Sam Amico
A Cleveland teenager has been sentenced to 15 years-to-life in prison for a deadly 2022 crash that killed two men in their early 20s.
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Mackenzie Shirilla, 19, was handed the sentence by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Nancy Margaret Russo in a case that is making national headlines.
The single-vehicle crash took place Sunday, July 31, 2022 at 6:15 a.m. local time and took the lives of passengers Dominic Russo, 20, and Davion Flanagan, 19. Shirilla was found guilty on four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault and two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide.
Judge Russo indicated Shrilla wrecked her Toyota Camry on that day with intent to kill.
“This was not reckless driving. This was murder,” Judge Russo said before reading Shrilla’s sentencing.
Shirilla and the other two occupants were unconscious and not breathing when police arrived and discovered them trapped inside the vehicle. Russo was Shirilla’s boyfriend and he and Flanagan were pronounced dead at the scene. Shirilla was 17-years-old at the time of the accident.
Prosecutors said Shirilla crashed the vehicle with the goal of ending her rocky relationship with her boyfriend.
Video of the accident seemed to back up those claims.
“The video clearly shows the purpose and intent of the defendant,” Judge Russo said in announcing the sentence. “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. Mackenzie alone made the decision to drive the car, to drive an obscure route, a route she visited a few days before, and a route not routinely taken by her. Mackenzie alone chose a time to make the drive, early in the morning, when any reasonable person would expect a few people would be nearby to witness it or offer life-saving assistance. She made these decisions despite knowing, as any reasonable person would, that her mission of death could’ve involved others not even in the car with her — other people, other cars, pedestrians.”
Shirilla will receive credit for time already served, with her latest sentences to be served concurrently. Her driver’s license has been permanently revoked.
“Mackenzie alone decided to push the pedal to the floor and demand the ultimate speed of that vehicle to 92 mph,” Judge Russo said. “She alone decided what was to be. Mackenzie decided death was the ultimate goal that day, and she alone made that decision for Dominic and Davion.”
