
19 year old Davion Flanagan’s family and 20 year old Dominic Russo’s family want to know what the hell happened that morning. How could 17 year old Mackenzie Shirilla drive her car straight into a brick building at 100 mph killing their two boys? How could she be the sole survivor? This is the case of Mackenzie Shirilla who used a high speed, intentional motor vehicle collision to end the lives of her longterm boyfriend Dominic Russo and his friend/roommate at the time, Davion Flanagan. After the release of Netflix’s documentary, ’The Crash,’ interest surrounding the case grew but audiences were left with more questions about the fuller picture. Naturally, we FOIA requested this case to the authorities and received: Over 4 thousand videos. Over 4 thousand photos. Around 31 thousand pages of text messages. Around 92 thousand text messages between just Mackenzie and Dominic. Close to 800 text messages between Mackenzie and her father, Steve Shirilla. Close to 2 thousand text mes...
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Netflix has done it again. Unknown number the Crash and now the new must see documentary Maternal Instinct tells the story of Taylor Parker. While claiming to come from a wealthy family, she fell for Wade Griffin, a hog trapper in a small Texas town. Their relationship appeared perfect, complete with a pregnancy that she shared all over her social media. But doubts around her pregnancy grew, and when the truth finally surfaced, it brought horrifying consequences. Meet Taylor Parker, the youngest woman on death row, and the town that knew she was lying did nothing to stop her. Watch Maternal Instinct June 12th only on Netflix. If you're listening to this podcast, you're probably used to things getting a little complicated, but Southern New Hampshire University does things differently. They keep it simple. Over 200 online programs so you can skip the commute. No. Set class time so you don't have to rearrange your life and actual humans supporting you so you're never doing it alone. It's college without the chaos. Seriously, see everything Southern New Hampshire University has to offer at snhu. Edu Rochester. Having insurance isn't the same as having State Farm. It's like showing up for movie night ready for a heart pounding thriller. But getting a three hour documentary on lawn care? That's kind of like insurance. Insurance may all seem the same on the surface, but when it comes to getting the help you need, State Farm is the real deal. You wouldn't settle for a snooze fest when you came for a thrill ride. So don't settle for just any insurance when there's State Farm. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Bada bing, bada boom. It's like a storm is coming. I mean, not figuratively, but the officer has to turn away from the road. He can hear the wind going crazy. It sounds like a tornado, but he can't directly look at what's causing all this wind. At least it's not advised. All the debris that's getting kicked up into the air, the dust, it's going to get into his eyes and then there's going to be a bigger problem and he's not going to be as useful right now. And he needs to be very useful because he needs to save somebody's life. In the event of a very, very bad car crash, it always feels like a storm is coming. And that's not figuratively. It's usually the life flight. It's a helicopter. This is essentially a flying emergency room and it is looking for a place to land, typically on the road. I mean, it does need clearance. A lot of the police have to Taper off a section and the pilot is ultimately the one that decides if it's safe to land. But these helicopters, they're trying to land as quickly as possible, as closely as possible to the crash site so that they can whoever needs help with no time wasted to the closest medical facility. The life flight lands and they hurry to get the patient on board and fly them to Metro Health medical Center intensive care unit, specifically room 571. That is where she wakes up from surgery. The officers, the police officers, the detectives, they're knocking on the hospital door to ask her what happened in that car crash because you were driving. So what happened? What did you do? How did those two boys in the car die? The doctor's notes read, patient awake, alert, appropriate, clearly articulated verbal response. Patient without recall of circumstances or timing of collision. 17 year old Mackenzie is sitting in the hospital room and she informs the officers she doesn't recall a single thing after getting into that car. Even when she tries to remember, there is nothing. It's just blank, everything faded to black. There's nothing. She doesn't remember how she, the driver ended up crashing the car into the brick building, killing her boyfriend Dom and killing their friend Davion. She says she can't remember. I mean, she wishes she could. She cries out in fact, that she wishes that she could have been the one that died instead of them. Why them? Why not her? It's just a very tricky time for everyone in Strongsville, Ohio. But it is an unbearable time for 19 year old Davion's family and 20 year old Dominic's family because they want to know what the hell happened. They want to know how their family member was killed. But the only person that knows that answer is in the hospital, just got out of multiple surgeries and she claims she doesn't remember a thing. I think they have every single right to demand answers, but because they're inherently good people, they don't. They wait. They wait because they want 17 year old Mackenzie to heal from her surgery. Because even though their sons were killed, they don't want another person to die. They don't know what happened in the car. They don't immediately go and interrogate Mackenzie after she's gotten out of surgery, which no one would blame them for doing. I'm sure they really wanted to. There's so much that doesn't make sense that they have to sit with for a prolonged period of time, probably even now, like why was she driving so fast straight into a brick building and never hitting the brakes? I don't think anyone would have faulted them if they were posted up in that hospital room, but they weren't. Instead, they were waiting. And while they were waiting, they find out that 17 year old MacKenzie has not been waiting. She does not wait. She does not wait to post Snapchat stories of herself laying in the hospital bed. She'll like, post the little flowers that she received from the hospital, but more shots. She hasn't even waited to respond to a modeling agency that reached out to her on Instagram. A day or two after the fatal crash, the brand comments on Mackenzie's Instagram page asking to use a picture of her to repost to their socials. Mackenzie's mom responds, thank you for this amazing opportunity. She would love if you would use that. She's actually been trying to contact you guys for PR email. It was a tragic accident. This is just as painful for her as it is for everyone else. Or maybe even a little more painful.
Co-host
Did the brand reach out because they figured found out about the crash or.
Narrator
It doesn't seem like it. It seems like she tagged them and some intern was just like, oh, hey, can I use this photo? And then Mackenzie herself responds, thank you for the comment. I would love to work with you guys. I've been emailing you guys a lot. Such a great opportunity. Thank you. How does someone respond like that after killing their boyfriend and friend in the car? This is the case of Mackenzie Shrilla and the lives that were cut short of Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan. This case has gained a lot of attention since the release of the Netflix documentary the Crash. We did FOIA this case and the file that we got back was pretty massive. I mean, we received approximately over 4,000 separate videos, 4,896 photos, 31,000 pages of text messages just between Mackenzie and her boyfriend Dom. It was approximately 92,892 text messages back and forth. Close to 800 text messages between Mackenzie and her own father, Steve Shurilla, which is. I mean, there's a lot of conspiracies coming out of those Messages. Close to 2,000 text messages between Mackenzie and her close friends, as well as 2000 pages of Instagram DM messages between MacKenzie and various other people, as well as massive folders for all of Mackenzie's Snapchat data, including personal photos, videos, audio messages sent to friends, TikTok data, Instagram data, as well as 97 jail calls, 551 pages of documents from police reports, and 39 body cam and dash cam videos. We have gone through all of it because it is a massive amount of just data. I know that a lot of people were trying to run the text message file through AI to pick out important parts. We literally sat there and read through every single page, every single text message and we are going to break it down for you. This is going to be a five part series. In this first part we're going to be going over the crash itself as well as going over who was in the car, their relationships to one another and generally what people believe happened that night. In part two we're going to break down the Netflix documentary. The social media response to the documentary because it been a lot. There's been a lot of conspiracy theories that have been circulating online about what was happening at the party that the three Mackenzie Dahmen Davion had attended right before the crash as well as we actually asked two of the more controversial individuals from the documentary all of the questions that we saw social media had for them and they responded. It was like a two hour long conversation. In part three we're going to be breaking down Mackenzie's relationship with her parents as well as the semi confirmed speculations that Mackenzie was sending messages to people in regards to potential sex work. Not that there was sex work that was commit or done, not that there was any sex work evidence found, but messages communicating back and forth about potential sex work. In part four we're going to be breaking down the entire 31,000 page document of text messages between Mackenzie and Dom and covering the popular theory that Mackenzie knew that Dom was breaking up with her soon so she planned the crash. And in part five we're going to cover the jail calls and the alleged prison girlfriends because after this Netflix documentary so many people have been coming out saying I was in jail or I was in prison with Mackenzie as well as the status of the appeal. So that is going to be the five parts. And with that being said, we would like to thank today's sponsors who have made it possible for Rotten Mango to support Change the Game for Dom foundation and Davion Flanagan's Memorial Scholarship Fund. Both GoFundMes are run by the families of the victims and we will include all of those in the description as well as all the information regarding Dom and Davion's Law, which aims to update Ohio's Son of Sam laws in order to prevent violent offenders from profiting off their crimes. All of those are going to be included in our show notes. This episode's partnerships have also made it possible to support Rotten Mingo's team of dedicated researchers. We'd also like to thank you guys for your continued support. As always, full show notes are available@roottenminglepodcast.com Today's case involves mentions of illicit drug usage, reckless driving, driving while intoxicated, self exit, and possible domestic violence. We did pull the FOIA for this case and literally went through tens of thousands of pages of text messages, Detective incident reports, autopsy reports. So naturally a lot of quotes and statements may be condensed for brevity's sake. Secondly, many of Dom and Davion's family members have spoken up and have shared their stories about how this has impacted them. I would heavily recommend you watching through all of those because I think they are like the firsthand encounters to describe what it was like being around people like Dom and Davion, I think, and they're very eloquent with their words. I'm going to link all of their social media below because they have been active since the documentary to voice out the impact that this case and the documentary has had on them in order to explain the entirety of the case. There will be times where we will be going through opinions of netizens, theories of netizens, even conspiracy theories. But keep in mind that we do state that these are opinions, comments and speculations made by netizens. They do not represent our own opinions. So with that, let's get started. Depending on who you ask, you're gonna get a completely different view of who Mackenzie scirilla is, which I'm sure it applies to every single one of us. There are going to be people in your life that love you, and then there are gonna be the ones that hate you, but you can still pinpoint who they're talking about most of the time. The people that hate you will say, oh, she has no backbone and they're so desperate to be liked. The people who like you are gonna say, oh, they're so sweet and accommodating and really care about other people's feelings all the time. Two different perspectives, typically of the same personality traits, just interpreted differently. But the part that boggles my mind about Mackenzie Shabrilla is it feels like everyone's talking about inherently different individuals. She sounds like a different person depending on who you talk to. Some friends will say that she's one of those people who took care of herself and other people. One friend says that she was being bullied and Mackenzie would be the one that would stand up for her and tell people that's not okay. Don't bully her. One friend reminisces about her friendship With Mackenzie on Snapchat. And she writes, I remember during one of my drunken breakdowns, I texted Ken to come to my room so I didn't interrupt the party. And she sat next to me and said, oh, no, babe, we drunk crying. What's wrong? And just listen to me without any judgment. That is the kind of girl Mackenzie Shurilla is. But others are confused because they're like, do we know the same person? They say, you know, she has a bitch list. Like, she has a burn book from mean girls, the style of bitch list that they had in the Regina George. Like, they write down the people's names that they want to get revenge on. In Mackenzie's notes app on her phone, she had a list of 48 names of, I guess, bitches that she hates and wants revenge on. Some of those individuals would have descriptors next to their names, such as transgender or the fatty. What? Yeah.
Co-host
This is pulled from the police.
Narrator
Yeah.
Co-host
What?
Narrator
Which hardly feels like someone without much judgment. But that's why it's interesting that everybody has such polar opposite opinions on Mackenzie as an individual. But I think one objective fact is she loves to post photos and videos of herself, which isn't inherently a nefarious thing. I, too, technically post a ton of videos of myself. But one person says nobody loved Mackenzie like Mackenzie loved Mackenzie and Mackenzie. She wanted to be an influencer. Her Instagram had 2700 followers at one point. And she writes in her Instagram bio, fashion model, your inspiration. Modeling Ohio. I don't really know how to describe Mackenzie's style. I mean, she's definitely not in the relatable influencer niche. I would say she's out here posting how she only likes designer things and money. She'll do the money fans like the money brick iPhones, where she'll have an obscenely large stack of cash, A brick like the size of a fucking table lamp. And she's trying to, I don't know, hear the melody of tax evasion from the other side. Like, she's using it like a little phone and taking photos of herself. She has a very specific Y2K baddie type aesthetic that she likes to stick to. She'll take car videos of herself in the car with the words all over the. The police working fast food. Winter. Parma, Ohio. Like a city in Ohio. Fake friends, Anything that's not designer cancers, GMO foods, New juicy Couture, the show friends and Ohio all in one thing. Yeah. So it's like words just scattered all throughout the screen. Right? And she's like, Posing for the camera. What do all of these things have in common? She uses the TikTok sound from Kim Kardashian while wearing obscenely large sunglasses. And the sound is, it's just never been my thing. Not into it, so not approved. Side note, I think she's talking about the astrological sign cancers, not terminal illness cancers. So there is that. She also likes to get her nails done to have the giant Dior logo. It's like she's got 10 Dior lip glosses on her hands just floating around. She posts on Instagram stories, a picture of her in like a. A bathing suit in the snow, and the caption reads, I dress and post for me and only me. If you don't like that, please go die. She goes through the trends of having a full set of lash extensions that look like she stole a horse's tail in the middle of the night and attached it to her retinas. I think everybody's had that phase. I do believe the lash extensions, however, were giving her infections because there are Instagram DMs where she talks in extensively about getting prescribed steroids for her eyes and then she goes and gets them done again just to have her eyes look like she put in red 40 eyedrops. I mean, generally speaking, I would say that she just makes very cringy tiktoks. I guess it's understandable considering she's what, 16, 17 years old when she's posting a lot of these things. I could have made a freaking career embarrassing myself at that age. Instead I did it for free, so it's fine. I mean, none of this is nefarious. I don't think any of these things have any sort of evidentiary value as to what kind of person Kenzie is. It's just really cringey. However, I think the parts that start to get a bit more alarming and worth considering is her never ending obsession with documenting herself getting high. She'll post videos of herself smoking weed out of a giant foot long bong in her room, which is a bit questionable to be posting at 16, 17, but maybe not my circus, not my monkeys. I'm not a narc. She does have normal posts as well where she's just doing like fruit reviews, trying hybrid fruits. So it's not like she only posts smoking weed, but she'll like scatter them around, but a lot, a lot of smoking weed and then she'll do a fruit review, trying a hybrid fruit, like a hybrid between a honeydew and a cantaloupe. Interesting. Or she'll review garage sale finds where she finds, like a cute purse. Or she'll post videos of herself in her Toyota. She's got this like pink fuzzy steering wheel cover and she's just taking pictures of while driving. While smoking a blunt. Documenting herself driving under the influence, not even focusing on the driving aspect because she's so busy trying to show her Snapchat that she's driving under the influence.
Co-host
And she's 16.
Narrator
She's like 17 at this point, I would say. Yeah. I mean, it's to the point where she does everything but driving while driving. She films rant videos while driving. She's lip syncing for TikTok, doing just about anything but focusing on her driving. She's showing off her furry pink steering wheel cover, zooming in on her face during songs and showing off her nails, showing off her lashes, her oversized sunglasses. In some videos, she's parked, so she's not actively driving, but she does go after other people that she disagrees with on the road. So she'll like be parked and show another car and be like, look at this R word. He's literally parked on the line.
Co-host
Damn.
Narrator
As if she's not just. Yeah, she also has road rage issues. On Snapchat, she would post cars that pissed her off. With one, it's a picture of a car on the road in front of her and she writes this bitch dumb. A ass. Then another one dumbass. And it's just like, you know, license pick pictures. Pet parent guilt isn't something that's talked about much, but it is a feeling we all know well. When daily life gets in the way, it can feel impossible to measure up to our pet's unconditional love. But you're doing better than you think you are. And Hill's Pet Nutrition is here to help make this whole pet parenting thing easier. We, with science, led nutrition to support their unique needs and lifelong health. My dog Tiger is on a no fly list. The one time we took him on a plane, he was so sick with stress and anxiety, it made us realize that unless his life depended on it, there will be zero reason for him to ever fly again. And even though I know it's for his own health, leaving him while I'm traveling always makes me feel a little bit guilty or a lot of bit guilty. Thankfully, Hills helps me alleviate that guilt because I know I'm giving my pet nutrition that always measures up to their needs. Needs. You can feel confident that you're doing right by your pet and taking care of them with guilt free meals they can't get enough of because you're only human. There's hills science does more ready to give more love than humanly possible. Find your pet's new favorite food@hillspet.com rotten that's hillspet.com rotten Summer is the perfect time to rethink what clothes you're reaching for every day. You want lighter fabrics, better materials, pieces that you feel good the moment that you put them on. That's where Quince comes in. They focus on high quality essentials. Think breathable linen, soft organic cotton, washable silk, but without the luxury markup. And it's not just clothing. Quince has really become a destination for elevated essentials across home kitchen, bedding and beyond. Quince's European linen line has just the perfect summer closet essentials. I've recently been loving their 100% European linen pajama sets. They come in summery gingham, the quintessential stripes and neutrals lined with piping. I mean, I've been loving quints for a while now. Their Mongolian cashmere that starts at just $50 is a favorite. Qu me dressed and put together during the day. And now I have the perfect pajamas for summer nights as well. Elevate your summer wardrobe. Go to quints.com rotten for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com rotten for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quints.com rotten having insurance isn't the same as having State Farm. It's like showing up for movie night ready for a heart pounding thriller, but getting a three hour documentary on lawn care? That's kind of like insurance. Insurance may all seem the same on the surface, but when it comes to getting the help you need, State Farm is the real deal. You wouldn't settle for a snooze fest when you came for a thrill ride. So don't settle for just any insurance when there's State Farm. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Just generally speaking, whenever she's driving, she's kind of looking like a bozo. She'll wear these sunglasses that look like two dinner plates on her face, which I guess you could say is objectively cute. But it's not cute at all to do this while driving. I mean, the amount of times her phone will fall while she's driving and recording is rage inducing. Just focus on driving. Holy shit. There's one video where she shows that she's doing butterflies with her legs on her seat. So her feet are nowhere near the pedal or the brakes. She's like crisscross applesauce.
Co-host
The car's going, yeah.
Narrator
So it seems like she's probably on cruise control on the highway. What? And her attention is definitely on showing off that she's cruise controlling and crisscross applesauce rather than on the road. She's not focused on the road. Another video shows she's lip syncing the words to a song that go, I go fast like nascar. And she's again driving while doing this. There's another video where she's lip syncing to songs and she closes her mouth every time the N word is saying, which is the correct thing to do. But she's also at the same time going through all of her copious pages upon thousands of pages of text messages calling her boyfriend the N word when she's mad at him. So I don't know why she feels the need to be performative about it. She is often and very often like, mad at her boyfriend Dom for seemingly no good reason at all. But more on that later. There's another video of her where she's going 93 miles per hour on the highway with a car that's pretty close in front of her and she's taking this video. And I really don't understand the purpose of the video. I don't know if it's to show off. I don't know if it's just to be included in a future FOIA file. I don't understand. There was no aesthetic value to the video. There's no message in the video. It was just bizarre.
Co-host
She's just trying to show off how fast she's going.
Narrator
Yeah. There's a DM exchange between MacKenzie and another friend earlier in 2022 where MacKenzie messages them, go run your car off a bridge. I'm dead. I'll just crash my car into your car. They respond, I hope you die when you do that. Now, within a few days, they are talking just like normal friends. So I guess this is their friendly version of banter. But it's just if you were to take out the rest of this case and just comb through MacKenzie's social media not knowing what's going on, you would come to the conclusion that she is an incredibly reckless teenager with basically zero foresight that will say do and post whatever she feels without any. Any thought about consequences. She's not exactly a likable individual as well. That doesn't inherently make her guilty of a crime. But I am saying she's incredibly unlikable and she was found guilty of the crime. But nevertheless, I feel like I have been trapped in the inner workings of MacKenzie's mind for God knows how long now, and it is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to even muster up an ounce of sympathy for her just based on how she speaks to people through text messages, dms, what she posts, and obviously, ultimately her actions. It's just. I hate it here. She'll complain to her friends about how she got banned from TikTok live for seven days because, quote, I was literally calling people ugly and saying fuck, but they chose to ban me for saying that. Whack. Then she'll go on Instagram, look up TikTok's official Instagram account, and then DM them. Fuck you guys. Fuck you guys. Make it so bad for creators. Fuck you guys. I hate y'. All. Fuck you. Y' all support system is shit. Reply to my DM. She'll post videos ranting, why is TikTok targeting the fuck out of my account? I cannot. Like, this was posted literally days ago on the 4th of July. So why was it taken down? It's literally not. I'm pissed. Which is a very interesting tactic considering right around this time MacKenzie is trying to become an influencer, if you will. She wants to be famous. She expresses that pretty much verbatim multiple times that she wants to be famous. I'm not entirely sure how cursing out the TikTok social media intern is gonna get you there, but that's exactly what she's doing. She also rants about ghost followers. She's ranting to a friend through Instagram DMs. They just ruin my engagement. Stalker ghost followers. It ruins engagement I'm over here trying to gain. Because if you have all these followers and it's getting pushed out to them, but they don't like it, it just ruins it to another friend. She rants. It's literally making me so mad. Like, I hate these weird fucking ghost following bitches. They ha see me succeeding. Like anytime a pretty girl is doing good, they don't like that. What is she complaining that they ghost follow her but don't like her photos? She complains that certain photos won't even get 200 likes these days. And so she has to hide her likes, which sounds like a personal problem because you really don't have to hide them. No one cares. But at the same time, she's reaching out to big clothing brands. Like, I am Gia, saying, hey, I'm Gia. I know I've reached out here before but consistency is key. I would love to work together and collaborate with you guys. Thank you for being a weight inclusive brand. Then in another TikTok, she's modeling a see through cover up and the audio plays. All I want is just one day here where I'm not visually assaulted by uglies and fatties. So she's like, thank you imgf for being weight inclusive. And then she's also posting TikToks being like visually assaulted by uglies and fatties for modeling. She likes to send pictures through Instagram DM that read and like, it's very interesting that I'm like reading through her pitches to all of these. It's just unhinged. She says, I believe I'm a great model because I'm a petite girl and we don't. I don't see enough of us represented in the industry. I have modeling experience and I've done several photo shoots and walked runways. I'm 53 and have a fiery personality and I'm willing to travel. But then in another rant video she posts, I just wanted to make this video and talk about things that I don't like. I don't like when people eat McDonald's. It grosses me the fuck out. I don't like Swishers. And what else do I. Oh, I don't like when people talk about the world and be like, oh, we're all going to be dead in 60 years anyway. Please go fucking kill yourself. Yep, I said it. Go die, bitch. So like, her DMs and what she's posting are completely not even in the same realm of like who she's trying to present herself at.
Co-host
She's posting these publicly?
Narrator
Yeah. So she had three TikTok accounts. They just kept getting banned. And then she would post a ton of stuff on Snapchat. She was under the impression, I think that Snapchat deletes forever endeavor and like the law enforce. No one can get it.
Co-host
But they keep everything.
Narrator
Oh yeah, they kept everything. I mean, I saw private voice memos she sent to her friends on Snapchat. I saw she would take screenshots on her phone and send it to her friends on Snapchat of what she's doing on a website. I'm gonna talk about this more in depth later. But she's like filling out a fake ID website. She's got her name in there, her address, her phone number. She's taking fake ID photos, screenshotting it, like sending it to her friends on Snapchat, and I'm just, like, seeing it all.
Co-host
That's crazy.
Narrator
Yeah.
Co-host
All in a incriminating record is all
Narrator
on Snapchat, just like in a series of zip files. Yeah. Wow. She does partake in a lot of the TikTok trends, too. So you know the one that it's like, oh, put a finger down. You know, if you. Blah, blah, blah. And there's a lot of variations for it, but she chooses specifically to. To do the one that says put a finger down. Psycho Edition. And she's with her friend doing this. If you get more than five fingers, you're a psycho. You won't see me anywhere near you. So this is not Mackenzie's voice. This is, you know, the audio. And Mackenzie is giggling and she's listening. Put a finger down. If you thought about choking someone next to you just because you can and they won't be expecting it, she's like, giggling. Puts a finger down. Put a finger down. If you put ranch on your pizza, she does not. Put a finger down. Put a finger down. If you're a Leo, Sagittarius, Scorpio, or Cancer, you're automatically a psycho. She puts a finger down. She's got three left. Put a finger down. If when your parents are yelling at you, you stare them directly in their eye for a long period of time just to intimidate them, she puts a finger down. Put a finger down. If you go to sleep with socks on, she still has two fingers. Put a finger down. If someone close to you is crying and the only thing that you can think of is trying not to laugh because it's a defense mechanism, she puts another finger down. Put a finger down. If you like to chew ice, she puts a fifth finger down and she starts back up on her next hand. Put a finger down. If you think you can kill someone and get away with it, she does not. Put a finger down. Put a finger down. If you predict conversations with someone else on your own just so you know what to say when the time comes, she puts a finger down. Put a finger down. If when you get angry enough, you start crying, but it's not tears of joy, she puts another finger down. Six days before the crash, MacKenzie sends a DM to Trisha Payton. This on her Instagram account. Trish, I want to meet you. Which goes unanswered. She also reaches out to the controversial influencer Anna Paul. Anna, come smoke with me. She also does not get a response. And then she reaches out to Tana Mongeau and dms her tana my boyfriend cheated on me, spoke a smoke a bluny with me, please. So she's just like doing a lot on Instagram. She's reaching out to freaking vogue. She's like reaching out to you for, yeah, okay, we're gonna get there. And she's reaching out to influencers, trying to get high with them. She even posts on TikTok with the audio. I'm not even cool. I'm just one of those girls that can do a lot of drugs and not die. I will note that it's very interesting that her parents were supposedly following her on social media where she's posting herself smoking and driving and doing all of these things. And she's 17. But much, much more to come about the parents, Natalie and Steve in a later episode. Now, the Most controversial of MacKenzie's TikTok, though, is from Halloween. She's with three of her friends and they're all in the same couple costume. Well, different variations of it. But Mackenzie is dressed in an all black look. She's got these black furry boots, black ripped leggings, this super, super tight corset, and this ribbed black top where it looks like someone just put it through a paper shredder. And you can see part of her chest that in her TikTok post, she keeps covering up with an emoji. And her makeup, since it's Halloween, she is painted her face white with these big black circles around her eyes and a red, almost joker like smile. Smile. It's supposedly inspired by Playboi Carti and the look that he would sometimes perform with. It was like, during a very specific era of his career, which some people called it the clown era, but it's more of this vampy corpse theatrical, comic book villain inspired look. It did look really cool when he would perform on stage with that look, but. But this Halloween post becomes one of Mackenzie's most controversial social media posts, more than her posting herself driving while smoking weed. Because everyone says that she looks like she dressed up as a corpse. Mackenzie's friends are saying, no, that's not true. We were dressed up as Playboi Cardi. But also, what about it? Like, what if she dressed up as a corpse? It's Halloween. Get a grip. But it's not the holiday and it's not the costume. It is the timing of this Halloween. People are upset because this was posted and this was done Halloween of 2022, just three months after Mackenzie was in a fatal car crash where she was the driver that killed her boyfriend Dom, mom, and their friend Davion she was out and about. Yeah. Oh, this is not even the first time she's out and about. Post crash, it's called post traumatic amnesia, or basically a black hole of time where the brain simply fails to record anything from a window of time, typically the time of injury. People have reported that in their own car crashes, they have a gaping hole in their memory. They remember getting in the car, pulling onto the road. They even remember what song was playing. And then they don't remember anything. They remember nothing. They don't remember the moment of impact. In fact, some people don't even remember talking to the paramedics at the crash site. They know that they were answering questions, but they don't recall a single second of it. They just recall waking up in the hospital. That is what Mackenzie and her mom state is happening to Mackenzie. Natalie says about her daughter, Mackenzie, she remembers waking up, she remembers leaving the house. Then she remembers turning on the street and. And that's it. She was trying to remember. Like she's trying. And I'm like, mackenzie, you can't. It's just not there. In a voice memo to a friend, Mackenzie said, I'm just. I'm not doing okay. Like, it doesn't feel real. I keep saying this, but it doesn't feel real. Like I don't know what the fuck happened. Thank you for being there for me. It just means a lot. Like, I don't remember anything. Like that is. This is just the worst. It is understandable to some degree, but it's difficult when she's the driver of the car and she's the only one that's live. She's the only one with answers as to what happened in that car. And she says, she, he doesn't remember. Davion's dad says, I can see how someone could have some amnesia from the. The impact of the crash, but the timing just seemed really perfect. I don't understand how your amnesia just lasted the exact right amount of time to not be able to help the police with their investigation. Mackenzie says it was five in the morning. They were all at their friend's house. So it was like a bunch of friends gathered and they decided to head home. So she's like, we decided to head home, back to Dom's. So it's her, Dom and Davion in the car. And she says, and I remember turning on the street. And then I'm waking up in the hospital the next day. And I don't. I mean, my whole life is shattered. The whole morning is just like nothing I mean, it sounds crazy, like, but I. Like, I can't. I'm not gonna just lie just because people want to hear a story. I have no recollection of that morning, and that's that. I mean, still to this day, four years later, MacKenzie states she still does not remember what happened in that car. She does not remember how she crashed straight into the brick building, how her foot all the way on the gas pedal, never once touching the brake pedal. And ultimately, she doesn't remember a single thing about crashing the car, killing Dominic and Davion. She says she still does not remember. The prosecutor says at that point, when they left their friend's house, I mean, we just have this black hole in the timeline. The officer knocks on the door to hospital room 715. Mackenzie's mom, Natalie, invites the officer in. There's a few other people in the hospital room. So there's Mackenzie in her cat. She's got casts on her legs, on her arm. She's in a neck brace. She's laying on the hospital bed. Mackenzie's mom, Natalie is there. Mackenzie's dad Steve is there, and two female friends of Mackenzie are there. They quickly leave.
Co-host
Like the second day.
Narrator
Yeah. And they quickly leave. So now there's just a detective that walked in. Besides, they're visiting. I don't think they want to stick around for this. The officer starts filling out a property release form, and then that's when the doctor walks in. So the officer is like writing all of this in his report. He's like, I walked in, I saw all these people. And then I was filling out a property release form because I came here to give the things that were found on Mackenzie's person in the crash, her purse, cash. Like, these are things that he has to give back, not the drugs, because there were drugs found, but he's not going to give those back. So he's filling out this property release form, and in the notes, he notes some very interesting exchanges. So first of all, Mackenzie's doctor walks in and Mackenzie refuses to take a shot. That's going to help her with her pain, which, fine, right. Second, Mackenzie gets into a full blown argument with her dad where she kicks him out of the room. She kicks her dad out of the hospital. Hospital room after cussing him out. And the officer is like noting this in his report.
Co-host
She's doing all that in front of the officer?
Narrator
Yeah. And this is when the detective is like, you know what? I'm just gonna wait for the doctor to leave. I'm gonna be in the hallway Filling out the rest of these forms. And while he's out in the hallway, he starts having a conversation with Mackenzie's parents, Natalie and Steve. And he's just explaining the whole process of, like, yes, we're gonna, you know, give you back this Michael Kors backpack, and there's some cash that we found as. As well as clothes in the car that were recovered from the crash scene. We're going to give those back. And then he writes in his report, they hear a scream from inside the hospital room while the officer is talking to Mackenzie's parents out in the hallway. Quote, Mackenzie started yelling, telling us to not talk without her being present.
Co-host
Mackenzie is telling the parents not to talk.
Narrator
And the police, the officer, the detective.
Co-host
Without her being present.
Narrator
Yeah. She's like, why are you guys talking? I mean, I don't know exactly the words, but he writes in the report, she started yelling, telling us not to talk without her being present.
Co-host
That's fucking crazy.
Narrator
Yeah.
Co-host
What?
Narrator
So the three, the officer, Natalie and Steve Shurilla, they shuffle back into the hospital room, and the officer starts detailing the search warrant and the basic nature of the entire investigation. Once he walks back into the hospital room, he is audio recording, and he lets the Cherillas know, and he explains, you know, the search warrant lists the nature of the crime we're investigating as an aggravated vehicular homicide times two. Because two people were killed in the car crash, it does not mean, you know, we're not charging you with aggravated vehicular homicide. Homicide. And the officer is trying to explain that everything's really now in the hands of the county. It is the county that decides whether or not there's going to be any charges that are pressed. He says, it's not the families, so it's not going to be up to Dom and Davion's families. The state chooses whether or not they want to charge.
Co-host
Is this the first time they found out what type of charges they could be facing or.
Narrator
I think they kind of knew, but they are shocked by the information that Dom and Davion's family have no say because they seem disgruntled. And like, Natalie, the mom, is like, why? And she's basically asking, like, well, what if the families don't want to press charges? And the officer is like, it's not up to the families. Like, it's not up to them. This is not a civil case. Like, they. They can't seem to understand that if the two families of the deceased decide not to press charges, why on earth would the county press Charges. And they're confused by it, which is crazy, because the officer is like, I mean, it's. It's a crime. Like, what do you mean? This is not civil court. Like, I'm a detective. And so Mackenzie asks the officer, at this point, can I say something to her? And she's referencing saying something to her mom. So the officer is like, sure, yeah. Mackenzie turns to her mom and starts speaking rapidly in a language that the officer cannot identify. He can't even tell you. Like, he can't even tell you, oh. She turned to her mom and was speaking in, I think Korean, I think Spanish, I think Portuguese. He's never heard this cadence before. Like, he can't even figure out, like, does it sound eastern European? Does it sound east Asian? Like, south Asian? Like, he can't even pinpoint where geographically this type of cadence and dialect sounds like it's coming from. And Mackenzie is rapid fire talking to her mom. Clearly, Natalie is understanding everything. She ends the conversation with Mackenzie in England, English, saying, you can. And that's when Mackenzie grunts. Can you. Can you just take my whole license away for 10 years or something like that?
Co-host
To the police?
Narrator
Yes. In my opinion, the officer sounds kind of flabbergasted, and he just hits her with a. Do you have a lawyer? Talk to your lawyer? But once the detective leaves, he's so intrigued by this whole incident of this language that he cannot decipher. He reaches out to the chair of the department of world languages at a local university, and they tell him, I let two other language instructors listen, and we were all on the same page. We all don't think what we're hearing here is a natural spoken language. I thought of your suggestion about it being pig Latin or something like that, and I think you're right. Given the speed at which it's spoken, it is unlikely to be natural. So she's saying it doesn't sound like a foreign language. The cadence and the phonetics of Speaker 1, MacKenzie, are all clearly American English. Okay, so it's not like they just know some languages, and they're like, oh, it's not the ones we know. They study, like, the cadence and tones of languages, and they're like, it's. The cadence is American English.
Co-host
Yeah.
Narrator
So, like, it.
Co-host
Did you hear?
Narrator
Yeah, I knew pig Latin in high school. It does sound like pig Latin.
Co-host
Pig Latin is the one that you move some.
Narrator
So you move the first letter to the back, and then you add a at the end. So of instead. Instead of Stephanie, it would be like Tiffany say, okay, yeah, but there's.
Co-host
Can you say that in a natural way? Like, can you actually talk to people in that?
Narrator
When I was really young, I remember pig Latin was, like, a huge thing, and I could not speak anywhere near as quickly as Mackenzie does in this audio file. But you can kind of.
Co-host
Okay, okay, you can, man. So was it pickle?
Narrator
It is not, but it is a different. Like, there's so many variations of these types of. Later it is identified by Mackenzie's dad, Steve, to be carney talk. It's kind of like pig Latin, but it was actually used heavily by people who worked carnivals. That's why it's called carny talk. I guess they wanted a different way to speak to each other just so that they can communicate without, I guess, communicating in front of, like, you know, I don't know. Right. Maybe it's like. Yeah, but it's, like, widely known to be spoken amongst people originally who would run carnivals. That's why, I guess it's called carny talk.
Co-host
That's interesting.
Narrator
So, yeah.
Co-host
Okay. Now, was it decoded or.
Narrator
Yes. Now, this decoding of the message has been disputed. Obviously, the prosecutors have decoded it, and they believe what was said in that hospital room just days after the crash, Steve Shurilla is like, that's not what my daughter said. You. You decide. Mackenzie is stating she doesn't remember a single important detail of this car accident. Right. But then she turns to her mom, and the prosecutor believes. She said, can we just tell them I had a seizure?
Co-host
That that was it.
Narrator
Yeah. Like, it was like, can we just tell them I had a seizure? Or something like that? Like, can we just tell them.
Co-host
Whoa, whoa.
Narrator
The three people in that car the early morning of July 31, 2022, where, like I said, Mackenzie is in the driver's seat, her boyfriend Dom is in the front passenger seat, and their friend Davion is in the back seat. A lot of people believe that Mackenzie and her boyfriend Dom got into a fight in the car, which leads Mackenzie to freak out. Going over 90 miles per hour and slamming into a brick building. With Davion's life by netizen speculations not being considered by Mackenzie, they think that Mackenzie is the type of person to just, you know, someone in the back is not pertinent to her or her relationship, and the fight is the most important thing that could be happening in the car. Now, this is obviously a netizen theory. It is one of the more widely accepted versions of events of what netizens think occurred in the car that night, which is why there's going to be a lot of time spent throughout the Episode on. On MacKenzie and Dom's relationship. It is not because Davion's life was not important or that we don't want to spend time talking about Davion. It's because most people believe that whatever happened in the car could have to do with what MacKenzie felt about Dom. It was reported that MacKenzie has known Davion since they were both in middle school, since they were in the same class. It's unclear if this is true or if they ever really even spoke at all. But according to one of their friends, Davion and Dom started hitting it off recently. Dom has a recording studio in his house, and Davion's dream was to be a rap rapper, so it just kind of made sense that they would become friendly. They're not necessarily best friends. They're not necessarily that close. They actually have very different friend groups and interests. But recently they started hanging out and connecting over music. And we're going to go in depth because Davion is actually staying at Dom's house when all of this is happening. So Davion's family had gone on vacation. Davion had just started a new job, so he can't just take two weeks off to go on family vacation vacation. So he's like, I'm gonna stay in town. But his parents were a little concerned about him staying alone, so he was like, okay, I'm just gonna crash at my friend Dom's place.
Co-host
That's crazy. How long have they been staying together?
Narrator
It doesn't seem that long, but it seems like they were friends for, you know, months ahead of time. So it's not like, oh, they just met and he's staying with Dom. But it's not like, oh, Dom and Davion were best friends since middle school and they all hung out. And these are, you know, it's like more of a newer friendship trip that's been developing. So we're going to go in depth about what Davion's family have said as well as the foundation that they've set up for him in a later episode. But just keep in mind, it's a lot of the focus will be on MacKenzie and Dom throughout some of these episodes, not because Davion's life is less important than anyone else's. His family and friends have spoken extensively about what he meant to them, how he impacted their lives, and what it means for them now that he's been taken away from them, which we're going to cover in a later episode. So with that being said, we're just going to get into the relationship. Relationship. Mackenzie and Dom have been dating for years before the crash. At this point in time, Dom is 20. Mackenzie is about to turn 18. The crash actually happens like a few days before her 18th birthday. They've been dating for years. They were both minors, they both met in high school. But now that Dom has graduated, he's living in his own house. So he lives alone. He does live right next door to his mom. So he lives alone, but he's right next door to his mom. And he sees his mom a lot. His mom cooks dinner. Dinner. He comes over for dinner. It's not like completely independent of a lifestyle. But also he's 20, so he's living the lifestyle that I think a lot of 20 year old guys probably live. But Mackenzie, she's still in high school. So it is alarming that she's posting a lot of the things that she's posting. And at some point it's believed that Mackenzie had fully moved into Dom's house and was living with him at 17 years old. And her parents are seeing these things. They're seeing what's being posted and they're completely fine with it. For example, the two of them have.
Co-host
The parents are seeing like the smoking, driving.
Narrator
I would think so because they follow her on Instagram.
Co-host
Whoa, that's crazy. Okay.
Narrator
They have a stripper pole in the house that they will post videos, Dom in his house, which again I think this is very normal for a 20 year old guy. I don't think it's normal for a 17 year old girl to be allowed to live in that house regardless of if it's her boyfriend. And that is the fault of the sherillas. But she'll post videos of people dancing on the stripper poles. They are fully clothed and people just like throw bills in the air. So it does seem like high school fun. It doesn't seem nefarious or anything. But it is just a very specific type of lifestyle that I would imagine most parents would not want their 17 year old daughter to be engaged in at this point. Being 17 years old, they would host parties at Don's house because he had his own house. And there is an incident that has been coming up on social media. Before the crash, the police had already gone out to the house earlier that year in 2022 because at one of these parties a girl falls down the stairs and the police describe it as she almost died. We're going to call Her K. But side note, Davion was also there and it's been reported that Davion was actually one of the only people that helped her before the medics came. Now, a lot of people apparently just like ran off when she fell because there were clearly questionable activities going on in the house. Potentially underage drinking, smoking weed. I think they were very concerned about not getting in trouble versus is, you know, worrying about their friend's life. The girl that fell, K ends up in a medically induced coma for weeks. Like she, she genuinely almost died. It was not a hyperbolic way of speaking. It's not the police being like, she almost died. She's a teenager. No, she was. She almost died.
Co-host
What happened? Like, what, What?
Narrator
Nobody knows. So obviously K's parents don't believe the simple explanation of, oh, she just fell, understandably. So, like, I would want very thorough answers too. It just doesn't make sense to them. In the FO, there are Snapchat messages between MacKenzie and her friends talking about this fall and trying to piece together all of them. You don't really get a thorough story of what even happened, but you get that there were suspicions. One person who attended the party, audio messages, MacKenzie legit what I was saying to people. So it seems like if I had to get context clues, and this is just me guessing out of my butt, it seems like MacKenzie is confronting this girl. Like, are you going around telling people that she didn't fall? Are you going around telling people that someone pushed her? Because she's explaining, right? This girl is like explaining to Kenzie, like, this is what I said, legit what I was saying to people, because they were even saying that K was not that drunk. Like, how could have this happened? She wasn't even that fucked up, because she wasn't. And I said, I don't know. No alcohol was in her system. A lot of the police and her parents and a lot of the people are thinking that she got pushed, there was foul play in it. And. And I said if there was a possibility that there were girls there and they were drunk, I said, I never thought that they distinctively pushed her. I said if anything were to have happened, it would have been maybe they were play fighting with each other and they got too rowdy and drunk because that's how fucking girls get when they're fucking drunk. And I did, I did see hella girls by the stairs and by the fucking door. And I had explained to people if it was anything like that, it would have been they missed their step and accidentally pushed K. On purpose. Purpose.
Co-host
And it wasn't like, accidentally pushed her on purpose.
Narrator
Yeah. And it wasn't a full on push. Accidentally hit her while she was about to go down the stairs. She explains that K had this, like, big bag of clothes she was carrying, and she states that she told people that she theorized that weighed her down and that's what made her tumble down the stairs. I never said that people were pushing her and had pushed her. That's what the police think. And that's why I'm trying to get a picture of the stairs so I can literally tell them it wasn't like that. I don't know. My mom was like, they don't think that she just did all that just from falling down the stairs. Like, she has basically saying, like, my mom doesn't think K has all these injuries from just falling down the stairs. Right. And I was like telling her, do you really think people would fucking beat up K and we would just all fucking cover that shit up? I honestly just think that's what they think is happening. So that's why I just need a picture of the stairs. I never said anyone pushed her. Nothing could have pointed to her falling down the stairs except her missing a step or someone accidentally falling onto her, accidentally tripping over her, accidentally catching her step. Like, that's all I said.
Co-host
But she literally said it could have been someone who pushed her, though.
Narrator
Accidentally pushed her on purpose. Yeah. Yeah.
Co-host
Okay.
Narrator
In One audio message, MacKenzie is ranting to another friend. And I don't know if it's about this person. Right. I'm just again, piecing together these, like, random Snapchat data and trying to figure out what the hell is happening. And, like, none of these are, like, really even in chronological order, order, so. But she says, this is MacKenzie. Tell me why. I just got off the phone with fucking Sammy, and supposedly Emily did not even try to fucking catch her. Emily ran away and threw up. That's what Sammy is saying. And Sammy was the one down there. So Emily is a major problem right now. It's just weird. Like, if she genuinely fell down the stairs without any sort of foul play involved. I. I just. I mean, I. Maybe this is how high schoolers act and they like to start drama, but I. This is. This is such a serious thing. I don't think. It's just very odd. MacKenzie eventually makes, like, an Instagram story, and I don't know what she's trying to do. If she's trying to clear the air, make the situation worse, I think more so the Latter. But she says, just a psa. If any of you think that that party situation is my fault, you can go fuck yourself and leave my story right now. Yeah, because we let all you underage little fucks into our beautiful home just to do illegal things. And you want to blame. Aren't you all the ones that ran out of the house and left and shook her while we called the police and got her there? Yeah. Please go fuck yourself and kill yourself, bitch.
Co-host
Whoa.
Narrator
Interestingly, later, Dom's mom. So Mackenzie's boyfriend's mom, who lives right next door, says about the situation, she supposedly pushed her down the steps in reference to Mackenzie. Dom's mom describes the situation later to the officer, saying, so the big story was.
Co-host
So, sorry, was this talked about before the crash or after the crash?
Narrator
After the crash. So it was, you know, during the fall. I don't think Dom's mom got involved because Dom is 20, you know, so this. And I don't know, like, how it escalated. There's no reference to Dom's mom getting involved after the crash to report any of this. I don't think she really knew because, I mean, she's Dom's mom. No one's going to her, telling her, oh, what's been happening with the kids recently? So I think what happened was after the crash, it seemed that Dom's mom did report to the police. A lot of Dom's friends were coming to her and telling her information about Mackenzie because they feel weird about the crash. So they're like, because your son has got like, that was our friend. We want to help. Here's this weird information we've been knowing, but, like, we would have never told you that before the crash because, like, we just thought it was, like, relationship drama or, like, weird stuff, and we don't have proof. And so she explains to him, officers,
Co-host
I'm sorry, when was the fall?
Narrator
Early 2022. Like, January. And the crash happened July 31, 2022. Six months?
Co-host
Seven.
Narrator
Seven. Seven months, she says. So the big story was this girl fell down the steps. How did she fall? You know, she had no alcohol in her system. We. We have a guardrail. There's a handrail. And then as time went on, Kenzie was the one that told me personally. She said these girls were really out to get her because they were accusing her of pushing this girl down the steps. And she's saying, at that time in January, I said, well, what. Why in the world would you ever push that girl? And she just said, I wouldn't push that girl. Down the steps. So she's like, I just didn't think nothing of it at the time, but after the fact, I'm sitting here thinking. And I had asked another friend of Dom's when he called me and he said, did you hear that? You know, she pushed the girl down the steps? So Dom's friend also believes, believed she pushed her down the steps. And again, I know that he might be a little crazy, Dom's friend or whatever, but he's the one who said that too. So she's like, I don't know, she's just telling the police, like, this is what I heard. And like, Mackenzie also told me people were accusing her at the time of pushing the girl down the stairs. And then now I'm talking to one of Dom's friends who also thinks that she pushed her down the stairs. It's just weird.
Co-host
How is the friend, K?
Narrator
I think she's okay. Okay.
Co-host
Does she. Did she ever said what happened?
Narrator
Now I do think that is a pretty crazy accusation to make that Mackenzie would push another girl down the steps to the point of her almost dying. I think that it would really take a very specific personality for people to think that she's capable of such a thing. Because you can't just walk around and think, oh, anyone is capable of killing somebody and pushing them down the stairs to the point of like, like a medically induced coma. Like, you would have to be a very specific type of personality where people can look at you and think, I could see you doing that.
Co-host
Yeah. And that's a very serious allegation.
Narrator
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When convicted murderer Max Katie is released from prison, he begins infiltrating the family of the married attorneys who helped put him behind bars. MacKenzie seems to have gone through a lot of friend groups in high school and the ones that she is no longer friends with, naturally they don't have a lot of great things to say about her. A former friend of Mackenzie says, I know she smokes weed. I mean that's literally her personality trait. That's it. That's about it. Just smoking weed. She will post tiktoks responding to creators so she'll like duet Tick tocks Mackenzie well, and it'll say things like how do you smoke but you can't roll? Meaning like you can't roll a blunt joint. And it's the the song like you is such a loser. Right? And she'll duet it and show Dom as like, oh well, I don't know how to roll because my boyfriend does it for me. That's the vibe. But I guess she gets inspired because she also uses a sound to do her own TikTok about weed. She is lip syncing the words you is such a loser. And the caption is when girls only hang out with me because they know I have weed. She really does love smoking weed. On her notes app on her phone, police found a birthday wish list and amongst those was weed socks. So I guess like the socks with the little marijuana leaves on there, just not really fashion forward, but okay. Her TikTok handles were baby Kush, Baby cushy weed references.
Co-host
Cushy means weed I think Kush.
Narrator
Oh yeah. She has another video where she's smiling and the caption reads when everybody knows me not from popularity but from my horrible reputation. So like she, she seems to get off on knowing that Strongsville kind of hates her. She has another TikTok where she's in a school library with other and the words on the screen just read most hated bitches of Strongsville. She seems proud now. Side note, Strongsville is the suburbs outside of Cleveland, Ohio, which it seems like it's reminiscent of a lot of suburban areas in America. Cookie cutter housing developments, chain restaurants, massive parking lots to Accommodate every single fucking shopping plaza. The mall is probably the hangout spot. I grew up in the suburbs. I hated it. So I can see why mackenzie doesn't fit in. And maybe she doesn't like it. She has a distinct style and a stronger personality, if you want to call it that. But she does protest about how much she hates strongsville. She'll make TikToks like, I seriously can't do. I can't do school anymore. It's so stupid and it makes me feel so dumb. And I want to go to New York or Florida. I just want to go somewhere with good food and good pics, which is.
Co-host
Take pictures.
Narrator
Yeah, I think it's a very interesting way to, like, figure out the next city you're going to live in. Like, good food and good. But she herself also stirs up all the time. She's the type to send audio notes like this. I don't even know who she sent it to when she sends an audio note. And you need to get a facial every month. Your skin looking mad crusty and you have a pizza face. Like, literally, you're ugly as. Get the out of my comments.
Co-host
Damn. So, like, a friend.
Narrator
Yeah, one person says. One of my friends said that they were in a group chat with her and before school, she would call the group chat over and over and over and over and over again. So much so that you couldn't even open the group chat because, like, you're just getting calls, like, spammed. And it was because she didn't know what she wanted to wear to school. So she's just like, spam calling everybody. She's also just like a very confusing person. She likes to DM friends things like, every woman's body is beautiful. Like, I swear every friend has seen a different version of MacKenzie. And I can see that through her DMs and text messages to some friends. She presents herself as, like, this girl's girl who loves people. And she just gets hated on. On TikTok because, you know, haters, right? And then to other people, she's like, you have a fucking pizza face. It's just shocking. Okay, so she's DMing a friend. Every woman's body is beautiful. Every woman is a fucking goddess. Men need to learn. Then in other DMs, she's calling people fat bitches. In one text exchange, she tells Dom, the bitch in the Jeep was about to try to not let me go, and. And I almost got in a car accident in front of her. Dom responds, what a bitch. Mackenzie responds, I know, she's fat and I gave her a dirty ass look and I'm driving slow as fuck in front of her. In another series of DMs, she's complaining about how she's stressed out at the prospect of not winning homecoming court. Best dressed superlative, okay? She rants, bro, if I don't win, I'm a freak. I don't think she wins because she gets a DM by the reality winner's sister. And it seems like they all have some beef, okay? Because the little sister is like, you didn't win because your outfits are ugly. Oh, and I do think that this was a warranted thing because mackenzie was going around posting the girl who actually won, and she's wearing like a flannel shirt and she's writing really mean things like, I can't believe I lost to a in a flannel. Like, it's. It was just mean. So I think the younger sister was warranted to. You know, you're young. You're like, fuck you. I'm gonna stand up for my sister. Mackenzie responds, I'm so sorry you're so insecure. I mean, if I was overweight, I would probably make fun of pretty skinny girls too. I mean, maybe you heard how crazy I am. Have your big sissy text me if she has a problem. The younger sister responds, you're anorexic, bitch. Shopping in the child section ain't cute. Mackenzie responds, maybe talk shit if you're gonna do something about it. We can have this convo in person if you. If you want to. Which she responds, I can snap your 5 to 70 pound ass like a twig. Mackenzie responds, is that a threat? Maybe if you spent all the time eating, you would be happy on the inside. Now stop biting your older sister's problem. Meatloaf. Have a nice day. To which the younger sister responds, your ass is flat. Get well soon. Hope you end up in a hospital because your twig body got sucked away in the wind. Let me know. I could blow air on you and you would fly away. You're probably one of the ugliest people I've ever seen. Mackenzie responds, girl, I don't care. I'm not insecure. Being ugly is an illness. Get well soon. Which, I mean, clearly they had problems with each other before this, because what the hell is going on? But that's crazy.
Co-host
You had every single DM from her.
Narrator
Yeah, yeah, from a time period. It was 2000 pages of DMS and it was just like a trip the whole time. Yeah, and speaking of Best dressed. A lot of netizens are just confused about the school's enforcement of their dress codes, if they even have one. It just doesn't make any sense. One of her favorite looks to show up to school, high school in is she'll wear like tracksuits, Juicy Couture tracksuits. Not the new ones because she obviously hates those, as per her own TikTok, but the old ones. And she will have her tracksuit low waisted, and then she'll be wearing like a string thong and then pull up the strings all the way up the side sides, effectively giving herself a wedgie. I mean, I get it, it's a stylistic choice, but you're in high school, you're in high school, you're wearing it to school.
Co-host
How do you know this?
Narrator
Because she posts pictures at school of herself in the bathroom mirror. She, she'll post tick tocks. She'll do like what I wore Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. And all of them. I'm like, this is crazy.
Co-host
What's the dress code?
Narrator
Right? Yeah, what's the dress code? There is an incident where the school report, because we got multiple disciplinary reports, reports from MacKenzie's school. And the school report reads, after being seen by a teacher in the bathroom taking selfies, Mackenzie was asked to zip up her hoodie, probably because of dress code, and go to class, to which she responded by calling the teacher a. By calling the teacher a fucking bitch and a dumb bitch. So I guess there is a dress code. It just doesn't apply to Mackenzie. Neither does not being on your phone. Another school report reads, during class, MacKenzie was seen playing a game on her phone. When the teacher asked her to get off her phone, Mackenzie told her she was playing a game with her her mother. The teacher repeated herself a second time and MacKenzie failed to comply. When the teacher told her to go to the administration office, Mackenzie went to the restroom and locked herself in the stall. It took several teachers to address the matter with her. In another incident, another teacher writes about Mackenzie. Many of the students and a couple of the teachers commented on her behavior and the need for administration to take action. I have been asking for help with her all year. I would like her removed from my room as I am no longer comfortable with being verbally attacked in front of students and being videotaped while attacking.
Co-host
Happening to teacher.
Narrator
Yeah.
Co-host
What?
Narrator
Some people describe MacKenzie as a wannabe Maddie from Euphoria, the TV show. There's one Instagram DM where they tell her, you're literally Maddie IRL. I aspire to have your energy one day, which she. MacKenzie takes this to heart. She's like, I'm Maddie IRL. Because she DMs euphoria on Instagram and. And says, cast me, I'm that girl. She sends them a video, cast me. Like she says. So she's like, cast me, I'm that girl, sends a video cast me. Then she starts just like spamming photos at this point and says, season three, question mark. And because I'm nosy, I just wanted to do a breakdown. She sends a video, and then she proceeds to send 17 photos.
Co-host
What kind of photo? Just like Insta pic.
Narrator
Yeah. Where she looks like Maddie from Euphoria. Or thinks she's. She looks like.
Co-host
Who is Maddie? Just.
Narrator
Just who is Maddie? I mean, she's pretty iconic. Yeah, but I don't think mackenzie is Maddie irl. Right. But I do feel for whatever intern was handling Euphoria socials. They deserve a week off because what the fuck is that? She also is just messaging photos of herself to Vogue, Runway to Vogue, to Balenciaga. She's just a very confusing individual. She says she doesn't like to body shame, but then she will go ahead and do that. If she doesn, she says she hates racism and will call people out publicly for being racist, which is a good thing. But she herself will use the N word in text messages and also extensively make fun of Asian people. I just guess.
Co-host
Really?
Narrator
Yeah, yeah.
Co-host
Like what?
Narrator
More on that later. But like, she's got some crazy beef with Tick Tock and she's like, it's because it's run by them damn Asians. This is when it was Bite Dance and not Oracle. I guess confusing is just not the correct word. It's like hypocritical. Right. For example, according to one school report, MacKenzie allegedly said to another student, if I was a slave owner, I would have killed. And then redact, insert student name, who I'm assuming is black. Based off of this allegation, MacKenzie denies ever saying that, but at least three witnesses claim that they heard her say that. And on the topic of racism, another student reported that Mackenzie airdrop. So, like, on their phone, they get an airdrop and it's a fucking meme of spongebob saying, I spy N word with a har r. Like, I spy a N word with a har r. This is a black student. When asked about it, MacKenzie said, oh, my gosh, no, I was airdropped. The meme.
Co-host
Well, she's dropping it to a black student. That's crazy.
Narrator
Yes. And so then she's like, oh, my God, no, I never aired. Airdropped it. Like, that's crazy. I was airdropped that picture. But the. It just didn't seem to add up. According to the school report, the meme was reportedly seen on the phone and directly attributed to Mackenzie. There are disciplinary reports from back in 2018 where MacKenzie got into a fight with another girl while she was walking to the buses. She gets into a fist fight. Then Another report in 2018 filed by the parent of another girl, where they tell the police that they're scared that Mackenzie is going to beat up their children child. The report reads, I spoke to my child who stated that while she was in third period class, Mackenzie Shurilla called her a bitch and threatened to beat her up. She stated, this was all over my daughter not giving MacKenzie a Dorito chip. She also stated that Mackenzie posted on Instagram last year a picture of her showing her forehead. The caption that she had was a big forehead. So just like bullying, you know? And, you know, Mackenzie allegedly tried to repost that picture today. So when authorities talk to MacKenzie about it, of course she's like, well, no, she's the one that threatened to beat me up when I asked for a Dorito chip. Which, like, doesn't even really make sense because it's like, hey, can I have a Dorito chip? I'm gonna beat you up. Like, I don't. You would just say, no, you're weird.
Co-host
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Narrator
She also states that the picture on Instagram, someone took her phone and posted it. Of course, she would never do that because she's a girl girl. It's hard to say that Mackenzie was ever universally well liked, if liked by many at all. She says online that she doesn't like anything designer, but in 2019, there's a report of her stealing a pair of earrings from Kohl's. She was ultimately not prosecuted because the earrings were not recovered and their value was less than $20. And also another thing about really liking designer, she doesn't really like Designer. She likes dhgate, which nothing's wrong with dupes, but. But she just, like, is so up in arms and has the superiority complex because she has a Christian Dior bag. But I can literally see her in her DMs on Instagram sending people Dhgate links to where she gets her stuff. So she's like, I hate brokies. But then it's like, you can't really say that when you're, I only wear designer. I hate brokies. But your bag is dhgate. And it nothing is wrong with the dhgate bag, but it's also like kind of weird.
Co-host
Yeah, hypocrite.
Narrator
Yes, a lot of things are hypocritical. She will smoke weed until she's apparently coughing up black stuff because she's essentially fast tracking her lungs to an early demise. But she's also super, super anal about sticking to an organic non GMO gluten free diet.
Co-host
Really?
Narrator
And why is she. Is there a medical reason? She says quote in a DM to someone, it helps my spiritual journey. She says, to be honest, I love fruit, so that's probably my favorite meal. Just any fruit. She gets upset when her friends eat her popcorn because she only likes natural all organic popcorn. But also some people, you know, they would call her baby Kush because she literally smokes so much weed and posts about it all over social media. And then that was her TikTok handle. So what's going on? She also rants about restaurants. You think their seafood is freshly caught? Like none of it was. I don't want no farm fish. That's nasty as fuck. In another DM message, someone sends her a link to melatonin gummies, it seems like to help her sleep. And Mackenzie responds, is it natural? They respond, yes, babes, our brains produce it naturally. This should be a case study that organic food consumption does not make one brighter than the rest. Let's just say if Mackenzie is going to have an anti fan club, there are going to be people lined up around the blue block to be the president of that anti fan club. And probably for good reason. She's just not really, objectively speaking, a great person, in my opinion. Am I telling you this in the context of the crash? Not necessarily, because legally it doesn't work like that. I mean, just because you're kind of a weird brat doesn't mean you're guilty of a crime. However, I do think that this is all contextual information that would be necessary to understand the case in its entirety and what people have been saying and why they've been saying certain things. Things. After extensively researching, I can try to group up the three major groups of people and how they feel about this case. The first group of people, they obviously believe that whatever happened that night in the car, they believe it was an accident. Now this is like the smallest of the people from what I could see anecdotally, just like surfing on Reddit, but I'm not a freaking AI data analyst, okay? I don't know, but it just seems like a smaller group of People, people that believe that it must have been an accident because it doesn't make sense. You know, they think that maybe Mackenzie suffered a medical emergency, passed out on the wheel, causing this accident, or maybe it's like a car malfunction and even though the police ruled it out, you never know. The larger masses, however, believe it was planned. Now to what degree is up for debate. So the second group of people believe that Mackenzie planned this crash days in advance, that she was going to crash the car, car with Dom in it and Davion just happened to be in the car and she has no regard for anybody's life but her own. A few days before she turned 18, like that people are saying is intentional. She allegedly, they claim, scoped out the crash site. Now there is evidence that she was on that road previously, but people have interpreted that differently. Some people are saying like this was a known cut through. Other people are saying like, no, she was scoping out the crash site, so take it as you will, but they believe that she drove down the same road multiple times beforehand. She planned it to the T because she knew Dom was going to break up with her soon and Davion just happened to be in the car. Now the third group of people, do
Co-host
they believe Mackenzie is planning to be alive after the crash or.
Narrator
I think there's subgroups of people. Some people think that she might not have had that four step site. Some people think like she probably does because if evidenced by her social media of posting her driving and smoking, there are certain teenagers who live very reckless lifestyles and who believe that they are almost like physically invincible. Other people believe that she just like is such an emotionally volatile, evil person that she doesn't even care about her own safety.
Co-host
Interesting.
Narrator
But there's lots of nuanced debates that we're going to get into later because her head was found under the dash. So some people are saying, oh, that's like evidence that she could have fainted before the crash. Some people are saying like that could have happened just because the air bags are deploying. Other people are saying she intentionally did it so that her face wouldn't get busted from the airbags and she's a narcissist. So it's all just, everyone has their own opinion about it. Now the third group of people, they don't necessarily think that, that Mackenzie has been planning this days in advance, but they do think that there was intent. They do think that this is murder because whatever happened in the car, most likely they believe is an argument that broke out between Mackenzie And Dom. And still Mackenzie has no regard for Dom or especially Davion's life because he's just in the backseat. She crashes the car in rage, and that is still intentional murder. So these are like the three main groups that I've seen. Obviously, the legal outcome of this case supports the second and third theory that this was intentional murder murder, which there is intent behind the crash. Which is why a lot of people have taken to trying to analyze Mackenzie and Dom's relationship, as it all feels highly relevant. Whatever happened in the car, most people believe it's either because Mackenzie didn't want Dom to break up with her soon or because she got enraged during a fight in the car and was ready to kill him for it. One friend says Dom provided everything for McCann. Mackenzie. Mackenzie didn't work a job. Mackenzie would live with Dom. Dom would provide for her, like, with everything. Dom would buy her groceries. Dom would buy her clothes, anything. Anything that Mackenzie needed, Dom gets it for her. So they had this relationship where it's like they were just ready to move on and marry. So they felt like, you know, it was very serious. But Dom was like the provider. He would even be expected to provide for Mackenzie's weed consumption. She would make literal demands. There are text messages between the two where she says, maybe if you listened for once. Second enclosed. By the way she writes enclosed like an enclosure, like a cage. Listen enclosed instead of closed. Like she's trying to say enclosed your mouth, but she's saying enclosed like an enclosure.
Co-host
Oh, oh, oh. Just listen and close your mouth.
Narrator
Yeah, but she said enclosed. She's like, maybe if you listen for a second enclosed your mouth, you, you. You would hear what I was saying. But you just don't stop going, I'm so fed up with this. I'm giving you one more chance to give me weed or there's going to be issues. I'm going to do a whole separate video part four of this series. We're just going to go down pretty much every fight that they've had through text messages. Because it is a 31,000 page document with over 90,000 text messages that are highly relevant to this case. So that's going to be in part four, so like a few episodes later. And that's kind of like a standalone episode. I mean, it's just literally just going to be analyzing the full text document and the journey of their relationship. Because there's a lot that happens through 2020 through 2022. There's text messages, messages, days leading up to the crash and all of the fights that are happening because there's some a lot of explosive fights and you can really see McKenzie Gen Z's I don't even want to. It almost feels abusive like it you'll see a lot of things in that episode but that's going to be in part four. And this concludes the first half of part one of this series. I'm going to in the second half of part one of the series we're going to go through some of the text messages that show showcase their relationship dynamic as well as the crash itself. When the officers get there who called 911 what Davion's friends have said all of like the crash data, the police black box data that's going to be in this second half. So stay tuned for that. Stay safe and I will see you in the next one. Netflix has done it again. Unknown number the Crash and now the new must see documentary Maternal Instinct tells the story of Taylor Parker. While claiming to come from a wealthy family, she fell for Wade Griffin, a hog trapper in a small Texas town. Their relationship appeared perfect, complete with a pregnancy that that she shared all over her social media. But doubts around her pregnancy grew and when the truth finally surfaced, it brought horrifying consequences. Meet Taylor Parker, the youngest woman on death row and the town that knew she was lying but did nothing to stop her. Watch Maternal Instinct June 12th only on Netflix. If you're looking for new ways to get ahead, then you're our kind of person. We're Udemy and we help learners like you upskill in eight AI, productivity, leadership and management, and more. Learn at your own pace from real world experts. You can also prep for certifications that show employers what you know upskill for the career you want@udemy.com now back to your regularly scheduled listening.
Host: Stephanie Soo
Date: June 8, 2026
Episode Structure: Part 1 of a Five-Part Series
This gripping episode launches a comprehensive, multi-part deep dive into the infamous case of Mackenzie Shirilla, the 17-year-old Ohio teen convicted of murdering her boyfriend Dom Russo and their friend Davion Flanagan by deliberately crashing her car into a brick building. The episode not only reviews what facts are currently known, but—through a meticulous FOIA request—dives headfirst into Mackenzie’s extensive digital footprint: 31,000+ pages of text and DM exchanges, personal Snapchats, bodycam footage, school reports, and interviews with those close to the case.
Stephanie and her co-host focus on the lead-up to the crash, Mackenzie’s conflicted public persona, the social media aftermath, and preliminary theories around the crash’s motive, all while retaining their signature raw, sometimes darkly humorous storytelling.
[02:24–06:30]
[05:34–08:10]
[08:15–11:10]
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Stephanie exhibits her signature mix of dark humor and bluntness, often incredulous at Mackenzie’s actions. Her language is raw yet deeply researched, not shying away from the “rotten” details while also clarifying between verifiable facts and online/speculative chatter. The hosts provide both empathy for the victims and unvarnished criticism of Mackenzie and the broken elements of her social circle and parental oversight.
Part one of this ambitious series sets an unflinching foundation for analyzing Mackenzie Shirilla’s life, choices, and the fatal crash: balancing a mountain of digital evidence with psycho-social context. The episode promises future parts that will break down the documentary’s impact, Internet conspiracies, the family dynamic, the full archive of messages, and jailhouse gossip. The focus is on nuance, with careful separation of fact vs. theory, and an unfiltered window into the toxic digital ecosystem that made this case (in)famous.
For further listening:
Stay tuned for the remainder of the series, with part two exploring the Netflix documentary’s impact and internet theories, and future episodes examining Mackenzie’s family, relationships, and the aftermath.