Mackenzie Shirilla's dad says it 'makes no sense' she would kill boyfriend with friend in car

Steve Shirilla, father of Mackenzie Shirilla — who was convicted of murdering her boyfriend Dominic Russo, 20, and their friend Davion Flanagan, 19, after slamming her car into a brick wall in July 2022 — continues to maintain that the crash was not deliberate.

The conviction and sentence

Mackenzie was found guilty of all 12 charges brought against her in connection with the two deaths, including murder, aggravated vehicular homicide, felonious assault, and drug possession, in August 2023. She was sentenced to two concurrent 15-year-to-life terms in prison.

Throughout the trial, both Steve and his wife Natalie maintained that their daughter had lost consciousness due to a medical emergency and had not intentionally driven into the wall.

They have since stated in the Netflix documentary The Crash that they gathered evidence in support of their daughter which was not presented in court, and have filed appeals in an attempt to overturn her conviction.

"This makes no sense"

In an interview with True Crime This Week that premiered on Wednesday, Steve reiterated his belief that the crash could not have been intentional, arguing that the presence of Flanagan in the vehicle undermined the prosecution's theory.

"I've asked her, 'Did you do this on purpose?' And she goes, 'No,' " he said. "And I would think if my daughter was that mad, that mad at that boy to want to kill him that way, Davion would have never been in the car. This makes no sense."

Prosecutors argued during trial that black box data, surveillance footage, and social media videos pointed to Mackenzie's intent to end what they described as a "toxic relationship" with Russo, rather than an accidental crash.

A father's account of his daughter's remorse

Steve also spoke at length about what he described as his daughter's immediate and genuine remorse following the crash, recalling spending three months with her in the aftermath.

"I sat with my daughter for three months in that room right there. Three months watching her watch every video, every song, every picture about that boy," he said.

"There was a shrine to him in that room — shrine. [She] cried herself to sleep every night," Steve continued.

"I know the trolls are going to go, 'Good. She should cry herself to sleep.' She has remorse. She was upset. If you would have heard her when she found out that Dom died, if you would have heard the sound that came out of her, it would have crushed you. She was 17. She's a dumb kid. She wasn't breaking up. She didn't do it on purpose."

Mackenzie herself also addressed remorse in The Crash, speaking on camera following a conversation with her attorney. "I just wanna make sure that I'm big on the 'no intent,' " she said.

"There was no intent whatsoever there. 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."

Arrest and public scrutiny

Mackenzie was arrested in November 2022, four months after the crash, in the days following public criticism over photographs of her dressed in horror-style outfits during Halloween celebrations with friends.

Steve vows to keep fighting

Concluding his interview, Steve made clear he has no intention of abandoning his daughter's cause. "I believe she was falsely charged," he said.

"No one's ever going to be able to convince me unless you can put the evidence in front of me." He added that he is "never going to stop fighting for her."

Administrative leave from school

Following the release of The Crash on Netflix, Steve was placed on administrative leave from his position as an art and digital media teacher at Mary Queen of Peace School in Cleveland, according to 19 News and WKYC.

The school informed parents by email that a teacher had been placed on leave following allegations of "poor judgment."