THE chilling double-murder case of Mackenzie Shirilla is back in the spotlight after a hit Netflix documentary left viewers horrified — but several disturbing details were left out of the film.
Shirilla was just 17 when she slammed her Toyota Camry into a brick building at 100mph in Strongsville, Ohio.
Her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and friend Davion Flanagan, 19, died instantly in the fiery crash on July 31, 2022.
Prosecutors described the horror smash as a calculated act of murder, pointing to evidence that Shirilla never once took her foot off the gas or attempted to brake before impact.
Investigators also revealed she had allegedly threatened to crash the car during arguments with Russo in the past.
Now 21 and serving 15 years to life behind bars, Shirilla broke her silence for the first time in the 90-minute documentary, insisting she is innocent and claiming she suffered a seizure moments before the crash.
But viewers were left stunned by what many called her “cold” and “emotionless” behavior, with social media users claiming they immediately fell down a “rabbit hole” researching the case after watching the film.
Shirilla’s dark past has also been explored in other true crime docu-series on Hulu and Apple TV which included shocking moments omitted from the Netflix version, The Crash.
Bodycam footage and jail calls from Shirilla’s case show her and her mother speaking to each other in Pig Latin, including during a police interview after the deadly crash.
In the unsettling audio, the pair appeared to use the coded language in an apparent attempt to stop investigators from understanding their conversation while Shirilla was being questioned.
The moment quickly became one of the most talked-about details among online sleuths, with many viewers branding the exchange “creepy,” “disturbing,” and “deeply inappropriate” given the severity of the case.
It features in an episode of A&E’s true-crime series Killer Cases, entitled Murder on Wheels.
The lead prosecutor in the case, Tim Troup, explains that the police went to see Shirilla in the hospital and were shocked she and her parents were hesitant to talk to them.
“The detective, he did record maybe a few minutes just audio of her interacting with the detective and her mother,” he said.
Police explain that they are investigating the incident as “an aggravated vehicular homicide times two.”
Shirilla then interjects, “Can I say something to her real quick?” referencing her mother.
The detective agrees and Shirilla quickly talks in gibberish, sounding panicked and like she’s explaining something.
Troup says, “She speaks to her mother in a unique language. It’s a gibberish or a distortion of the English language.
“It’s kind of like Pig Latin. ‘Can we tell the police I had a seizure? Can we tell the police something like that?’”
Troup also explained, “One of the first things that the girl said to the detective was instantly, ‘Can’t you just take my driver’s license away for 10 years?’ She’s feeling some kind of guilt here.
“So, that instantly starts making us think that this is not an accident.”
Another shocking fact left out of the documentary is that prosecutors alleged during her trial that she had driven the exact same route just days before the crash.
GPS showed she visited the off-the-beaten-path industrial park, which prosecutors argued she was “dry-running” to map out the location.
They claimed the driving pattern suggested “intentional conduct” rather than an accident.
Critics online say the Netflix documentary focuses heavily on TikTok videos and family interviews while giving less attention to broader evidence used by prosecutors to argue intent.
That evidence previously featured in an episode of Under the Influence on Apple TV, entitled, Mean Girl Murders.
A 3,000-page document of publicly-released texts between Shirilla and her ex, reviewed by The U.S. Sun, also gives a closer look at her mood swings and their relationship dynamic.
In one meltdown, Shirilla reveals she’s arguing with her family and demands Dominic gives her a ride, bombarding him with messages before showing up at his house.
One text reads, “I’m gonna kill someone. I’m mad as f*** rn. And I’m here.”
In another toxic exchange, Shirilla is seething again that her boyfriend has not picked her up.
She fumes, “I’m going to flip out. Who does this sh**”
Later she blasts, “IM UNCLEANING UR ROOM,” and repeatedly sends the word “NO” as Dominic claims she smoothers him.
Shirilla was often said to keep tabs on her live-in boyfriend of four years after he cheated on her and they would constantly argue.
One shocking conversation also includes the then-teen having a breakdown crying because her boyfriend hasn’t done as she asked.
“I j want to bang my head on the wall till I’m dead,” she threatens.
Dominic then responds, “Tbh this shit has happened so many times i just dont care anymore.”
Meanwhile, before Netflix dropped the film, it emerged that Mackenzie Shirilla is still fighting for her freedom after a previous appeal was denied.
On Wednesday, her attorneys also told The U.S. Sun, “Our office was not representing Mackenzie at the time the documentary was produced.
“At this point, we are focused on pursuing the appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court and investigating other potential legal remedies with the goal of securing a new trial.”
