Mackenzie Shirilla, who was convicted of murdering her boyfriend and their friend, is making a renewed effort to appeal her case to the Ohio Supreme Court. Her legal team filed a motion Tuesday asking the court to reconsider a decision made last month that denied her post-conviction relief petition. This petition was considered her last chance at freedom.
Shirilla, 22, is serving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life after being convicted in 2023 of intentionally crashing her car into a building at nearly 100 mph two days before her 18th birthday. The crash resulted in the deaths of her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and their friend, Davion Flanagan, 19. Her first opportunity for parole is scheduled for September 2037.
Her post-conviction relief petition was dismissed by an appellate court because it was filed 366 days after the trial transcript was submitted, one day past the established deadline. The motion to reconsider argues that the deadlines were confusing and that Shirilla's attorneys should have been granted more time to submit the motion. They contend that juvenile court transcripts were not filed until months after the trial transcripts, and that a miscalculation tied to a leap year contributed to the delay.
"Her post conviction relief was denied due to a deadline technicality," Shirilla's support team wrote on Instagram. "The decision has nothing to do with the contents of it, it was unable to even be reviewed. Her appellate lawyer missed a deadline by filing it one day late due to a leap year, which also makes HIM ineffective assistance of council."
Prior to this, Shirilla's case had been before the Ohio Supreme Court after lower courts rejected all her previous appeals. She was denied in May 2025. Her legal team has argued in past appeals that medical evidence suggests Shirilla may have suffered from a pre-existing condition, such as Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), that could have caused her to lose consciousness before the crash. They claimed her trial lawyers did not adequately investigate this evidence.
Prosecutors stated that on July 31, 2022, Shirilla deliberately drove her vehicle into the PLIDCO building in Strongsville, Ohio, as her relationship with Russo deteriorated. Evidence presented at trial indicated the vehicle was traveling approximately 100 mph in a 35 mph zone just before impact, with data showing the accelerator was fully engaged and brakes were not applied. Surveillance footage captured the car speeding down a road before crashing into the building.
Shirilla survived the collision with severe injuries and has referred to herself as a "third victim." Judge Nancy Margaret Russo found her guilty in 2023, stating, "This was not reckless driving - this was murder." The case has recently garnered renewed attention following the release of the Netflix documentary "The Crash."