(Scripps News Cleveland) — Mackenzie Shirilla, the 19-year-old woman who was found guilty of murder for purposely causing a car crash that killed her boyfriend and his friend in July 2022, was sentenced to two life sentences for the murders, to be served concurrently.
Shirilla will serve a minimum of 15 years in prison for the two concurrent life sentences handed down by Judge Nancy Margaret Russo Monday afternoon.
Mackenzie Shirilla reacts as the judge reads her verdict. Shirilla, 19, has been sentenced to 15 years to life for killing two men in an intentional crash in 2022. (Scripps News Cleveland)
During impact statements from the family of the two victims, many pleaded for the sentences to run consecutively, and that Shirilla spend the maximum sentence of 30 years to life in prison.
“I understand that the pain in this room wants me to impose the harshest sentence,” Russo said before announcing Shirilla’s sentence. “But I don’t believe that would be an appropriate sentence, because I do believe that Mackenzie will not be out in 15 years.”
Shirilla had been charged with four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault, aggravated vehicular homicide, drug possession, and possessing criminal tools, according to court records. Last week, she was found guilty of all counts in a Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.
The crash happened on July 31, 2022, just after 6 a.m. near Progress and Alameda drives. The occupants, Shirilla, Davion Flanagan, 19, and Dominic Russo, 20, had to be extricated from the vehicle. Shirilla was flown to MetroHealth in Cleveland for treatment, while Flanagan and Russo were pronounced dead at the scene.
Court records show that Shirilla “did purposely cause the death” of the two teens by crashing the vehicle she was driving.
This report was originally published by Scripps News Cleveland, an E.W. Scripps Company.
