On May 15th Netflix released a documentary titled The Crash. The documentary follows an incident dating back to July 2022 and its buildup surrounding the teenagers, as well as families affected by the event.
On July 31, 2022 there was a severe car accident that took place in Strongsville, Ohio with three teenagers present in the car. In the car was a young couple Mackenzie Shirilla (17) and Dominic Russo (20), and their friend Davion Flanagan (19). The three of them were driving back from a friend’s house at around 5 a.m. that morning, and it originally only supposed to be Mackenzie and Dominic, but Davion wanted a ride home as well to rest up after that night. The car was being driven by Mackenzie at 100 miles an hour, which caused the car to crash into a brick wall and the impact caused the car to split in half leaving it with irreparable damage in all forms. The two boys were killed from the impact of the crash, while Mackenzie survived with treatable injuries. This was initially deemed a tragic accident; however after further investigation in the case detectives began to question otherwise.
The documentary goes in detail about the toxic nature of Mackenzie and Dominic’s relationship, as well as their friend group and what their dynamic was like. It also shows detectives going back and forth on possible causes of what happened in the car to cause the crash. It also features a lot of unique perspectives from friends, parents, siblings, and others working on the case. Check out the trailer here.
The group of teenagers met in high school, both Mackenzie and Davion along with their other friends graduated from Strongsville High School in 2022. That summer the group was constantly hanging out, however, during these hangouts they would take part in substances like smoking marijuana and mushrooms. This is important because this fact led investigators to one potential cause of the crash being under the influence of drugs. Eventually, this was voided as the cause of the crash after Mackenzie’s blood tested negative for any substances the night of the crash.
Another probable cause that was tested is malfunction of the car. They had come to this conclusion after a slipper that belonged to the driver (Mackenzie) was stuck on the gas pedal. However, this was also voided when the car was inspected and passed with no malfunctions. They then came to the conclusion that the slipper became stuck because of the impact of the crash smashing the car in around it.
From this they were led to ground breaking evidence in the case that indicated that this was intentional. Since the car had no malfunctions, Mackenzie would have been able to step on the brake and stop the car from crashing. However, investigators read reports of the car’s actions in the last 5 seconds before the crash and the accelerator was being pushed down at 100% force at 100 miles per hour with no attempt of using the brake.
For additional evidence, investigators went through everything on Mackenzie’s phone to get a feel on who she really was. They found several things from threatening texts to her boyfriend Dominic, videos from her social media, and videos recorded during heated arguments between her and Dominic.
A big part of this case was the toxic on and off relationship between Mackenzie and Dominic. They had begun dating in 2018 when Mackenzie was about 13 and Dom was 16, they continued to date on and off for 4 years up until the crash. They were viewed by their friends as the perfect “duo”, but behind closed doors they would make disturbing threats to one another, as well as frequent arguments and break-ups. It was implied in court by Dominic’s mother that Dom was tired of the toxicity and wanted to end his relationship with Mackenzie for good. This led to speculation as this being the probable motive for her intentions the night of the crash.
After solid evidence had been gathered about 3 months following the crash and Mackenzie’s discharge from the hospital, she was officially arrested on November 4th, 2022. Her trial took place less than a year later in August 2023 and lasted four days. After all sides spoke and all evidence was presented, Mackenzie was charged with murder, assault, and vehicular homicide. Shortly after she was sentenced two 15 years to life sentences in prison where she still remains today.
While justice was served in the court it won’t reverse or give back what was taken away in that brutal crash, and that is two young lives. Dominic had aspirations to work in music producing and continue trading stocks. Davion was a talented football player who wanted to go to barber school and intended to pursue his education that fall. His family created a scholarship in his memory. They both had so much potential to go far in life and joy to give, but it unfortunately was taken from them and their families in a split second in the worst possible way.
A quote that stuck out to me while watching the documentary is when Davion’s dad Scott Flanagan mentioned his initial waryness of his son’s choices of friends. He mentions something he told Davion, his exact words were, ”show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future”. This case is a warning to the impressionable world we live in, to be careful if you put your trust in, because you never know the spite hidden behind their intentions.
