Ohio Court Shuts Down Murder Convict’s Latest Attempt to Escape Justice

Clear Facts

• Ohio Supreme Court denied Mackenzie Shirilla’s request to reconsider her appeal, upholding her conviction for murdering her boyfriend Dominic Russo, 20, and their friend Davion Flanagan, 19
• Shirilla, now 21, is serving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life after intentionally driving her Toyota Camry into a brick building at nearly 100 mph in Strongsville, Ohio, in 2022
• Her appeal was denied on procedural grounds after her attorneys filed their postconviction petition one day late, missing the 365-day statutory deadline

The Ohio Supreme Court has delivered another blow to convicted double murderer Mackenzie Shirilla, denying her attorneys’ motion to reconsider the court’s earlier decision not to hear her latest appeal. The ruling keeps intact her two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life for the 2022 deaths of Dominic Russo, 20, and Davion Flanagan, 19.

Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy’s brief order left no room for ambiguity in rejecting Shirilla’s latest legal maneuver.

“It is ordered by the court that the motion for reconsideration in this case is denied,” Kennedy wrote.

The decision maintains a lower-court ruling that found Shirilla’s postconviction challenge was filed exactly one day too late. Her attorneys have attempted to explain away the missed deadline by citing confusion over the filing timeline, including a calendar mistake involving the 2024 leap year—an excuse the courts have repeatedly rejected.

Shirilla’s legal team had sought to raise claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. They argued her trial lawyers failed to adequately investigate evidence that she suffered from Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS, a condition they claim could have caused her to lose consciousness before the crash.

However, Ohio courts have focused on the timing issue rather than entertaining these arguments on their merits. Under Ohio law, a postconviction petition must be filed within 365 days after the trial transcript is filed in the court of appeals.

The relevant transcript was filed October 24, 2023, making the deadline October 23, 2024. Shirilla filed her petition on October 24, 2024—the 366th day.

Shirilla’s attorneys attempted to argue that the clock should have started later, when juvenile bindover transcripts were filed, and also pointed to the 2024 leap year as justification for the delay. The appellate court rejected both arguments, finding that the statute clearly refers to the “trial transcript,” not supplemental juvenile-hearing transcripts, and that the law provides 365 days, not a calendar year.

The facts of the case paint a disturbing picture. Prosecutors presented compelling evidence at trial that Shirilla, then 18, intentionally drove her vehicle into a brick building in Strongsville, Ohio, to end her toxic relationship with Russo. Flanagan, prosecutors argued, was an unintended victim who happened to be in the car at the wrong time.

The evidence against Shirilla was overwhelming. Surveillance video captured the crash, and vehicle “black box” data showed her car was traveling nearly 100 mph without any attempt to brake before impact. Despite this, Shirilla has maintained that the crash was not intentional—a claim rejected by the court.

In 2023, Shirilla was convicted in a bench trial of four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault, and two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide. Her convictions were upheld on direct appeal in 2024, and now the Ohio Supreme Court has shut the door on her latest attempt to escape accountability.

The case has received renewed public attention following the release of Netflix’s “The Crash,” which examined the details of this tragic case. The documentary has brought fresh scrutiny to Shirilla’s actions and the legal proceedings that followed.

Two young men lost their lives in what prosecutors successfully argued was a calculated act of violence. Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan had their entire futures ahead of them before Shirilla made the decision to accelerate her vehicle to 100 mph and crash into a building without braking.

The Ohio justice system has now spoken clearly and repeatedly: Mackenzie Shirilla is guilty of their murders, and her attempts to avoid responsibility through procedural technicalities and unsubstantiated medical claims will not succeed.

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