Mackenzie Shirilla is once again in hot water. The 21-year-old, who is currently incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, boasted a shocking nickname to other prisoners, and it’s not “hell on wheels.”
Mackenzie was sentenced to life in prison in August 2023 after being found guilty of intentionally crashing her car into a brick wall, killing two passengers, her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and their friend, Davion Flanagan.
While in prison for her crime, she started dating a fellow inmate at the prison, Shyann Topping, 27, telling her she went by the nickname “Shirilla the killa.” The two dated for just two weeks when Shyann was released from prison.
© COURTESY OF NETFLIX“Mackenzie was upset that I was leaving,” she told the US Sun. “She would tell me all the time, ‘I wish we met sooner, before you were about to get out. I wish you would have talked before this.'”
Since leaving prison, the former inmate hasn’t spoken to Mackenzie, but shared the plans the 21-year-old had if she were to get out. “She’s gonna go back to concerts. She’s gonna travel. She’s gonna be an influencer and write a book when she gets out about everything that happened,” Shyann told the publication. “She said it might take some time, but she’s gonna get out and live it again.”
“When I left prison I did not view Mackenzie as the monster she [is now being] portrayed as,” Shyann clarified in a conversation with People. “When I first got out I was like, ‘Oh, they don’t know what this girl’s been through.'”
© COURTESY OF NETFLIXWhy is Mackenzie Shirilla in prison?
On July 31, 2022, Mackenzie killed her boyfriend and a friend in a high-speed crash. She had been dating Dominic Russo, 20, for four years, living with him in Ohio. After leaving a party together with their friend Davion Flanagan, Mackenzie drove her 2018 Toyota Camry into a brick building at upwards of 100 mph.
She was seriously injured after the crash, while Dominic and Davion were declared dead at the scene. Four months later, on November 4, 2022, Mackenzie was arrested and charged with 17 crimes, including two counts of aggravated murder.
© COURTESY OF NETFLIXShe went on to choose a bench trial instead of a jury trial, which gave a judge the authority to determine guilt. On August 14, 2023, Mackenzie was found guilty on charges of murder, felonious assault, aggravated vehicular homicide, drug possession, and criminal tools possession.
The Netflix documentary about the “hell on wheels”
On May 15, 2026, a true-crime documentary detailing the case against Mackenzie premiered on Netflix. The Crash retells the events that led up to a fatal collision that took the lives of two young passengers in Ohio in 2022.
Since landing on Netflix, it quickly began trending, leaving many viewers taking to social media to discuss the true events behind what happened on the fateful night.
© COURTESY OF NETFLIX“I went into this story not knowing anything about the real case beforehand, so I was engaged watching it,” said one viewer. “Overall, it’s a documentary that presents the information well and gives some insights into the case, and it stays chilling and uncomfortable until the end.”