Newly released text messages between Mackenzie Shirilla and her boyfriend suggest their relationship was far more turbulent than what they appeared to show online.
Shirilla, now 21, began dating Dominic Russo while they were in high school. The pair stayed together for roughly four years, until Russo died in 2022.
Russo was killed in a head-on crash that also took the life of his friend Davion Flanagan. Authorities said Shirilla — who was 17 at the time — was driving when the car slammed into a building in Strongsville, Ohio, at about 100mph.
Shirilla survived. Russo and Flanagan did not.
Prosecutors later argued the crash was intentional. Shirilla was charged and ultimately convicted of murder along with several other offenses.
She received two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life in prison.
The case has recently drawn fresh attention following the success of Netflix documentary , The Crash. By May 26, the documentary was approaching 30 million views after debuting on May 15.
With interest in the case rising again, PEOPLE obtained records from the Strongsville Police Department containing texts exchanged by Shirilla and Russo between 2020 and 2022.
In one exchange, Shirilla appeared furious after Russo said he couldn’t give her a ride.
She told him she was “so f**king mad”, adding: “I’m gonna kill someone. I’m mad as f**k [right now].”
The same day, the argument escalated further.
“I F**KING HATE MYSELF IM UGLY AND YOU J[UST] ADD ON TO IT AND MAKE ME FEEL EVEN UGLYER [sic],” Shirilla wrote. “YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE IM WORTHLESS I DO SO MUCH S**T FOR YOU.”
Russo responded that she wouldn’t “have to do anything for me and i’d probably be happy”, prompting Shirilla to reply: “You cause pain to me for no reason and then you wonder why I’m so stressed. I’m trying so hard to please you but it’s never enough.”
About two months later, Russo suggested they separate for a while, saying it would be “good for both of us”.
In additional messages, he wrote: “We haven’t been getting along and u need to make some friends,” and reiterated: “I think it will be good for both of us.”
Shirilla pushed back: “No NO NO.”
After more time passed, Russo again tried to define the situation as a break.
“F**K YOU WE NOT ON A BREAK [sic],” Shirilla replied.
The conflict appears to have continued through the following months. In one conversation, Russo accused Shirilla of threatening violence.
“Thsts [sic] my bad but u did threaten to stab me in the eye,” he wrote, a claim Shirilla did not dispute in her response.
“Maybe if u just had my back u wouldn’t be threatened,” Shirilla replied, seemingly attempting to justify the threat.
Russo later acknowledged that his joke had upset her, but added there was still “no need to threaten to stab me”.
At another point, Shirilla acknowledged struggles with anger after Russo described her behavior as the relationship’s “main problem”.
“Obviously I have anger issues I’ve been working on in my whole entire life I need somebody that’s going to be there for me and D escalate [sic] my situation‘s when I’m going through a manic episode and you never do that you choose to escalate the situation all the time,” she wrote.
In other messages, Shirilla suggested Russo had been unfaithful and claimed she couldn’t trust him.
“You can’t even prove to me that you’re not a cheater because you know deep down that it’s still in you and always will be,” she wrote.
Two weeks before the crash, Shirilla accused Russo of endangering her life during an incident involving a car.
On July 17 2022, she wrote: “The fact that my boyfriend of four years just tried to end my life by steering me off of the highway that’s how I know you’re not in love and you never were somebody who loves me would never do this to me.”
Russo replied that he “rly didnt”, but Shirilla continued: “I’m already nervous driving in the rain as it is and the fact that you would even try to steer me off of the road and make my car spin out.”
Shirilla then warned she would “file a police report”. Russo answered: “If u do im telling your mom your a prostitute … cuz u are.”
And on July 21 — the week before the fatal crash — Shirilla messaged Russo asking to be allowed into his home.
He refused, stating it was because she had “threatened to break a bunch if s**t”, to which Shirilla responded: “I’m only going to break s**t if you don’t let me in.”