The Crash documentary on Netflix is not an easy watch. The documentary is framed as a true crime case, meant to convince us that a 17-year-old girl is a guilty, evil murderer who deserves to “sit in a cage for a long time, because of what she did,” as one law officer who investigated her case puts it. But it’s hard not too feel like you’re watching a documentary about a tragedy made worse by the vengeful nature of the American justice system.
Directed by Gareth Johnson, The Crash walks viewers through the criminal case of a 2022 car crash in Strongsville, Ohio. The driver, 17-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla, was driving her boyfriend, Dom, and his friend, Davion, home from a friends house in the early hours of the morning, when she crashed the car into a brick building, driving over 100 miles per hour. Dom and Davion died in the crash. Mackenzie survived.
After toxicology reports revealed Shirilla had no alcohol in her system, police began to investigate the case as a murder. It is not illegal to be a self-obsessed, emotional, narcissistic teenager who cares more about her social media following than her friends. It’s not something to be celebrated. But it’s also not criminal. And yet, the prosecution in Shirilla’s case—and, by extension, this Netflix documentary—used Shirilla’s persona as an influencer as criminal evidence in court that she intentionally murdered her boyfriend and friend.
In 2023, a judge, Nancy Margaret Russo, concluded that the car crash was premeditated. Shirilla was found guilty of 12 felony charges, including two counts of murder. Read on to find out where Mackenzie Shirilla from The Crash is today.
Where is Mackenzie Shirilla from The Crash on Netflix now?
Mackenzie Shirilla is currently serving her 15-to-life prison sentence at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, a state prison in Marysville, OH. Her first parole hearing is scheduled fro September 2037, which will be about 14 years since she was sentence on August 31, 2023.
Shirilla is now 21 years old, and has been incarcerated for nearly three years, after being found guilty of two counts of murder, as well as guilty of counts of assault, aggravated vehicular homicide, drug possession, and criminal tools possession.
In September 2023, shortly after she was sentenced, Shirilla’s legal team appealed her verdict, citing clerical errors and lack of evidence presented by the court. Cuyahoga County Judge Nancy Margaret Russo denied the appeal, stating it had come too late. That denial of the appeal was recently upheld in March 2026, after a review of the appeal, which stated the appeal came just one day too late after the 365-day deadline.
“Shirilla’s postconviction relief petition was filed on the 366th day following the filing of her trial transcript. Accordingly, we find that the trial court correctly determined it was without jurisdiction to consider the petition.”
Shirilla’s lawyers also appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, but their request for review was denied.
In The Crash, Shirilla gives her first-ever interview from prison, with her lawyer just off camera. When asked why she agreed to do the interview, Shirilla says, “I’ve never spoke before and I’ve never told my side of the story. I understand there’s many different sides to the story and different perspectives, but I just wanna say my truth. I just know myself, and I know I’m not a monster.”
Shirilla maintains that she has no memory of the crash, but speculates that perhaps the crash was caused by a medical emergency related to her health condition, POTS, which can cause unexpected fainting.
“I just want to make sure I’m big on the no intent,” Shirilla says at the end of her interview, after consulting her lawyer. “There was no intent whatsoever. I have excessive amounts of remorse for Dominic, Davion, both of their families. This was not intentional and I will do everything I can to prove that to the world and the families.”
