Mackenzie Shirilla to be sentenced Monday in murder case involving deadly Strongsville crash | CPT PPP Coverage

CLEVELAND — 19-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla will soon learn her fate when she’s sentenced Monday on multiple charges in connection with a deadly 2022 crash that claimed the lives of 20-year-old Dominic Russo and 19-year-old Davion Flanagan.

The Aug. 21 sentencing, which is set for 1 p.m., comes one week after Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Nancy Margaret Russo found Shirilla guilty of all counts — including four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault and two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide.

We plan to stream Shirilla’s sentencing hearing live inside this story. You can also watch live coverage on our YouTube channel (subscribe here).

“This was not reckless driving. This was murder,” Judge Russo said moments before announcing her verdict in the bench trial on Aug. 14.

SUBSCRIBE: Get the day’s top local and national headlines sent to your e-mail inbox each weekday morning with our free 3News to GO! newsletter

It’s a case that dates back to Sunday, July 31, 2022, when Strongsville police say a crash happened at 6:15 a.m. near the intersection of Progress and Alameda. Upon their arrival, officers say they located a Toyota Camry “with severe damage and full airbag deployments.”

All three occupants inside the vehicle — including Shirilla — were unconscious, not breathing and trapped inside the vehicle. Russo (Shirilla’s boyfriend) and Flanagan were both pronounced dead at the scene.

“The video clearly shows the purpose and intent of the defendant,” Judge Russo said. “She chose a course of death and destruction that day.”

Shirilla was 17 years old at the time of the crash.

“She morphs from a responsible driver to literal hell on wheels as she makes her way down the street,” Judge Russo continued during her verdict announcement. “Mackenzie alone made the decision to drive the car, to drive an obscure route, a route she visited a few days before, and a route not routinely taken by her. Mackenzie alone chose a time to make the drive, early in the morning, when any reasonable person would expect a few people would be nearby to witness it or offer life-saving assistance. She made these decisions despite knowing, as any reasonable person would, that her mission of death could’ve involved others not even in the car with her — other people, other cars, pedestrians.”

Judge Russo said Shirilla had “a mission” and “executed it with precision.”

“Mackenzie alone decided to push the pedal to the floor and demand the ultimate speed of that vehicle to 92 mph. She alone decided what was to be. Mackenzie decided death was the ultimate goal that day, and she alone made that decision for Dominic and Davion.”

The prosecution had said Shirilla crashed the car to end her toxic and tumultuous relationship with Russo.

“There is no doubt that this happened because of the relationship with Dominic and the defendant’s intent was clearly to end that, and she took everybody that was in the car with her,” said Tim Troup of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office.

Shirilla’s case has captured widespread attention with news of her guilty verdict appearing on various national sites, including People.com and The Daily Beast.

Want to be among the first to know the most important local and national news? You can download the free WKYC app and get the latest updates sent to your phone: Android, Apple.