Mackenzie Shirilla has been convicted of murder after she intentionally slammed her car into a brick building, going 100 mph, killing her boyfriend and another teen, a judge ruled.
An Ohio teen has been convicted of murder for intentionally driving head-on into a brick building at 100 mph and killing her boyfriend, a judge ruled.
Mackenzie Shirilla, 19, sobbed in court as a Cuyahoga County judge said, "This was not reckless driving. This was murder."
Shirilla was convicted of all 12 felony counts filed against her, including aggravated vehicular homicide, felonious assault and drug possession in the July 2020 crash. The crash killed her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, who was in the passenger seat, and also killed their friend Davion Flanagan, 19, who was in the back.
Surveillance video showing Shirilla's car rapidly accelerating down a residential street was played during her trial. "She morphs from a responsible driver to literal hell on wheels as she makes her way down the street," said Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Nancy Margaret Russo (no relation to the victim) on Monday as she announced the convictions.
Shirilla had waived her right to a jury trial, choosing to be tried before a judge.
Prosecutors said Shirilla, who was 17 at the time of the crash, chose to end her turbulent relationship with Russo by slamming them into the brick building.
Shirilla was seriously injured, but survived after multiple surgeries, authorities said. Russo and Flanagan were pronounced dead inside the car's twisted wreckage.
Shirilla and her family said the car crash was a terrible accident, but authorities disagreed.
"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,” prosecutor Michael O'Malley said after the verdict.
Another prosecutor said Monday that Flanagan was in the wrong place at the wrong time. "He was just a suitcase in the backseat in the defendant’s mind," said Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim Troup.
Prosecutors said surveillance video showed Shirilla driving at a normal rate before turning a corner and then flooring the gas pedal and then jerking the wheel, slamming the car into the brick building.
Shirilla's attorney argued the evidence did not show she intentionally crashed the vehicle, and that she had lost control of the car.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 21. Shirilla's conviction carries of mandatory life sentence, with a chance for parole after 15 years, authorities said.
Her family said an appeal is planned.
