A former prisoner who spent time in the same facility as convicted killer Mackenzie Shirilla has spoken about what she says Shirilla was like behind bars.
Since Netflix released The Crash, viewers have been vocal about their impressions of the documentary’s central figure. A large number of commenters have described her as unrepentant and entitled, and many say they believe she was responsible for the deaths.
Shirilla was sentenced in 2023 after being convicted over the deaths of her boyfriend Dominic Russo and friend Davion Flanagan.
She was found guilty on four counts of murder in a case prosecutors described as an “intentional act,” after evidence showed she drove into a wall at roughly 100mph. Black box data indicated Shirilla — who was 17 at the time — continued pressing the accelerator until impact. Shirilla has maintained she blacked out and did not intend to kill anyone.
Russo, 20, and Flanagan, 19, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Now, former Ohio inmate Kat Crowder has discussed her alleged experience of being incarcerated with Shirilla, claiming the version of her shown in the documentary doesn’t match what she witnessed. Crowder shared her account on TikTok.
She said: “When I was in prison with her, it was at the beginning of her sentence, and the Mackenzie that came on to Netflix was not the same Mackenzie that I witnessed in prison.
“She thrived for fame, even when I was in prison with her, she thought she was going to be the representative of the prison.
“Let me tell you something, Mackenzie Shirilla did not walk around that prison yard with an ounce of remorse.
“Mackenzie did not walk around that prison yard thinking about those lost loved ones that she claimed to think about every single day. [She] walked around the prison thinking, how is she going to get in with the cool kids?”
Crowder has since been released and is now living in Nashville with her daughter. Shirilla, meanwhile, received life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years. She was given two life sentences — one for Russo’s death and another for Flanagan’s.
Kat continued: “When I was in there with Mackenzie, all she cared about was doing her makeup, walking around in the yard with her one or two friends that were also very similar to her: young girls, social media influencer wannabes, thinking that it was a high school popularity contest.
“She was starting to hang out with the lifers who were more institutionalised and harder,” Kat added.
‘Mackenzie had everything you can imagine in prison and more. All the makeup, all the limited item stuff that you had to buy, Mackenzie had it, her mum enabled her.”
In a later interview with NewsNationNow, Crowder said she believed Shirilla wanted to emulate “Regina George” from Mean Girls.
Crowder also claimed other prisoners said Shirilla allegedly told people she was high at the time of the crash.
“I do say that she wanted to be like Regina George. I mean, just the way that she did her makeup, the way that she, I mean, it was like she was going out to a club or something.”
The events at the center of the case are explored in Netflix’s documentary The Crash, which includes interviews with people connected to the investigation that drew widespread attention in 2022.
Shirilla was 17 when she was driving a Toyota Camry back from a party in Strongsville, Ohio, with her boyfriend, Dom, and his friend, Davion. Prosecutors said the vehicle struck a brick building at around 100mph.
Russo and Flanagan were killed, while Shirilla survived with major injuries, including damage to her liver and kidney as well as broken ribs.
After she was charged and ultimately convicted, Shirilla appeared before Judge Nancy Russo, who described the teen as ‘literal hell on wheels’. The judge characterized Shirilla’s actions as five things: “Controlled, methodical, deliberate, intentional and purposeful.”
“This was not reckless driving. This was murder. The video clearly shows the purpose and intent of the defendant. She chose a course of death and destruction that day,” the judge said.
Mackenzie Shirilla’s lawyer has been approached for comment