on psilocybin
when she crashed.

That ended that rabbit hole.

[music fades]

Now we know this isn't impaired driving.

What else would help explain this crash?

Was something tampered with?

Or did the car malfunction in some way?

The police did observe
a fuzzy Prada slipper

that appeared to be stuck
to the floorboard

next to the accelerator pedal.

[somber music playing]

Had that contributed to the crash?

We needed to retain
a forensic auto investigator

to do a complete analysis of that car.

[tense music playing]

[reporter 1] This Strongsville community
is devastated.

The cause of that crash is unclear.

[reporter 2] Police say
speed was one of the factors.

[Scott] The police would contact us
at least once a week

and give us an update.

But they held a lot back as well

because they needed
to keep their cards close to their vest.

[music stops]

And then I saw an Instagram post
that was sent to Mackenzie from a brand

a day or two after the crash.

[tense music playing]

"We love this look. Can we use this post
on our website and emails?"

It's answered by Mackenzie's mother,

Natalie Shirilla.

"Thank you for this amazing opportunity."

"She would love if you would use that."

"She's actually been trying
to contact you guys for PR email."

"It was a tragic accident."

"This is just as painful for her
as it is for everybody else."

"Or maybe even a little more painful."

[music fades]

Then Mackenzie responds.

"Thank you for the comment.
I would love to work with you."

"I've been emailing you guys a lot.
Such a great opportunity. Thank you."

The only term that comes to mind
is tone-deaf.

Like, she just doesn't get
how much anguish she's caused.

No one in their right mind

would post about being thrilled
about this opportunity

after they just killed two people
in a horrific accident.

It just felt off.

[cell phone beeps]

[Davyne] I got a DM
on Instagram from Mackenzie.

She said, basically, "I'm sorry."

"Davion was like a brother to me.
It was all an accident. I didn't mean to."

She wanted to get her peace out of it.

At the end of the day,
I didn't feel like I needed to respond

to someone who killed my brother.

[tense music playing]

Me and Mackenzie,
we went to the same school,

but we were in a different year.

Dude, why is the lighting in here
fucking terrible? Like, what the fuck?

[Davyne] I already had,
like, my opinion on her,

and I'd expressed that
to Davion privately.

[Mackenzie] I'm not even cool.

I'm just one of those girls
that can do a lot of drugs and not die.

She gave off this persona and this act

of being, like, high up
and better than everyone else.

I don't like when people
talk about the world,

and they're like, "We're all gonna be dead
in 60 years anyways."

Please go fucking kill yourself.
Yep, I said it. Go die, bitch.

[Davyne] I heard
people would steer away from her

because she got very aggressive

and could bully people
and talk bad about people.

The school records showed
one incident after the next

of disrespect to teachers
and fellow students.

You just get a general picture of someone

who does not have
a lot of adult oversight.

[bell rings]

[music fades]

[Steve] There was an incident.

They suspended her
for the last day of school.

I had to get off work and come get her.

I walked in. I looked at my daughter,
and she's sobbing.

I go, "Did you do it?"
She looked at me and goes, "No."

And I know when my daughter lies.

I go, "Good enough for me. Let's go."
And I walked her out.

[Mackenzie laughs]

[Tim] Her parents would offer excuses
for her behavior.

And typically Mackenzie would walk away
from those negative interactions at school

with more freedom, less consequences,

and her actions
being completely excused away.

Am I a perfect parent? No.

-Nobody is.
-No one is. No one is.

-Have I made mistakes with my kids? Sure.
-Sure.

It's… It's life, you know?

But she wasn't a bad kid.
She didn't need to be disciplined a lot.

You know, she… I mean…
The only… Her worst is her mouth.

If any of you think
that that party situation is my fault,

you can go fuck yourself
and leave my story.

Right now. Yeah.

Because we let
all you underage little fucks

inside our beautiful home

just to do illegal things.

[tense music playing]

[Tim] Looking at all of the information
we had from her phone,

I felt like I started to see
who Mackenzie really was.

And then we got back the results
from the forensic auto investigator.

And that expert
determined that the braking,

the steering,

the tires,

the acceleration

were working properly.

The car didn't malfunction.

[music fades]

And in his professional opinion,

the slipper was stuck to the floorboard
because of the impact.

The floorboard had actually crumpled
around the slipper.

So it had no contribution to the crash.

That it was simply a result of the crash.

Now we needed the information
off of the event data recorder.

[tense music playing]

[camera clicking]

[man] The EDR,
the electronic data recording system.

Most people think of it as like
being the black box in the airplane.

In this case, there's approximately
five seconds of pre-crash data.

For the entire five seconds,
the accelerator pedal was at 100%.

There was no taking off
or lightening up on the accelerator pedal.

It was completely pressed
all the way down.

[engine revs]

[tense music builds]

Most people would want to slow the vehicle
or stop the vehicle

to avoid that type of an impact.

But in this case, there was no braking.

[ominous music playing]

The data shows that
around three seconds before the impact,

there was some steering input.

Right movement, left movement,
and then a hard right movement.

It shifted from drive into neutral,
back into drive again.

[tires squeal]

[music fades]

I think the boys
were trying to save their life.

I think Dominic and Davion
were yanking on the wheel,

grabbing at the gear shift,
and it was just too late.

[somber music playing]

100% gas pedal.

No attempt at using the brake.

The evidence all combines together to show

this was not an accident.

[ominous music continues]

Oh-ho!

[electronic voice] Recording.

[officer] Hello.

[music fades]

Over here.

[Tim] The police conducted
numerous interviews of friends

or people that knew Mackenzie,
Dominic, or Davion.

-[officer] The door open or closed?
-[friend] It can stay open.

[Tim] One of the witnesses that
came forward was a friend of Dominic's.

[officer] We've got
a few questions for you.

First thing is,
how long have you known Mackenzie?

Probably when I moved to Strongsville,
so ninth grade.

[officer] So describe the relationship.

She would be, like…

She was like, "Oh, I love Dom so much."
This and that.

I remember one instance

we were all about to get on the ride,
and Dom was on a phone call.

[riders screaming]

She was like, "You get on this ride now."

But he said, "I can't right now."

And then we come back,
and she kicked Dom away from us.

And she was just like,
"I'm about to break up with him."

She was just saying stuff like that.

[officer] Have you ever heard
Mackenzie threaten Dom?

We were in this candy shop, and, um…

This was after they'd gotten over arguing
and everything.

She was like, "Either buy me something
or shut the fuck up."

She always threatened
and was disrespectful to Dom in my eyes.

[officer] Why did Dom put up with this?
Do you know?

Um, I've personally been told
that she did voodoo on him.

I mean, I personally don't believe that,

but she has told people
that she's put a spell on him

so that he couldn't break up with her.

[uneasy music playing]

Dom had so much going for himself, like…

Why does he stick with Kenzie?
He can do so much better, like.

[officer] Okay.

I'm gonna let the prosecutor know
that you came down to talk to us.

Thanks a lot. Appreciate it.

[music fades]

[officer clears throat]

[Tim] I had to try to figure out
what was going on here.

I reviewed years of text messages
between Mackenzie and Dominic.

[tense music playing]

One day they'd be in love with each other.

The next day,
they would be at odds over something.

[Faythe] In the beginning
of Dom and Kenzie's relationship,

I told Kenzie, "Hey,
your boyfriend just cheated on you

with one of our best friends."

[music stops]

I felt terrible for Kenzie.
I mean, it sucks to be cheated on.

[uneasy music playing]

[Mackenzie] He never, like,
just can, like, apologize on his own,

make it up to me on his own,
get me flowers on his own.

I have to give him that little push.
Actually, no, a giant-ass fucking push.

I have to shove him off a fucking
60-foot diving fucking board type shit.

Moving forward in their relationship,
it caused a lot of trust issues.

Her to be like, "Hey, who are you with?
What are you doing?"

It was a high-school relationship.
There's gonna be fights.

There's gonna be up and down moments.

None of them were ever held seriously.

I was with them every single day,
and it wasn't daily arguments.

It wasn't, uh, weekly arguments.

It wasn't even like
anything crazy like that.

Mackenzie loved her life a lot,

and she really liked
what she had going on with Dom.

[Frank] Dom was gonna make it.
That's for sure.

He used to trade stocks.
He traded cryptocurrencies.

He was opening an LLC
to sell all the vape stuff.

[Mackenzie] Look how cute you look
with your hair.

Trying to get a clothing line.

I don't know how I'ma take this seriously.
It all depends if Clay's playing better.

[Frank] He had goals,
and he was gonna reach 'em.

[Mackenzie] Whoo!

[music fades]

And prior to Dom passing,

you had said for about a year,
"I need to spend more time with Dominic."

Right.

The last couple of years,
we had tried to spend time together,

but he was always with Kenzie.

I just don't know why I forgot.
I was just too stressed out about prom.

[Dom] You're dumb as fuck.

-[Dom laughs]
-[Mackenzie laughs]

[somber music playing]

-[Natalie] When she came home…
-Crying herself to sleep.

…she was either in bed,
at the memorial, or at the grave site.

-At the grave site.
-Every day. Every day.

[Mackenzie cries]

Kenzie contacted me
through text, basically,

and then face-to-face also.

She said she was sorry. Yeah.

[Christine] I felt bad for her.
I just kept thinking,

"She killed the love of her life
and a friend."

I felt terrible for her.

[Frank] I said, "Kenzie, it's okay.
You gotta try to get through it."

It is what we were all trying to do,
and I was trying to be helpful to her too.

It might not work for me.
It does sometimes, but…

-Anything.
-Okay, Dom, are you here?

Look. I'm not moving my arm. That's a yes.

Do you have a message for Kenzie?

L.

O.

-V.
-[sobs]

Love.

[Kenzie] I miss him so much.

[Kenzie cries]

I love you too, Dominic. [cries]

[music fades]

We were also getting heat from the family
who didn't think it was an accident,

not to talk to her.

My ex-wife, Dominic's mother,
wouldn't talk to her.

You really can't blame her, you know.

We did not know things that they knew.

[electronic voice] Recording.

[Tim] In September of 2022,

Dominic's brother Angelo
met with detectives.

[somber music playing]

[Frank] Dominic and Angelo
were really close.

They lived next door to each other,
so Angelo's seen a lot more than we did.

[officer] So mostly what I'm interested in

is the relationship
between Mackenzie and Dominic.

[Angelo] Dom tried to break up with her
multiple times, even in July.

It kept not working out, whatever.
They kept making back up.

Dom would have to call Kenzie's parents,
call her mom and stuff,

and say, "You need to come
get Kenzie outta here."

"She's refusing to leave my house.
She's being crazy."

[Tim] Dominic's brother told police
he was convinced

that from conversations
he had with Dominic,

that Dominic was leaving Mackenzie.

[Angelo] For me, you know, there's
two types of love that you give somebody.

It's like, "I love that person
unconditionally."

And there's a type of love
that's selfish and restricted

and "I want them all to myself."

And that was Kenzie with Dom.

Kenzie's, like, she's let us know

she will never let go of Dom,

and if she has to let go of Dom,
she will not go on living herself.

[Dom] Give me my shit, dude.
G… give me my shit.

-[Mackenzie] Yeah, we have problems.
-[Dom] Why are you trying to torment me?

-[Mackenzie] We have problems.
-[Dom] You're trying to torment me.

[uneasy music playing]

This was clearly a toxic relationship

on a crash course for… for termination
one way or another.

[music fades]

It's difficult to prove these cases
without providing some sort of motive.

Sometimes we're left
with only what happened,

and we cannot tell why it happened.

But two weeks before the crash,

Dominic's mother, Christine Russo,
received a telephone call from her son,

and he told her that Mackenzie
was driving erratically and dangerously,

and that he needed help.

So she sent her friend Christopher Martin

to hunt down, on the highway, Dominic.

-[electronic voice] Recording.
-[device beeps]

-[officer] Chris, thanks for coming down.
-[Chris] Not a problem.

[officer] I just wanna ask you
about the incident that happened

before the fatal crash.

[Chris] Um, Dominic called, and, uh,

he was upset,

and, uh, he was like,
"I'm driving in a car with her,

and I don't wanna be around her anymore.
I'm done."

So I get on the highway.

And I call him. I say, "Where are you at?"

She was like, "I'll crash this car."
I'm like, "Dude, what do you mean?"

[officer] Can you clarify again
what you heard her say over the phone?

-[Chris] She said she'll crash this car.
-[officer] You heard her?

-[Chris] Yes.
-[officer] Okay.

So we had a witness
who had heard her say those words.

Mackenzie had threatened
to crash a car with Dominic

two weeks before she did.

In criminal cases,
we call that prior calculation.

[tense music playing]

[Scott] For three months, we had heard,

"We have evidence.
We have evidence. We have evidence."

"So when are you gonna arrest her?"

"If you have evidence,
when is this gonna take place?"

"When is the wheels of justice
finally gonna start to turn?"

[Tim] The evidence that we had
in this case was compelling.

100% gas pedal.

No attempt at using the brake.
The car didn't fail.

She wasn't on some kind
of mind-altering substance.

Mackenzie and Dominic had an incredibly
toxic and failing relationship.

[music stops]

We were left
with no reasonable alternative

but that she did it on purpose, because
that's what all the evidence indicated.

[tense music playing]

[Natalie] Mackenzie was
going to physical therapy.

After we left that appointment,
I had gotten pulled over.

[officer 1] I'll go back to her.

Hi, Mackenzie.

[Mackenzie] Don't touch my phone!

[officer 2] You're under arrest.
We have a warrant for your arrest.

[Mackenzie] Why? Wait, we have a lawyer.
I have to call my lawyer.

I don't know
why they needed nine or ten cars

to roll up on an 18, 17-year-old girl.

Prosecution needed a show,
and they wanted to put on a pageant.

-Where is she?
-[officer 3] Right back there, pal.

[officer 4] Hi, Mackenzie.
Step out for me.

I'm Detective Hazou.

I'm the one
who's been investigating the crash.

You're under arrest
for aggravated murder times two.

-Murder? What? What?!
-I was…

Yeah, we were just… It was shock.

[music stops]

[reporter] Breaking news alert.

An arrest in a deadly car crash involving
two Strongsville High School grads.

We've learned now
18-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla

has been charged with two counts
of aggravated murder.

[dramatic music playing]

Taking that news in,
you're stunned for a while.

You can't say or do anything.

-I was shocked when she was arrested.
-Yeah.

I was like, "What? W… why?
Was it the drugs?"

No, they think she actually murdered him.

'Cause all along,
we wanted it to be an accident.

We didn't want someone
to intentionally murder our son.

The day she got arrested,
everyone was chanting.

Everyone was like,
"Oh, she's gone! She's arrested."

I didn't think
she would get arrested at all for this.

That's the last thing I'm thinking about.

I'm thinking, "Our friends are dead.
How are we gonna recover from this?"

You guys are acting like
this is Jeffrey Dahmer or someone.

Someone that's out here,
like, calculating these murders

and calculating these things.
No, that's not who she was.

Could you be careful taking this one off
so it doesn't break the bracelet?

-[officer] You got it.
-Thank you.

I've seen so many people be like,
"This dramatic girl,

she's going to prison
worrying about her bracelets."

[officer] I don't wanna hurt you.

[Rosie] But all of her bracelets
are, like, Dom bracelets.

She just didn't wanna break
the things that Dom had given her.

It's, like, the only…
The last thing that she has. She…

She was so sad about it all.

[officer] Here you go.
Watch your head going in.

[Mackenzie grunts, sniffles]

[tense music playing]

[officer 1] This way.

Okay, I'm gonna take your handcuffs off.

-I need all the jewelry to come off, okay?
-Okay.

I can't wear any of it?

No. I need you to take it off
while you're in the jail right now.

[officer 1] As soon as we're done,
you'll be able to make a call.

[officer 2] We have to wait
for the detective to come back.

Just have a seat for us.

[music fades]

[interviewer] So could you tell me why you
want to give this interview, Mackenzie?

I've never spoke before,
and I never told my side of the story.

I understand there's many different sides
to the story and different perspectives,

but I just wanna say my truth, and

I just know myself,
and I know I'm not… a monster.

[uneasy music playing]

[laughter echoes]

[music fades]

We were just two kids
messing with each other.

And then, as the years went on
and we stayed together and grew closer,

we would have probably
been married by now.

[uneasy music playing]

He was just so protective
and loving over me.

I wanted to just heal him,
and he wanted to heal me.

We were partners.
We just took care of each other.

I mean, we argued, we got back together.
We broke up, we got back together.

It was… It was rocky, but it was good.

It was just…

We were in love. Young love.

[interviewer] Did you ever feel,
in your arguments with Dom,

rage that you couldn't control?

No, it was never like that.

It was always just like more, I was…

When we'd argue, I'd get sad

because he didn't really have
good communication skills,

and we would be cool later that day
or a couple of hours later,

and we would be watching movies
on the couch, eating popcorn.

Davion, he was more of Dom's friend.

That summer, he came to live with me
and Dom for a week or two,

and during those couple of weeks,
I was growing really close to Davion.

He was just full of life.
He was a good person.

[tense music playing]

[interviewer] What do you remember
from the morning of July 31st?

[Mackenzie] It was 5:00 in the morning,

and we decided to head back
to Dom's house, and…

[music stops]

I remember turning on the street,

and then I'm waking up in the hospital
the next day, and I don't…

Then my whole life is shattered.

[interviewer] People have said that it's
convenient that that's all you remember.

What would you say to that?

[interviewer] The whole morning
is just, like, nothing, and I…

It sounds crazy, but I…

Like, I can't… I'm not gonna, like, lie
just because people wanna hear a story.

I have no recollection of that morning.

I'm not saying I'm… innocent.

I was a driver of a tragedy.

But I'm not a murderer.

[dramatic classical music playing]

[reporter 1] The trial
for a Strongsville teen charged

with murder in a deadly crash

is going on today.

The accident happened just days
before Mackenzie Shirilla's 18th birthday.

[reporter 2] Shirilla is now facing
murder, felonious assault,

and aggravated vehicular homicide charges.

Good luck proving it. There's no…

-What proof?
-Yeah.

What proof… What proof do they have
to any of this?

[Tim] In Ohio, a defendant chooses

whether to have a jury trial
or a bench trial.

A bench trial is tried just to the judge.

Mackenzie Shirilla
opted for a bench trial.

[Scott] We were gonna get our day in court
but we absolutely were in fear and terror

that we would not get earthly justice
for our son.

[tense music playing]

We went to the first hearing
and sat with their family.

Yep.

[interviewer] Sat with the Shirillas?

Mm-hmm.

We still thought she had been drinking
or there were drugs involved.

You know, they were kids.
Accidents happen all the time like that.

You never in a million years think

this girl killed your brother.

You just don't think that way.

All of the records will show,
from when the police first responded,

she had no recollection of the events,

and that is consistent
with what happens many times in accidents.

My attorney was very reassuring
of there being no evidence

and that anyone can see
that there was no intent.

How can you come to any conclusion
other than, if anything, she's reckless?

Your Honor, at issue
in this case, primarily,

is the defendant's state of mind
at the time of the fatal crash.

The evidence in this case is clear.

She drove the car into the wall.

She made up her mind,
and she never went back.

[eerie music playing]

[Scott] The prosecutor would alert us

to what they were gonna show
in the courtroom.

This is two-tenths of a mile
from the ultimate crash site.

[Scott] We saw the video
for the first time.

[Tim] You will hear the Camry coming

before you see
the last few seconds before impact.

-Oh my gosh.
-It was torture.

And you kept saying
it was like a bomb went off.

-Yeah, it was like a torpedo.
-[Christine] A missile.

[car engine roars]

[car crashing]

-Brutal.
-[Christine] Mm-hmm.

Brutal.

That's embedded.
You never get rid of that.

[Scott] There was a pause,
and my wife, Jaime,

went into the bathroom and threw up.

100% acceleration
through the entire final five seconds.

[somber music playing]

No service brake was deployed
during that final five seconds.

-What other explanation do you have?
-[Christine] 100 miles an hour.

100% acceleration. Never hit a brake.

It was a big slap in the face,
thinking we're there for her

'cause we feel bad for her too,
and then it's all a lie.

[reporter] It's day two
in the trial of the Strongsville teen

charged with murder in a deadly crash.

[somber music continues]

When I first got this case

and saw that the charge was murder,

I thought to myself,
"Boy, if she's driving the car,

and it was her purpose
to kill these people,

she must have wanted to kill herself too."

In fact, we know
that she was not suicidal.

I would never, ever see her
purposely wanting to hurt herself.

Say that is,
and she's so sad, like mentally,

I… I don't think that's the way to do it.

[Faythe] Kenzie loves herself a lot.

She wouldn't even have a McChicken
with me at McDonald's

because she cared so much
about her own health.

I don't feel like somebody like that,

who's caring so much about their body
and so much about

themselves and how they're doing,

would be suicidal.

[Rosie] Her birthday was coming up.

She had an expensive designer outfit
ready to wear.

She had presents ready,
wrapped up from Dom,

that she still has never opened.

Nothing makes sense. It really doesn't.

[Tim] Mr. McDonnell brought up the issue
of her trying to kill herself.

How could anybody do that?

Everybody that's heard this evidence
can't figure out

how could anybody do that.

We don't have to prove
that she was suicidal,

but she put that car into the wall,

and the results were as foreseeable

as if she drove that car
off of the Grand Canyon.

[James] Is it just kids being kids?

Is it Dominic grabbing the steering wheel?

Those are all possibilities.

[music fades]

What do you think happened
to cause the crash?

Through all the evidence
that has been presented,

the most logical speculation
seems to be a medical emergency.

I always tell everybody that she has POTS.

[tense music playing]

POTS stands for postural orthostatic
tachycardia syndrome.

It's a blood pressure disorder.

You can either get dizzy, lightheadedness,
you can black out.

With POTS, you just black out.

It can happen very fast.

If I move a certain way,
it just comes out of nowhere.

I could just be sitting like this,
and it could hit me.

You can move the microphone.
It goes side to side.

[Natalie] Okay.

[music fades]

[clerk] Can you state your name
and spell your last name for the record?

Natalie Shirilla, S-H-I-R-I-L-L-A.

[Tim] When was Mackenzie
diagnosed with POTS?

2017.

[Tim] And so you were aware
of these POTS incidents,

yet you still went to the BMV and said,
"Give my daughter a… a driver's license."

Yes.

[Tim] But as a mom,

this thing is so serious to you, correct?

It can be.

You never told her not to drive the car
because of this POTS diagnosis?

[Natalie] She's been able to manage it.

[Tim] You're here to tell us
that this was the reason

that she crashed the car
into the PLIDCO building.

Isn't that the…
Isn't that the bottom line?

It… It could be.

-[Tim] Could it be?
-It could be.

-[Tim] No further questions, Your Honor.
-[judge] Redirect.

-That's it?
-Yep.

[Tim] If that was
an obvious element of defense,

we were never provided with a opinion
from a medical person

stating that Mackenzie had suffered

some kind of POTS incident
that caused this.

Um… And I think that's because

that's not what happened.

[Christine] It's physically impossible.

If she passed out, then her foot
would have eased off the gas.

-Wouldn't have stuck down like that.
-It makes no sense whatsoever.

[tense music playing]

[Tim] Mackenzie drove that car
down Progress,

going up to 100 miles an hour.

This would have taken intense engagement
with the steering and controls of that car

just because of the nature
of the turns on the road.

There's an S-curve,
and it goes up, and then it goes down.

That is not a piece of road
that someone could navigate

at 100 miles an hour while blacked out.

[music fades]

[interviewer] How does a medical emergency
account for the control of the car?

I'm unsure. I have… 'Cause I have
no recollection of that morning.

But I know
nothing about it was intentional

'cause that's not in my character.

[clerk] Please state your full name.

I'm Christine Russo. I'm Dominic's mother.

[Tim] Did you, at any point, um,
provide the Strongsville Police Department

with some videos that you had obtained

that had conversations
between Mackenzie and Dominic?

Yes.

[Tim] And how did you
come into possession of those videos?

They were recorded on a phone
that happened to be in my son's home.

Christine Russo had brought
to the investigators' attention

some recordings made by Dominic
just a matter of days before the crash.

[Mackenzie] Dom, open the door.

[Dom] I can't open the door.
I can't sit here and fight.

We gotta go to dinner
to see my grandparents. I can't…

[Mackenzie] You're not going to dinner
if you don't open the door.

I'ma let you know that now.

You're gonna come open this door right now

or there's gonna be
a serious fucking problem.

Okay, ready? I'm gonna count to ten.
The door's gonna open, okay?

You're gonna open the door
and stop hiding behind the door

like a little fucking bitch.

[Dom] Step away from the door.
Maybe I can come outside and talk.

[Mackenzie] No,
we're not fighting outside.

You're gonna open the door right now.

-[Dom] Why aren't we fighting outside?
-[Mackenzie] One minute.

[Dom] Now my mom's
trying to call me. I gotta--

[Mackenzie] No. If you hang up on me,
we're done. I'm leaving.

[ominous music playing]

-[Dom] Kenzie, there's nothing I can do.
-[Mackenzie] There is.

Stop being a little bitch.

[Dom] I can't let you
in with how you're acting.

It's as simple as that.

[Mackenzie] Okay, I'm gonna
break into your house, then.

[Dom] Dude, what the hell?
What the actual fuck?

[pounding]

[Mackenzie] You don't let me in the house
that I sleep in every night, we are done.

-I was disgusted, and I really think that…
-Yeah.

It just really made me mad.

Yeah, I felt sorry for Dominic.
I can't believe he didn't say anything.

[interviewer] Had you ever seen
that side to her?

-No.
-Nope.

Didn't see that side of her at all.

[Tim] How would you describe
Dominic's tone on these videos?

Very calm.

[Tim] How would you describe
the defendant's tone on these videos?

Irate and angry.

[Tim] Thank you.
I have no further questions.

[Scott] You could sense a mood
in the courtroom.

It was as if people
were coming to the realization

that she could actually do it.

She was volatile enough

and angry enough

and desperate enough…
to do just about anything.

[tense music playing]

When that came out,
there was no hiding who you were anymore.

It just all painted a huge picture.

She actually intentionally murdered him.

[music fades]

This catastrophe took place

at the conclusion
of a rocky and tumultuous relationship

between Mackenzie Shirilla
and Dominic Russo.

Whatever happened, Judge,
was because of that relationship.

That is why this took place.

And what about Davion?

He's just cargo in the backseat.

If you knew
you were gonna kill your boyfriend,

what did Davion have to do with that?

He had nothing to do with that.

You could have let him out,
let him walk away.

She treated him with the utmost disregard.

We trust the court, and we wait
for your verdict. Thank you, Your Honor.

We ask you to find her guilty
on all counts.

[somber music playing]

[judge] There is nothing
that I can do or say today

that will return these two young men
to their families.

This trial is the culmination
of decisions made by one person.

The crash video.

The video clearly shows
purpose and intent of the defendant.

She chose a course of death
and destruction that day.

She morphs from a responsible driver
to literal hell on wheels

as she makes her way down the street.

Court renders the following verdicts.

Count one.

The court, having had count one tried
to a pursuant to waiver,

finds the defendant Mackenzie Shirilla

guilty of murder, to wit, Dominic Russo,

in violation of Ohio Revised Code
section 2903.02a,

is charged with count one.

-Count two.
-[handcuffs click]

The court, having had count two tried
to a pursuant to waiver,

finds the defendant Mackenzie Shirilla
guilty of murder,

to wit, Davion Flanagan,

in violation of Ohio Revised Code
Section 2903.02a,

is charged with count two
of the indictment.

-[Mackenzie] Mom?
-[Natalie] Hey, hey.

-[Mackenzie] Oh my goodness.
-[Natalie] I know, Kenzie.

[Mackenzie] I didn't think
that was gonna happen. She was just like…

She just made it seem
like I was just a murderer.

[Natalie] I know. I know, sweetie.

[Rosie] I was, like, shocked.

I genuinely do not think

that this could have been on purpose,
intentional, or planned.

Like, it doesn't make sense to me.

[tense music playing]

We were all friends.

A local case has drawn
national and international attention.

Sentencing will take place tomorrow
for 19-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla.

Mackenzie Shirilla could face
up to life in prison.

[Mackenzie] How much time
do you think I'm gonna get?

I'm sure they're gonna go with the max.

-[Natalie] The max?
-[Mackenzie] Okay?

[Tim] A conviction for murder
carries a life sentence.

The sentencing judge chooses
between 15 years to life

or 30 years to life
before the possibility of parole.

[music fades]

I just wanted my son's life
to have… concrete value

in the term of years.

And if that was 15, okay.

If that was 30,
I would be happier with that.

[Tim] We have received a series of letters

that have been submitted
on behalf of the defendant.

They describe her as a good student
and a loving and caring person,

um, and that she could never do
something like this.

And I think that who she actually was

is directly contradictory

to what is painted by the letters
submitted on behalf of her today.

♪ Got a figure like a pinup
Got a figure like a doll ♪

♪ Don't care if you think I'm dumb
I don't care at all ♪

♪ Candy bear, sweetie pie
Wanna be adored ♪

♪ I'm the girl you'd die for ♪

[haunting music playing]

I feel like anybody's social media
isn't really them.

It's how they want the world to see them.

And at the time,
that's how my 17-year-old brain was

wanting to be seen.

♪ Think I'm dumb
I don't care at all… ♪

This video was made in 2021. [laughs]

You can see the date right there.
April 2021. A whole year before.

Anybody my age, like,
grew up with Marina and the Diamonds.

This is just, like,
a song that everybody knows,

and then it turned into a TikTok trend.

We all have made our videos
to this exact sound. Like, to the trend.

♪ Got a figure like a pinup
Got a figure like a doll ♪

♪ Don't care if you think I'm dumb
I don't care at all ♪

♪ Candy bear, sweetie pie
Wanna be adored ♪

♪ I'm the girl you'd die for ♪

I post probably, like,
five to seven TikToks a day. Per day.

At that rate of content,

I don't even remember
what I said yesterday.

-[ominous music playing]
-You cannot use that against her.

Uh, Halloween of last year,
before being charged.

["Vamp Anthem" by Playboi Carti playing]

♪ When them vamps outside
Li'l bitch better be ready ♪

[judge] Are these post…

These are on Halloween of last year,
so these would be post-crash,

um, just before
she was charged in November.

I'm introducing these to the court
to show the shocking lack of remorse.

Dressing up as corpses
three months after she killed two people,

it just sickened us to the very core.

We're not seeing her post videos
of her mourning

or videos of her regret.

We were seeing posts
of her living her best life.

We were dressed as Playboi Carti.
That's his makeup that he does onstage.

And I think most people my age know that.

Her and Dom loved Carti.
Like, her and Dom really loved Carti.

That is what these kids do.
Everything's on social media.

They make crazy videos all the time, so…

-Um…
-[music fades]

Uh, if she didn't kill someone,
I guess it wouldn't have been a big deal.

But she did. So now it just kinda
sheds light on who she was.

[tearfully] To the families

of Dom and Davion,

I'm so deeply sorry.

I hope one day you can see
how I'd never let this happen

or do it on purpose.

And I'm so sorry.

And to my family,

thank you for the support
and all the love you guys give.

Thank you for fighting for me.
I love you all so much.

All right, I'm done.
Thank you, Your Honor.

[ominous music playing]

That was the worst apology
I think I've ever heard in my life.

I know when someone's being fake or not.

And that was not… That was not real.

[judge] Hello. Could you start
with your name?

Hi, Your Honor. My name's Davyne Flanagan.

Um, Davion was my older brother.

Davion was not just a big brother to me,
but a role model in many ways.

He was the person I trusted the most
because he made me feel safe.

He was the one
who picked me up when I fell.

He was my best friend and the only person
that has stayed with me since I was born.

I would like you to give Mackenzie
the longest possible sentence.

Thank you, Your Honor.

[Natalie] 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.

[judge] I'm hearing
a lot about your daughter

and not hearing very much
about the two dead people.

Dominic, okay?

I'm asking you for leniency

because this was a tragic accident
that she does not remember.

And Do… Davion, we don't…

-He's a new friend. And I'm so sorry.
-[judge] What does that mean?

-His life is worth less?
-No, no, no. No.

No. God, no. Not at all.

I understand what it looks like.

I'm… I'm… I'm saying that it was
a tragic accident. She would never--

-[judge] We're gonna disagree on that.
-[Natalie] I understand.

-I'm so sorry, guys. I'm sorry.
-[judge] Thank you.

-[Natalie] I love you.
-Love you.

[judge] I understand
that the pain in this room

wants me to impose the harshest sentence.

But I don't believe that would be
the appropriate sentence

because I do believe that Mackenzie
will not be out in 15 years.

She's sentenced on count two,
the murder of Davion Flanagan,

15 years to life.

She's sentenced on count one,
the murder of Dominic Russo,

15 years to life,

to be served concurrent to each other
with credit for time served.

There's a very good likelihood, Mackenzie,

that you will spend
the rest of your life in prison.

[music intensifies]

-[Natalie] Love you, Kenz.
-[Mackenzie] Love you all.

[man] We know you're innocent.

[music fades]

[woman sobbing]

We are just thankful
that we feel justice was served today.

Um, there's not a day that goes by
that we don't miss our son,

and justice was served for him today.

Um, but honestly, there's no winners here.

There's no winners here today.

[somber music playing]

[Tim] It matters to me
that Davion and Dominic's loved ones

feel that justice was provided,

and that Mackenzie was held accountable.

And she will sit in a cage for a long time
because of what she did.

[music fades]

It's really hard every day in here.

I try to wake up
and be the best person I can be every day,

stay out of trouble.

There's not a moment that doesn't pass
where I don't…

I don't think about them or

I don't

feel the pain in my chest that…

It's still like a void of losing them and…

[door slams]

[interviewer] Is there any last word
that you'd like to say?

Did I touch on that… the right…

Okay, so everything is, like… You think…

I don't wanna force anything
and just say too much

or sound crazy.

I just wanna just make sure
that I'm big on the…

the no intent.

There was no intent whatsoever there.

I have excessive amounts of remorse

for Dominic, 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.

And that's it.

I have the capacity for forgiveness.

I just wanna know the truth
of what happened that night.

And I would be eternally grateful

for her to actually tell us
how those last few moments were.

No matter how… damaging to her
they might be to say,

just to say the truth and let us know

and let us grieve properly
and have some closure.

[somber music playing]

[Natalie] We're not done yet, okay?
And I can't talk about anything.

So just… have trust in…
have trust in us, please.

Okay? But I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.

It's tragic, what happened
to those two boys.

But think if it was your kid.

What if Mackenzie was yours?

How would you feel?

I'm gonna fight for my daughter.

And we have ironclad evidence

that disputes what was said in the trial.

This is the freeway incident…

where Mackenzie was accused of threatening
to crash the car two weeks before.

These are text messages between Mackenzie
and Dom's mom, Christine Russo.

Mackenzie says, "Can you come get Dom?"

"He just grabbed my steering wheel,
trying to spin out my car and hurt me."

Christine says, "Hench is on the way.
Calm down for now, please."

And then Mackenzie says,
"To be honest, I can't calm down

when he just tried to end my life."

She never threatened to crash the car
two weeks before the car accident.

He did. He did.

It wasn't her. She never
threatened to do anything before.

So that removes that whole prior intent

from their story.

These messages are now part of an appeal

based on evidence
that was never brought into the trial.

Mackenzie Shirilla, who is in prison
for killing two people in a car crash,

is asking for a new trial.

[Natalie] We're gonna fight, fight, fight.

If I have to drive to the White House…

I'll take it all the way
to the Supreme Court if I have to.

There's the Free Mackenzie Facebook page
somebody started.

Thank you again,
whoever all these people are.

And all the YouTube videos
sharing all the information.

It is very probable
that a car malfunctions.

-Yes.
-Or someone passes out.

The black box tells us
what happened, not why.

It wasn't intentional.

[man 1] Look at that face.
Someone's gotta pardon her.

Mackenzie is too pretty for prison.

We're all in this together.
Get her the hell out of there.

[man 2] Follow Free Mackenzie Shirilla
on Facebook.

[music fades]

[Christine] Every time a news thing
comes out, the Free Kenzie page,

an appeal comes out,
it stirs everything back up.

She got 15 years.
That's nothing. You know?

Sit down, be quiet, and leave us alone.

If they were truly sorry,
I think they would do that.

She could get out at thirty…

-What? Thirty-two, thirty-three?
-Mm-hmm.

Yeah, and start a family
and live a happy life, you know?

[Frank] At least they can still
go see their daughter.

Given she's in jail,
at least they can still go visit her.

'Cause we can't visit Dom.

[Scott] I think
the worst thing that could happen

is for Mackenzie to be babied
for the next 15 years by her parents

and told she did nothing wrong
and she'd never made a mistake in her life

and she's the perfect girl
and she's been completely wronged

and the system's against her
and the prosecution lied.

All those things
are damaging to her psyche.

Those aren't gonna help her adjust
and become a well-functioning adult

when she gets out of prison.

But just because of who you are
when you're 17 or 18,

does that mean that's who you're gonna be
for the rest of your life?

And it's my biggest hope
that she does change.

[somber music playing]

[Davyne] What can you do to help?
He wanted to go to barber school so bad.

We have a barber scholarship
under Davion's name,

and it's basically
where you can donate money

to a scholarship
that will go to a student in need.

[reporter] The plan is to send at least
one person to barber school fully paid.

But if their GoFundMe campaign
raises enough money,

they'll be sending people to school
for years to come.

[Scott] There is a handful of days
in those two and a half years

that I've been happy.

Like genuinely, really happy.

The day we handed out the scholarship
was one of those days.

Congratulations.

[man] Whoo!

It's just good to see that someone,
even if they're not Davion,

achieve their passion and their dream

and to see how far that takes them.

[Scott] People are gonna know his name
and people are gonna know his heart

and who he truly was.

And if we could do that,
then Davion does have a future.

And he might not be in it,
but his memory sure is.

-♪ Oh, you got power ♪
-♪ Ooh ♪

-♪ Superpowers ♪
-♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Do you even know how to wield them? ♪

-♪ All God's children ♪
-♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Are special ♪

-♪ But not like you ♪
-♪ Ooh ♪

♪ No, not like you ♪

-♪ You're just like a flower ♪
-♪ Flower ♪

♪ You're ever giving ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ That's a given ♪

-♪ All God's children ♪
-♪ All God's children ♪

♪ Are special ♪

-♪ But not like you ♪
-♪ Ooh ♪

-♪ No, not like you ♪
-♪ Ooh ♪

-♪ Ooh ♪
-♪ Lift it, lift it ♪

♪ Lift your head ♪

♪ To the sky ♪

[somber music playing]

[music fades]