Mackenzie Shirilla, who is serving two life sentences for the deaths of her boyfriend and his friend, has now been accused by a former inmate of finding multiple ways to earn money while incarcerated.
Shirilla was 17 when prosecutors said she drove into a wall at around 100 miles per hour.
The Strongsville, Ohio teenager was in the vehicle with her then-boyfriend Dominic Russo and friend Davion Flanagan in July 2022.
The case drew national attention, particularly because Shirilla maintained she had blacked out while driving, a claim that triggered intense public debate.
She was ultimately convicted on 12 felony counts, including aggravated vehicular homicide, murder, and felonious assault connected to Russo and Flanagan.
Interest in the story has surged again after The Crash, a Netflix documentary, was released.
Kat Crowder, who says she was incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women at the same time as Shirilla, has shared allegations about Shirilla’s behavior in prison—specifically claims involving so-called “sugar daddy” style funding.
Speaking with TMZ, Crowder alleged that Shirilla accessed websites that function as pen-pal platforms for incarcerated women and used them to bring in money from people outside prison.
Crowder claimed that, in her view, some inmates use these sites by misleading men into believing a relationship could happen after release, which can lead to those men sending money and paying for expenses.
She added that while the platforms may not be advertised as “sugar daddy websites,” she said that’s effectively what inmates refer to them as.
Crowder said she believes Shirilla may have stopped using the sites because of the attention they were attracting, but she also claimed she wouldn’t be surprised if Shirilla previously received significant interest from men through them.
Crowder also alleged Shirilla bought art supplies and used them to make items such as nose rings, bracelets, and custom shoes for other prisoners.
According to Crowder, the items were then sold and the proceeds were sent to Shirilla via Cash App deposits.
Crowder also spoke to NewsNation on May 20, where she claimed Shirilla wanted to model herself after a Mean Girls character.
“I do say that she wanted to be like Regina George,” she said. “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.”
Shirilla’s attorney has been contacted for comment.