An Ohio teen has been convicted of murder for the death of her boyfriend and friend after she allegedly crashed a car they were in deliberately into the side of a building.
The defendant, 19-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla, was only 17 years old when the incident occurred. She now faces life in prison after being found guilty of four counts of murder for the July 2022 car crash that killed her boyfriend, 20-year-old Dominic Russo, and their friend, 19-year-old Davion Flanagan.
Ohio Teen Found Guilty of Murder
Shirilla could be sobbing in court when the verdict for her crime was being read as Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Nancy Margaret Russo on Monday said that what the defendant did was not simply reckless driving but murder.
The judge said the teenager had a mission and could execute it precisely and noted that that decision was death. The Strongsville suspect was also found guilty of four counts of felonious assault and two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, as per the New York Post.
Shirilla's conviction gives her an automatic life sentence with no opportunity for parole for 15 years. Prosecutors alleged that the defendant acted deliberately and with purpose and intent, as shown by security video footage. She supposedly floored her Toyota Camry to drive 100 miles per hour shortly before it jumped a curb and crashed into a brick warehouse.
In a statement, the judge handling the case said that Shirilla morphed from a responsible driver to literal "hell on wheels" as she made her way down the street. Judge Russo added that Shirilla was alone in deciding to drive the car into an obscure route she had visited a few days before the crash and one she does not normally take.
The judge added that Shirilla chose to drive her boyfriend and friend shortly past 6:00 a.m. because it was a time that she knew there were most likely few people nearby to witness the crash or offer life-saving assistance.
Deliberate Car Crash
Shirilla's attorney, Jim McDonnell, had asked the judge to find his client guilty of aggravated vehicular homicide for driving recklessly. He requested Judge Russo to acquit the teenage defendant of the murder charges, saying that the prosecution could not provide sufficient evidence to prove that the crash was deliberate, according to HuffPost.
McDonnell argued that Shirilla did not remember the car crash that killed her boyfriend and friend, and her mother also testified that the teenager has a medical condition that results in her losing consciousness if her sodium levels get too low.
Months before the verdict, the teenager paid tribute to her boyfriend on social media, saying he was the last person to deserve such a fate. On top of the murder convictions, Shirilla was also found guilty of drug possession as she and the two fatalities smoked marijuana before she drove off, said the Dailymail.
Related Article: Wanted Fugitive Returned to Glenn County to Face Homicide Charges
