Teen driver Mackenzie Shirilla, awaiting sentencing for a fatal crash, made a series of self-absorbed demands from her jail cell, seemingly more concerned with fame than remorse.
Dubbed the ‘Hell on Wheels’ driver, Shirilla was held at Cuyahoga County Jail in Cleveland after a tragic incident on July 31, 2022, that claimed the lives of her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and their friend, Davion Flanagan, 19.
While detained, Shirilla engaged in several phone conversations with her mother, Natalie Shirilla, where her focus appeared to be more on her public image than the legal troubles she faced, as reported by the US Sun.
In one early call, her concerned mother inquired about her sleep the previous night, seeking to comfort her daughter.
Shirilla confessed to being restless, spending most of the night awake, and then shifted the conversation to her desire for her iPad.
“I really want my iPad, though,” she said, urging her mother to discuss with the jail staff when she could regain access to it.
‘Can you call and ask? Please, please,’ the teenager begged in the phone call obtained by the US Sun.
At that point, her mother explained that when she previously called prison staff to ask for something for her daughter, she was told it would be treated as a special request.
‘You’ll get it when you get it,’ she told Shirilla.
But that apparently did not assuage the teenager, who replied: ‘Why the f***, man?’
Shirilla is pictured with two other inmates at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, where she is now in custody
Prosecutors argued she intentionally slammed her vehicle into a building in an effort to kill Russo and Flanagan
Shirilla made multiple phone calls to her mother, Natalie Shirilla, in which she seemed to be more preoccupied with her image than the charges she was facing. The teenage convict is pictured with her family
In other phone calls early on, Shirilla complained about the food she was being served at the jail.
As the weeks went by, though, the calls between Shirilla and her mother went from discussions of her grievances over her life in jail to the media frenzy over her case and how she could become famous if she were to be freed.
‘Kenzie, it’s on the Today Show,’ her mother told her at one point.
Shirilla seemed shocked by the news, asking her mother, ‘What?’
‘I’m telling you, they’re about to get ready for the biggest f***ing plot twist of the century, right?’ her mother said.
But Shirilla was apparently desperate to know how she was being portrayed in the media, as she asked, ‘What? What did they say about me?’
When her mother later clarified that the story of her crash wasn’t on The Today Show television program, but rather in an online article, Shirilla fell silent, the US Sun reports.
‘They’re just reposting the story, but that’s OK, that’s OK, right?’ her mother then replied, in an apparent effort to cheer her up.
She then suggested Shirilla start writing a memoir.
Mackenzie Shirilla made a number of self-centered and fame-seeking demands as she languished behind bars for murdering her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and their friend Davion Flanagan, 19
When authorities arrived on the scene of the crash on July 31, 2022, they found Shirilla’s Toyota Camry smashed in half
In a later exchange, Shirilla and her mother reportedly discussed using her infamy to start a Hollywood career.
‘Remember that one guy who got arrested for murder, and he became like a model because he was just like… everyone was like loving his mugshot?’ Shirilla asked her mother.
Natalie started laughing at the question and replied, ‘Hell yeah, that was hot. I remember that guy.’
At that point, Shirilla informed her mother: ‘He’s an actor and s**t now. I watched a movie with him in it.’
In an apparent effort to encourage her daughter, Natalie responded: ‘See, now he was arrested for murder, he probably didn’t do anything. That’s messed up.’
Shirilla has long maintained that she suffered a medical emergency behind the wheel ahead of the crash.
But her social media pages, on which the then 17 year old was gaining a following, showed her in designer clothing and smoking marijuana while driving.
It now seems that she cared about maintaining that online image even from behind bars, as she asked her mother to change her Instagram bio.
Shirilla’s social media pages showed her smoking marijuana behind the wheel
Shirilla was convicted on multiple counts, including aggravated vehicular homicide and felonious assault, and sentenced to at least 15 years behind bars before she could face parole
Her mother seemed hesitant by the request, but ultimately obliged.
‘OK, Kenzie, that may look bad right now,’ she said, before agreeing, ‘OK, I’ll put “Free Kenzie” on there, but that’s gonna look bad.’
Shirilla then asked her to add ‘hashtag Free Kenzie’ and ‘hashtag innocent.’
But at her trial, prosecutors laid out how the teenager had previously threatened to kill her boyfriend.
Then, on the night of the deadly crash, surveillance footage showed how she failed to take her foot off the gas as her Toyota Camry smashed through a business sign and slammed into the side of the Plidco Building.
‘This was not reckless driving – this was murder,’ a judge concluded when delivering her verdict in 2023. ‘She had a mission, and she executed it with precision. The decision was death.’
The judge – who dubbed Shirilla ‘Hell on Wheels’ – described her actions as ‘controlled, methodical, deliberate, intentional, and purposeful,’ ruling that she intended to kill the young men.
The teenager was then convicted on multiple counts, including aggravated vehicular homicide and felonious assault, and was sentenced to serve 15 years to life behind bars at the Ohio Reformatory for Women.
Her case has drawn national attention, fueled in part by disturbing details about Shirilla’s behavior before the crash. It has come back into the spotlight following the release of the documentary The Crash, streaming on Netflix.
It now seems that Shirilla’s behavior has not changed much throughout her incarceration – as she was caught laughing in a jailhouse phone call with her mother about her behavior behind bars.
The mother and daughter were heard giggling as they said ‘the Daily Mail published’ her claims of innocence in our exclusive reporting earlier this year that saw former inmates allege Shirilla has become a prolific lesbian behind bars, and has been disciplined a number of times for flouting prison rules.
In their call, the pair laughed together as Mackenzie speculated that her case could be picked up by Kim Kardashian, who has attempted to publicize several inmates’ claims of innocence in recent years.
‘Maybe Kim Kardashian will reach out herself,’ Mackenzie said.
Natalie added: ‘That’s what I’m saying, I’m hoping. We’re getting there. I was gonna do this anyway, so this is great…. craziness, baby girl.’
That jailhouse call has apparently irked Russo’s family as they relive the horror they faced when Dominic was found dead.
‘The calls that have come out, just listening to them and the laughter between her and her mother is sickening,’ his sister, Christine, told WJW.
‘Her mom tells her to write her book; she talks about being a model after she gets out.’
Russo’s family is now trying to keep his memory alive as his sister works to ensure Shirilla can never profit from her brother’s murder
In an effort to ensure Shirilla can never profit from her brother’s death, Christine has launched a petition to change the law in Ohio.
It calls for updates to the Son of Sam law, which was created in the 1970s following public outrage over convicted serial killer David Berkowitz benefiting from his crimes.
The law in Ohio primarily deals with book and movie rights, but Christine now wants to update it for the digital age.
‘No victim’s family should have to watch the person who killed their loved one turn that crime into any attention, followers, donations, sponsorships, merchandise, paid interviews, documentaries, social media income or other personal benefits,’ she argued.
She also wrote in the Change.org petition that she is fighting for the measure ‘because violent crime should not become a pathway to fame, money, influence or opportunity’ and ‘public attention should never become a reward for homicide’ nor should notoriety ‘become a business model.
‘Victims’ families deserve protection from being retraumatized while offenders, or those acting on their behalf, benefit from the public attention created by violent crime,’ Christine writes.
‘Modern platforms have changed how people become famous and how they make money,’ she continues. ‘Our laws must catch up.’
