Teen Who Killed Boyfriend, Friend in Car Crash Learns Fate

UPDATE Aug 22, 2023 1:00 AM CDT

The 19-year-old convicted of murder after she crashed a car into a building at 100mph, killing her boyfriend and his friend, has been sentenced to two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life behind bars. Her driver's license will also be suspended for life, NBC News reports. Mackenzie Shirilla, who was 17 when the deadly crash took place, spoke at the sentencing hearing, denying prosecutors' claims that she crashed on purpose out of anger at her boyfriend. Rather, she claimed, she can't remember the crash. "I'm so deeply sorry. I hope one day you can see I would never let this happen or do it on purpose. I wish I could remember what happened," she said through tears. "We were all friends, and Dom was my soul mate. I wish I could take all your pain away."

Aug 16, 2023 7:00 PM CDT

An Ohio judge has convicted a teenager of murdering her boyfriend and his friend by crashing her car into a brick building at 100mph. "This was not reckless driving. This was murder," Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Nancy Margaret Russo told Mackenzie Shirilla as the defendant broke down in tears, NBC News reports. The 19-year-old was convicted on 12 charges: four murder counts, four counts of felonious assault, two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, one count of drug possession, and one count of possessing criminal tools. The conviction carries an automatic sentence of life in prison with a chance of parole after 15 years, per Cleveland.com.

Prosecutors said that Shirilla, driving a Toyota Camry, accelerated into a large brick building in the Cleveland suburb of Strongsville around 5:30am on July 31, 2022. Police arrived about 45 minutes later to find Shirilla; her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20; and his friend Davion Flanagan, 19, trapped in the vehicle. They were unconscious and were not breathing. Shirilla was taken to a hospital. Russo and Flanagan were pronounced dead at the scene. Prosecutors said Shirilla's relationship with Russo was toxic and that she had threatened him before.

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Surveillance video showed Shirilla jerking the wheel right and left before driving into the building, per People. Her attorney argued in court that it wasn't clear that she hit the building intentionally. The judge disagreed. "The video clearly shows the purpose and intent of the defendant," said Russo, who is not related to Dominic Russo. "She chose a course of death and destruction that day." On the video, the judge said, Shirilla "morphs from a responsible driver to literal hell on wheels." (More murder trial stories.)