CLEVELAND — More than a year after Mackenzie Shirilla was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 15 years to life behind bars for killing 20-year-old Dominic Russo and 19-year-old Davion Flanagan in a Strongsville crash, the Eighth District Court of Appeals has upheld her conviction.
Here is the full text from the court’s decision, which is dated on Sept. 26:
The defendant’s convictions for murder and felonious assault were supported by sufficient evidence and were not against the manifest weight of the evidence. Several witnesses testified that she and her boyfriend were in a loving relationship and that the defendant suffered from a medical condition that can cause dizziness. But the defendant had previously threatened to crash her car with her boyfriend inside during a fight; the defendant then did crash her car into a wall, killing the boyfriend and another passenger; a mechanical inspection revealed no latent mechanical defects that could have caused the crash; a medical examination of the defendant after the crash revealed no significant physical or mental abnormalities that would be indicative of a seizure or other neurological event; data from the vehicle’s computer revealed that the accelerator was depressed to a hundred percent and that the driver had not once hit the brake before hitting the wall. After reviewing the entire record, this was not the exceptional case where the evidence weighed heavily against conviction.
For the same reason that there was sufficient evidence to sustain the convictions, the State’s presentation of salient pieces of evidence to the juvenile court was sufficient to establish probable cause for a mandatory transfer of the case to the common pleas court for criminal prosecution.
Evidence of the defendant’s past threats and verbal and physical violence toward her boyfriend was appropriately introduced not as character evidence but to establish motive, intent and the absence of mistake or accident.
It was not an abuse of discretion for the trial court to limit the defense in its cross-examination of two witnesses.
This court declined to find plain error from the medical examiner’s amendment to certain autopsy conclusions based on the unique circumstances of the case and this court’s precedent.
CASE DETAILS
It's a case that dates back to Sunday, July 31, 2022, when Strongsville police say a crash happened at 6:15 a.m. near the intersection of Progress and Alameda. Upon their arrival, officers say they located a Toyota Camry “with severe damage and full airbag deployments.”
All three occupants inside the vehicle -- including Shirilla -- were unconscious, not breathing and trapped inside the vehicle. Russo (Shirilla's boyfriend) and Flanagan were both pronounced dead at the scene.
“This was not reckless driving. This was murder," Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Nancy Margaret Russo said moments before announcing her verdict in the bench trial on Aug. 14, 2023.
Shirilla, who was 17 years old at the time of the crash, was found guilty of all counts, including four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault and two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide.
"She morphs from a responsible driver to literal hell on wheels as she makes her way down the street," Judge Russo continued while announcing her verdict. "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."
Judge Russo said Shirilla had "a mission" and "executed it with precision."
"Mackenzie alone decided to push the pedal to the floor and demand the ultimate speed of that vehicle to 92 mph. 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."
The prosecution had said Shirilla crashed the car to end her toxic and tumultuous relationship with Russo.
"There is no doubt that this happened because of the relationship with Dominic and the defendant’s intent was clearly to end that, and she took everybody that was in the car with her," said Tim Troup of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office.
SENTENCING
Shirilla was sentenced on Aug. 21, 2023.
"To the families of Dom and Davion, I am so deeply sorry," Shirilla said while reading a statement prior to learning her fate in the case. "I hope one day you can see how I'd never let this happen or do it on purpose. I wish I could remember what happened. I'm just so sorry. I'm heartbroken. I loved Dom and Davion. We were all friends and Dom was my soulmate. I wish I could take all your pain away. I am so sorry. And to my family, thank for the support and all the love you guys give. Thank you for fighting with me. I love you all so much."
