Teen Kills Boyfriend And Friend In High Speed Car Crash (2022)

That's A Crime
Episode 70: Teen Kills Boyfriend And Friend In High Speed Car Crash (2022)

Jason Connell and Sal Rodriguez break down the true crime story of the Teen Kills Boyfriend And Friend In High Speed Car Crash in 2022. On July 31, 2022, in Strongsville, OH, 19-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla was driving at a speed of 100 mph when the car crashed and killed her boyfriend, 20-year-old Dominic Russo, and his friend, 19-year-old Davion Flanagan.

Recorded: 10-13-23
Studio: Just Curious Media
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Transcript

Jason Connell: 0:01

Whoa, just curious. Welcome to Just curious media. This is that's a crime. I'm Jason Connell.

Sal Rodriguez: 0:10

And I'm Sal Rodriguez.

Jason Connell: 0:12

All right sound we are back with another episode. A crime. Sorry, another crime.

Sal Rodriguez: 0:19

Yeah, a crime with some some tragedies here.

Jason Connell: 0:22

There are some tragedies. Yes, that is true. Because today we're breaking down the True Crime Story of the team kills boyfriend and friend and high speed car crash in 2022. It's a tough one. No doubt.

Sal Rodriguez: 0:38

It is, you know, young people, especially, you know, they got their whole life ahead, all that potential, all the possibilities cut down.

Jason Connell: 0:46

And it is very sad. In fact, as I was going over the notes, and we talked before, and then I was fine tuning it. I couldn't help but think of a cousin I lost in a car crash teenager, she was the oldest of all the grandkids. Bridget, Bridget Kenny rest in peace. But she was so young 18 I think it was I don't know all the details. I was younger than her like a year and a half. But it was Iraq, the family to the core right? Out joy riding and she was not driving and got like, the car kind of swerved. And she was ejected out of the vehicle and hit a tree and was in a coma for a few days. I remember and it was just and then finally she passed. And it was like, Oh my gosh, it's so surreal. We went to the funeral. And it was like, she went to a different high school than us. And it was just like, you go to a young person's funeral. And that's just its own thing. It's hundreds and hundreds of kids. Just everyone's you know, beside themselves. So yeah, I remember it vividly. So that comes to mind because we lose to teens, it's definitely on the darker side. And so preventable. You know, like, it's everything's preventing this from happening. But yet, this tragedy

Sal Rodriguez: 2:06

happens. Well, we're gonna get to a little a little tidbit at the very end that I'm gonna want to clarify and speak on, because I think it speaks a lot on how this whole thing went down as we get into the details on it.

Jason Connell: 2:18

Yeah. So oddly enough, this date coincides with my birthday, which is also very weird as I read this crime, but on July 31 2022, in Strongsville, Ohio, 19 year old Mackenzie Srila was driving at a speed of 100 miles an hour, which caused a car crash leading to the untimely deaths of her boyfriend, 20 year old Dominic Russo and his friend 19 year old Davion Flanagan. So here's teens and 120 year old shrill is driving 100 miles an hour, give or take, probably over and has a car crash and a driving 100 is never a good idea. In fact, I'm always curious why cars even go to these limits. Unless it's for a special person or purpose like a police officer or an ambulance. It's like, you know, it's there. You know why people drive facile because they can?

Sal Rodriguez: 3:23

Sure, yeah, if the road is open, you'll probably take it i i have hit 100 A couple of times out there on the open road, just to kind of see what it felt like. Sure. We've all done that. But yeah, I was out there on the open road, it would never occur to me to go anything above 50 in the city, right?

Jason Connell: 3:42

Well, the tragic incident occurred around 5:30am at the manufacturing plant located in Strongsville progress drive business park. So this is like a business park. All these things are they're probably not an error. You want to be driving fast, right? Srila lost control of her vehicle, careened off a sign and crashed into a Brick Warehouse resulting in the fatalities to Russo and Flanagan. And, yeah, it's like, okay, you're going way too fast. You can't make good decisions or reflexes, just a car can't correct itself out of these high speeds, Korean off the sign into a Brick Warehouse. And more often than not salads, you know, the passengers are truly at risk. You know, more so often than the drivers and this especially the passenger in the seat next to the driver. That's like the worst spot the I'm assuming that Flanagan was in the backseat. I don't know for sure making that assumption. But yeah, really bad. And we have a lot of details to get through because this also happened in 2022 in the summer, and there's already been a trial. So this is this isn't a brand new crime.

Sal Rodriguez: 4:58

Yeah. And the interesting thing is, I think at first listen You're gonna think it was an accident. Well, surely this was an accident, right? But yeah, talk about going dark. It's pretty brutal when you hear how it was conceived and described and as far as responsibility level of responsibility and premeditation even.

Jason Connell: 5:18

Absolutely, yeah, there's a lot of debate, but we have the facts, and we'll share them now. Now Shrila, was arrested in November 2022 and had a $5,000 bond and stayed in custody to out her trial. And during the trial, Assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor, Tim troop, argued that Cerrillos actions that morning, were driven by a sinister motive. He suggested that the crash was due to a deteriorating relationship with Russo, which had turned sour in the weeks leading up to the incident. These are young people sow and Relationships are hard on anybody, but especially in this age group, and now it's 530 in the morning, and yeah, I mean, there's definitely something amiss if not drugs, and alcohol, something else and then troop goes on to say the following Davian

Sal Rodriguez: 6:20

was just cargo. Whatever she had in for Dominic Flanagan was just along with his friend and got sucked into a toxic relationship, and just got in the wrong seat that night.

Jason Connell: 6:32

So sad, horrible,

Sal Rodriguez: 6:33

Wrong place, wrong time, wrong people.

Jason Connell: 6:36

And if they have this beef going on, it's yeah, that's he is collateral damage. It's like, hey, Debian we're gonna talk now. And then maybe you have to work something out. But yeah, he's just in this situation thinking, not that it's not any worse for Rousseau. But he really is just, as true puts it, cargo.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:57

Sure. A third wheel, third wheel.

Jason Connell: 7:00

So prosecutors said one of their strongest pieces of evidence was a brief video, which we do not have. So we do not have this video from a city owned security cameras showing shriller using her turn signal, and slowly turning her car from Pearl road on to Alameda drive. So I guess that's showing that she'll follow the rules in one instance, and another drive crazy and haphazardly and you know, I guess that's the what they're pointing to here.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:33

Yeah, Jason, I did see the video. Actually, it did. Yeah, I don't think that what the video shows, I would think so incriminating necessarily, to prove intent. But what you see is you see her slowly and very normally, consciously. Yeah, making a right turn, putting her blinker on everything seems quite normal. And then another camera catches the car of only a few seconds later, and she's going straight at it says 100 miles an hour. So in a period of just a few seconds, you see it, something happens between that safe turn her head towards this brick wall. Yeah. And that's, that's the case, what happened in those few moments and why

Jason Connell: 8:14

I got you. And it doesn't necessarily mean this is malicious, or I'm gonna do this, but you've now you know, you've changed the situation, you're speeding, you're probably provoked, your feelings are happening. It may not be to crash. But then at some point at these higher speeds, you lose control. And not just her I mean, in anybody who's in a car going way too fast. You might just be out joy riding, you might just be a little buzzed. But bad things happen when you get over a certain threshold. These aren't racecar drivers.

Sal Rodriguez: 8:51

No, I was just gonna say that. I mean, you'd have to be a pro driver to know Corrado operate speeds. Yeah,

Jason Connell: 8:56

even going slower those speeds like Hey, I hit a slick spot there and I'm going 30 And I felt everything jar Well, times that you know, times three, you're going 90. And that swerve, you don't come out of it. You don't. And that's what happens. And they're young, and they don't think that you just think oh yeah, you know, pedal and now some cars behave different than others. So yes, this is interesting. So I didn't see the video, but thanks for shedding light on that.

Sal Rodriguez: 9:24

And it's very early in the morning, Jason 530. You're assuming three people in their late teens at 530 in the morning. Were they going to work? No. Where are they coming from work? No. So that applies there. Yeah, they were they were at partying all night. Pa

Jason Connell: 9:39

night sleep all day that you were gonna hit that. I don't know the carry out here. Okay. So, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Nancy Margaret Rousseau no relation to one of our victims. Dominique Rousseau said the following. She

Sal Rodriguez: 10:00

Morse more responsible driver to literal hell on wheels as she makes her way down the street. 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. She had a mission and she executed it with precision. That decision was deaf. This was not reckless driving. This was murder. And this is the judge. Oh, wow. Yeah, that's pretty intense. So this judge is not declaring any doubt at all. She believes that she committed cold blooded murder, and she's

Jason Connell: 10:34

trying to kill everybody. Self included. I'm assuming that's the judges. Okay. We

Sal Rodriguez: 10:39

don't know. We don't know the details for who was wearing seatbelts. Was anybody wearing a seatbelt?

Jason Connell: 10:43

Yeah. But if you're if this is her statement, she's not you know, she's talking about McKinsey. It is McKinsey Srila. We're using last names. But it's not like I'm going to drive so fast. I'm going to offer these two she's probably thinking we're all in parallel here. We're all going down.

Sal Rodriguez: 10:59

Okay, so that leads me more to what I want to talk about as we go even further down the road. Sure. So

Jason Connell: 11:04

troop, and that would be prosecutor troop further emphasize that crash, investigators meticulously examined the car's computer system. And we don't know the type of car sale by the way, or we

Sal Rodriguez: 11:17

don't, we don't in fact, this is very interesting information, forensic vehicular information I never knew about now, I'm wondering if all cars have these computers where you can kind of it's like the equivalent of a black box on a plane. Exactly the recording. I never knew about this,

Jason Connell: 11:34

especially. And that's what I was thinking. When I started to read this, I was thinking more newer car. This is obviously not like a classic, something newer with a computer system, some of these OnStar, or whatever. So this analysis revealed that the accelerator pedal had been fully pressed down during the four seconds leading up to the crash, with no evidence of the brake being applied. Moreover, the car's computer data indicated at approximately five seconds before the collision, the steering wheel abruptly veer to the right, and then swiftly to the left. So it is fascinating. The only time saw that I saw any of this data in one of my vehicles was with progressive. My insurance provider, car insurance, they sent me a little thing that I plug into my car, and it tracks how you drive for six months, and you can get a lower rating. Whoa, means it's cheaper thing. So I did it. Well, I'm a very cautious driver, meaning it's looking for heartbreaks are looking for excessive acceleration. Yeah. And I got like the top score because I don't drive that way. Now, sometimes you might have to elude something. Right, sir. So many of those. It's not like you can't have any. But

Sal Rodriguez: 12:55

if you did want is to create a profile, a driving profile profile,

Jason Connell: 12:59

you need a lot of data. And then I even drove cross, not cross country, but definitely like five states away. And I did great. But occasionally someone cuts in your lane, and you got to do a little bit harder for Brady to go BBB BBB. And I was like, gosh, I don't want to score it would notify you that no. Oh, the only thing I didn't like about it. I was hyper aware of it. Yeah. And then you're even more cautious and I didn't like that. But knowing that that could happen. A lot of these cars probably are just sucking that data in passively. What Yeah,

Sal Rodriguez: 13:31

well, I'm imagining a Tesla. I would imagine a Tesla is doing this inherently right now.

Jason Connell: 13:37

Right. Exactly. So shrill is Attorney Jim McDonnell suggested the possibility that Srila might have been driving recklessly and then attempted to evade the crash at the 11th hour as she approached the progress drive intersection. That was their defense. Obviously, we know what the judge thought that didn't go over with her so well. Now, again, it's a sad, but we have to show our respects. And you know, I wish we knew more about our victims that passed away Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan, they were both declared dead at the scene wash Marilla was found unconscious.

Sal Rodriguez: 14:20

How did she get so lucky to survive this very same crash?

Jason Connell: 14:25

I know. It's, this is what happens though. Sometimes. You know, often I read, you know the driver. This has happened, Sal. I know. I haven't had a sports crime in a while. And I don't mean like the act of someone from sports. An athlete we've done some, in fact, there's one coming later in this episode. But more often than not, I hear so many times that an athlete to people driving, they roll their car, they're tired, they've had a few drinks, they walk away whoever was with them, another athlete is killed. It's more often than I even want to share. So, you know, you got the steering wheel, that side of the car is probably a lot more built. It's terrible. And we don't know what was in her mind. Was she like, yeah, it could have been all these factors. Intent, oh my gosh, what have I done, but you've already put this in motion. And then you know, listen, she definitely deserves to be punished, no doubt, but she's a person. And I'm finding out that these two people perished because of what she did her actions. She'll never shake that. So I mean, that's just, it's it's just compounded by sadness. Well,

Sal Rodriguez: 15:37

Jason, I did see a video clip of her in court. I believe it was at sentencing. And she appears now I say this, you know, I'm an actor. I've taken drama and theater, I can usually see through people's facades, usually, her remorse seem genuine. She was doing a really good job of showing grieving and remorse in the courtroom. I did believe it.

Jason Connell: 16:00

Okay. I think she cared for this. Her boyfriend is her boyfriend and his friend, you're gonna feel a lot of guilt, especially as time goes on. This was July 31 2022. She's in jail in November the trials probably 2023 you've had time to reflect, right? Like, oh my gosh, I've really ruined my life or changed my life. I've ruined two other lives and their families and their friends and it's it's a heavy, heavy burden. While Srila was found guilty of four counts of felonious assault and two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide. But Sal, there's even more to that.

Sal Rodriguez: 16:45

Yes. Shula also faces charges of drug possession and possession of criminal tools. These charges stemmed from the discovery of a small bag of psychedelic mushrooms, and a scale in her jacket. Pocket. Jason, as soon as I learned of this crime, as soon as I learned of the incident, the horrific tragedy. The first thing was, I bet they were on some sort of psychedelic hmm, I bet that she was probably on LSD or something. I thought that because especially after I saw her in the courtroom, I did believe her remorse. So I thought this was a horrible drug induced. She probably went psychotic, probably thought she could drive through the wall. Wow, we've long heard stories, people can take psychedelics and have a wonderful time, or they can take psychedelics and jump out the window, you know, so I think she was on a bad trip. And unfortunately, the ultimate consequence is human tragedy. So I think that's what happened. I think she was messed up on mushrooms, couldn't handle it, went kind of nuts, crashed the car, killed her boyfriend killed the friend, and will have to live that down the rest of her life.

Jason Connell: 17:49

Wow, you were spot on there. Now. I don't know if there was an autopsy. There probably was. But I don't know if any of this was in Rousseau and Flanagan system, no talk of finding drugs on them. It was definitely on her. But this does seem to be the case here. Obviously, things weren't adding up. And this definitely fills in some of the blanks and the judge had this information, all the more reason that she has that stance. Now shirtless conviction carries an automatic life sentence behind bars with no chance of parole for 15 years. It's kind of 1930 but 15 years. Yeah, so

Sal Rodriguez: 18:31

34 it if she gets parole is she'll be 34 Right?

Jason Connell: 18:34

So 34 still a young person but forever changed,

Sal Rodriguez: 18:39

and a felon, right coming out of prison. 34 years old as a felon,

Jason Connell: 18:44

and you're never going to shake what you did.

Sal Rodriguez: 18:47

Right? Well, you would have to change your name. I think people do that. Right. Well, I don't know. I think people do that. I mean, it's saying

Jason Connell: 18:53

you can't avoid yourself.

Sal Rodriguez: 18:55

You're no no of course you have to lay your head down at night. But I mean, as far as I do believe that there are people to protect their anonymity go into it's not witness protection, but they do change their name interesting.

Jason Connell: 19:06

Yeah. So that's a it's a dark one, you know, very tough crime. These are cautionary tales. All of these to me are cautionary tales, very preventable. And I wish cars as smart as they are doing all this data. You did this You did this to this. I'm a huge proponent for autonomous cars situation like this. You know, you can't Hey, speed it up their autonomous car, not going to happen or assessing you as AI gets smarter and being like, you're in no condition to drive and just lock it up. We're probably not that far removed from things like that preventative. You know care to avoid these because it is very avoidable ours. Your calculations don't add up. Why are we going 100 in this parking area, and the car overrides you. I know that sounds like big bro. Other talking at the same time, I'm telling you, it would eliminate a lot of these types of problems and the other crime we're going to talk about shortly. But still, there's no getting back the two victims. So rest in peace, Dominic Russo, Davey and Flanagan rest of one's family. Very, very tough and Srila. I mean, Mackenzie, surely you'll have time to evolve, you're young. That's the only good thing about this. You're going in so young, and you can really build your life, you're still figuring out who you are. Now, maybe you can choose a different path in life and come out of this contributing to society and not being a detriment to yourself and those around you. Yeah,

Sal Rodriguez: 20:47

I mean, for her life, to just go completely downhill from this point, would be of no service to anyone. So yeah, the best thing is for her to pull herself together, do her time, and come out a better person, an evolved person, and maybe help people who were also victimized or perpetrated things like this. In other words, your story can help other people.

Jason Connell: 21:12

Absolutely. And that covers the True Crime Story of the team kills boyfriend and friend and high speed car crash in 2022. And so something we've been doing on recent episodes is spotlighting an episode from the past of our that's a Crime Library. And we've been kind of going back and forth you pick one I pick one and so I picked one but it's not necessarily a lighter crime. We have a great hit list of crimes to choose from, but I stayed on point because I figured it would as you said, hammer the point home even more and I left this episode, writing it now talking about it with you and performing it if you will. Even more somber like Gosh, man can't we just learn from this and less victims in the world and I chose episode 19 Henry rugs the third fatal car crash in 2021. He was a prominent NFL wide receiver in his rookie season for the Las Vegas Raiders, gets in a car has his girlfriend. Top of the World cell. This is truly another cautionary tale. In Vegas, he's driving on the street is a fancy car he's got is going 100 I believe it's 130 130 comes up behind someone can't react. This is what happens not going at even at Spass owl 130 and just plows into this poor victim and her dog. And this is like hitting me so hard. And it's Tina tinter and her dog Max. That car goes up in flames. They perish. Rugs pulls over he's distraught. They both live him and his girlfriend. He's in prison NFL career over we have a victim and a dog to victims. And yeah, and he I don't even I know I followed it for a while. I know he's still in jail. I think he's been sentenced. But it's just like there's no good that comes out of this. He was literally like having this great season. And not that that's important. But he didn't have malicious intent. He just had a bad decision. And a bad decision has consequences. When you have seen or heard judgment and paired judgment. It hurts me like very viscerally like in my stomach. I'm like, gosh, it's just it's so preventable. It's not just some accident. Like I didn't see the light and I you know we recently did the treat Williams episode where he was killed on his motorcycle. But, you know, the person tried to like, pull in front of him and he had some still terrible, but it's more of a you know, a normal moving violation. These are probably rentable, anything over 100 Anything in the 80s in an area shouldn't be driving that fast. I mean, even 70 You know, whatever it is, you know what I'm saying? But it was just really bad. But anyway, sorry to add more somber to somber, but these crimes are important too. And I think you should visit it. There's a lot more information about it. So I know you remember that episode. We recorded it December 1 2021. Any thoughts from your end? No, I

Sal Rodriguez: 24:28

just remember. Like you said another cautionary tale about being careful out there. And Jason, one thing I have learned, this is embarrassing to say, but I've learned with me personally that I can be intoxicated and not know it. Oh, I will not know that. I'm pretty drunk right now. I got a time wasted. But the problem is, if you don't know you're intoxicated, you may do things you should not do while intoxicated. Like driving, right? Yes. So I would caution people to please be careful out there if you're gonna mess around with drugs and alcohol Call, don't mess around with cars, walk, give your keys, take the Uber, whatever, do not get behind the wheel of a car, even if you don't think you're wasted because you might be wasted and not knowing.

Jason Connell: 25:15

Quick update on rugs because I hadn't been following it recently. But he was jailed for up to 10 years over the fatal and its DUI crash. So he had substance in his system, impaired his judgment. So here, you know, he also went away early 20s and never had the NFL career. But he will have a life. And he has a life in jail, but he'll have a post jail life. And he too can learn from that. So not to give you more homework fans, but it's a really important episode we talk a little bit more about rugs and the victims and then a GoFundMe, which I haven't checked in a while but again, it just kind of felt like if there's a time to spotlight the Henry ruggs A third fatal car crash Episode This was that time.

Sal Rodriguez: 26:05

Yeah, it does hammered home. It does make you think does give you pause, and rest and peace all these people whose lives have been taken because people made bad decisions. Yep.

Jason Connell: 26:18

So thank you so much for listening. And please be sure to subscribe to the that's a crime podcast and the that's a crime YouTube Live Channel. You can also really help us by giving the show a five star rating on Apple podcast.

Sal Rodriguez: 26:31

And for all your listeners that enjoy sharing your thoughts. You can leave us a review on Apple podcasts, send us a direct message or post a comment on any that's a crime social media platform.

Jason Connell: 26:41

We also highly recommend checking out our other podcast and visiting just curious media.com