Credit: Netflix

Netflix believes in periodic reality checks, and on today’s episode, they come on the coattails of The Crash, a chilling true-crime documentary based on the real-life 2022 Ohio-based incident in which a car travelling at 100kmph crashed into the building, killing two.

The driver in question was 17-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla, who was reportedly driving back home from a high school graduation gathering with her boyfriend, Dom and their friend Davion when the horrifying crash took place. Although the crash initially comes across as a devastating accident, as detectives dig deeper, the findings say otherwise.

The Crash, now streaming on Netflix, explores the fragile relationship primarily at the heart of this ill-fated trio, recreating the events of the night through bodycam and surveillance video, cell phone recordings, courtroom footage, alongside interviews with the families of all three involved, including the sole survivor, who also happens to be the driver, Shirilla.

At the time of the crash, Shirilla was romantically involved with Dominic “Dom” Russo for around four years. The pair recently moved in together after Mackenzie graduated from Strongsville High School. Early in the morning on July 31st, 2022, she was driving Dom and Davion Flanagan, their mutual friend, home, when the car rammed into the side of a building. Upon the police and emergency responders’ arrival, they announced that Dom and Davion were dead.  

Shirilla suffered from severe injuries and had to be airlifted to a hospital. During the investigation, authorities considered several potential explanations. Since the first responders discovered marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms in Mackenzie’s belongings, they weighed in on the impaired-driving theory. However, when her toxicology arrived negative for psilocybin or alcohol and positive only for THC, they had to look the other way.

A forensic auto investigator subsequently confirmed the car had no mechanical malfunctions, ruling out the possibility of vehicle failure. But the groundbreaking discovery that actually turned the eyes of suspicion on Mackenzie is a surveillance footage uncovered by Strongsville police of the car’s final moments. In the footage, the car made a conscious and deliberate turn before speeding up to 100 miles per hour.

The vehicle’s data recorder revealed that the accelerator was pushed to 100% for five long seconds with no try to hit the brake. In September 2022, Dom’s brother, Angelo, confided to the detectives that Dom was trying to end things with Mackenzie throughout July, while another person reported that she had threatened to crash a car with Dom inside a few weeks earlier.

In November that year, she was arrested on two counts of aggravated murder. Mackenzie was tried as an adult and was found guilty on both counts, receiving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life imprisonment. As of now, she remains behind bars, with her first appeal already denied. Her first parole hearing is scheduled to take place in September 2037.