Netflix’s The Crash killer Mackenzie Shirilla posts prison selfie as she bids for freedom

Convicted double murderer Mackenzie Shirilla has shared a selfie from prison as she once again hopes to fight her sentence.

The 22-year-old, whose crimes were the subject of Netflix’s recent true crime documentary The Crash, is currently behind bars at Ohio Reformatory for Women.

Mackenzie is serving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life in prison for the killings of her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and their friend, Davion Flanagan, 19.

In 2022, and just 17 at the time of the murders, Mackenzie intentionally drove her car at nearl 100mph into a brick building in Strongsville, Ohio, in the early hours of the morning.

As the sole survivor of the crash, Mackenzie initially claimed that she had ‘no recollection of that morning.’ She also said that ‘nothing about [the crash] was intentional,’ because it’s ‘not in [her] character.’

However, Mackenzie did say that while she was not innocent — after all, she was the one driving the car on that fatal morning — she strongly denied being a murderer.

Cuyahoga County Judge Nancy Margaret Russo disagreed, though.

At her 2023 trial, she called Mackenzie’s actions premeditated murder, and said: ‘This was not reckless driving. This was murder. She had a mission, and she executed it with precision. The mission was death.’

During Mackenzie’s sentencing, the judge also labelled her ‘hell on wheels’ and described the event as a ‘selfish, intentional, and cruel decision.’

Now, after three years in prison — and with her first chance at parole scheduled for September 2037, when she’s 33 — lawyers representing Mackenzie have filed a new motion asking the state’s top court to reconsider hearing her appeals.

It comes after the Ohio Supreme Court declined a request to review Mackenzie’s appeals on June 23. The court ruled the petition was filed late and the trial court lacked jurisdiction to excuse the delay.

However, Mackenzie’s attorneys are asking the judges to reconsider, claiming she faced confusing, inconsistent deadlines. This includes her lawyer missing a deadline due to a Leap Day, and calling him an ‘ineffective assistance of council.’

This is where Mackenzie’s selfie comes in, posted on her official Instagram account, which is now managed by ‘Mackenzie’s Support Team.’

The latest selfie was posted just three days ago, and shows Mackenzie in a fitted blue roll neck top with straight hair, parted to the side, while also appearing to wear makeup.

She looks to be in a prison corridor, where the legs of another prisoner can be seen alongside a possible member of staff, who is wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

Referencing the recent appeal denial, Mackenzie’s team say she is ‘trying to do better every day and holding on to hope.’

The caption states that her ‘post conviction relief was denied due to a deadline technicality,’ and that the ‘decision has nothing to do with the contents of it.’ Rather, it was ‘unable to even be reviewed.’

Later in the caption, Mackenzie’s team say that she and her family will ‘respectfully continue to do everything they can so that the merits of the brief can be heard, just as anyone else would do in their position.’

They asked Mackenzie’s 57.1K followers to ‘keep sharing everything you can,’ and to ‘sign and share’ her petition for a ‘fair re-trial.’

‘We ALL deserve fair representation and once you review her case you’ll agree she did not get that,’ it concludes.

Back in February, Mackenzie posted her first selfie from prison. The image showed the 22-year-old inside the artificially lit prison, in what appears to be a communal area.

In the snap, Mackenzie is wearing the same blue top and has curled her long brown hair, with it parted in the middle.

The image was likely taken late last year, as a Christmas tree can be seen in the back of the shot.

The selfie is captioned with a note written by Mackenzie. It reads: ‘Thank you to those who see through the lies, and to those who take time out of their day to form their own opinion as to the truth of what actually happened.

‘I’m not perfect…I never will be. But I am NOT guilty of murdr. Like any young couple, Dom and I had our disagreements and arguments. However, I always loved Dom and would never do anything to hurt him, Davion, or anyone else I care about.

‘I will respectfully and peacefully continue to fight for my innocence through the proper legal channels. To all of those who speak out on my behalf to raise awareness of this wrongful conviction…words cannot describe my sincere appreciation for your support and for being my voice.’

She rounds off the post with: ‘Continue to scream “Free Mackenzie Shirilla” at the top of your lungs.’

Below Mackenzie’s message, her support team also claim that ‘there is five seconds of car data and that is the only evidence they had,’ referring to her case.

‘It tells you what the car was doing, but it doesn’t tell you why or how. Lack of evidence is not evidence of intent and there is too much reasonable doubt. Injustice for one is injustice for all.’

In the Netflix documentary, Mackenzie’s parents continue to defend their daughter, saying that they’ll do everything in their power to bring her home.

However, the same sentiment isn’t shared by Dominic or Davion’s family.

Dominic’s sister, Christine, told People in May that Mackenzie’s parents, Steve and Natalie Shirilla, have not shown enough remorse while continuing to defend their daughter in the documentary.

‘It’s all for show,’ she told the outlet, adding: ‘There is a fine line between defending your kids. And they created a monster — they’re monsters themselves.’

Speaking about Mackenzie’s multiple conviction appeals, Christine said that she ‘can’t take accountability or responsibility.’

In the wake of her brother’s death, Christine launched a petition calling for ‘Dom and Davion’s Law,’ which urges Ohio lawmakers to update the state’s Son of Sam laws for the digital age.

This is due to her concerns that Mackenzie could potentially profit from social media.

The current law prevents criminals from profiting from the publicity surrounding their crimes, such as selling book or movie rights, or doing paid interviews.

The petition reads: ‘Since the documentary aired, our family has had to relive this tragedy publicly over and over again.

‘What hurts even more is seeing how modern social media culture allows violent offenders to gain attention, followers, donations, publicity, and influence from the crimes that destroyed families like mine.’