Natalie Shirilla says her daughter, convicted murderer Mackenzie Shirilla, is having a difficult time behind bars and has been struggling emotionally while serving her sentence in Ohio.
In comments to the Daily Mail, Natalie Shirilla said the 21-year-old is finding prison life “very hard and challenging” at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville. Mackenzie Shirilla is serving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life for the 2022 deaths of her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and another passenger.
According to her mother, the physical changes have been noticeable as well. Natalie Shirilla said her daughter has “gained a little bit of weight,” adding that she appears healthier on the outside even as she continues to struggle mentally.
The remarks also underscored the family’s continued focus on Dominic Russo, whom Natalie said remained deeply important to them. She insisted that her daughter “still loves” Russo, despite prosecutors’ case that Mackenzie intentionally drove her car into a wall at more than 100 mph, killing him and a friend.
Mackenzie Shirilla drew national attention during her trial, where a judge referred to her as “Hell on Wheels” before convicting her in the deadly 2022 crash. Even so, her mother said Russo had been “like part of our family” and maintained that both she and her daughter still loved him.
“’I loved Dom. I still love Dom. Mackenzie still loves Dom. She’s struggling. Dom was like part of our family,” the still-supportive mom said.
She emphatically debunked reports that Russo had tried to break up with Shirilla before he was killed in the fatal smash in a suburb of Cleveland that also claimed the life of a 19-year-old pal. Davion Flanagan.
Shirilla, who was 17 at the time of the crash, and the two victims were driving around and getting high when she suddenly gunned the engine and smashed the car into a warehouse at 100 mph.
But Natalie admitted Shirilla and Russo’s relationship could sometimes be volatile.
But she said her daughter has only kept quiet about it all on the protective mom’s advice.
“‘Everything that she has said about [Russo], even in the nicest, most innocent way, has been used against her in a way that makes her look evil or a monster,” she said.
“So, if I was her, I would never talk again ever, because whatever you say is going to be used against you.”
Natalie Shirilla also defended her daughter over her behavior in prison, where she has been found guilty of 32 of her 36 prison conduct violations.
“A lot of the tickets she got were for stuff she wouldn’t even know were rules, like wearing her uniform,” she claimed.
In 2024, Shirilla was charged with possession of contraband after cops found 29 banned items following a cell search and she pleaded guilty after officers uncovered nude magazine snaps, WOIO reported.
In January last year, cops uncovered medication not prescribed to the killer and when probed, she claimed the pills were prenatal vitamins she had received from another person.
Shirilla pleaded guilty to having more than 100 video visits with a released ex-inmate, and exposing her breast during another video call.
Her other infractions have included playing with her tablet, “dancing” and hanging out in unauthorized areas and after lights out, blabbing through guards’ headcounts.
Shirilla previously boasted how her nickname was “Shirilla the killa” but Natalie tried to claim her daughter wasn’t “aggressive.”
The killer has since landed a gig as a food service worker after moaning to her mom she was bored because there was “nothing for me to do” in a leaked call obtained by TMZ.
Shirilla was sentenced to life in prison in August 2023, but the Netflix documentary “The Crash” re-sparked the frenzy surrounding the case.
She will be eligible for parole in October 2037.
Shirilla’s lawyers continue to fight the Ohio Supreme Court after it rejected her appeal because it was filed after the deadline.
