Mackenzie Shirilla's Mom Insists She Has ‘No Memory' of Fatal Car Crash

Mackenzie Shirilla's mother, Natalie Shirilla, opened up about her daughter's life behind bars just two days after the Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear a second appeal of her case.

While appearing on the Thursday, June 25, episode of Chris Cuomo's "Crime Time" podcast, Natalie, 52, said that Mackenzie, 21, is "trapped in a nightmare that she has no memory of."

Mackenzie was convicted in 2023 after it was determined that she intentionally crashed her car into a brick building while going 100 mph in 2022. The crash killed her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and their friend Davion Flanagan.

During the trial, prosecutors argued that Mackenzie and Russo, 20, had a tumultuous relationship and that she intentionally crashed the car.

Meanwhile, Mackenzie's attorneys have argued that "there is medical evidence" that she may have "suffered from a pre-existing medical condition that could have caused her to black out while driving."

Mackenzie was previously diagnosed with POTS, which "is a condition that causes a number of symptoms when you transition from lying down to standing up, such as a fast heart rate, dizziness and fatigue," according to the Cleveland Clinic.

"She's never seen the evidence. She's never seen the discovery. She's never seen anything," Natalie said. "She's almost trapped in a nightmare that she has. All she knows is that the boyfriend that she loved with her whole, whole heart is gone and Davion is gone and she was the driver in a car accident, and has no memory of it."

Natalie then reiterated that Mackenzie had no recollection of what happened on the day of the crash and that she's still questioning exactly what happened.

Outside of her confusion regarding the crash, Natalie shared that Mackenzie is passing her time behind bars at the Ohio Reformatory for Women by making artwork.

"It's so sad, and one of these days I'll share it, but I'm not going to share it now for obvious reasons, but it's really sad," Natalie said about her daughter's art. "She does self-portraits of herself where she has… like a rose of thorns around her neck or like her mouth is sewn shut and she's got all these question marks around her head like, ‘Why, why, why?'"

Natalie said that Mackenzie has also questioned what happened to Russo and Flanagan, 19. "And like, ‘Where's Dom?' Like, ‘What happened and [to] Davion?' It's like so sad she's literally trapped in this nightmare, and so she struggles mentally with that part and I feel bad for everybody," she continued.

After Mackenzie was found guilty, she was sentenced to two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life in prison.

Her legal team has attempted to appeal the verdict three times, and the Ohio Supreme Court denied her most recent request for her case to be reviewed on Tuesday, June 23.

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This story was originally published June 26, 2026 at 11:28 AM.