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An Ohio teen has been convicted of murder after a judge found that she purposely slammed her car into a brick wall at 100 mph, killing her boyfriend and a friend.
Mackenzie Shirilla, 19, was found guilty of four counts each of murder and felonious assault, two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, one count of drug possession and one count of possessing criminal tools, Cuyahoga County court records show.
The July 31, 2022 crash happened in the Cleveland suburb of Strongsville and killed Shirilla’s boyfriend, 20-year-old Dominic Russo, and 19-year-old Davion Flanagan, the Strongsville Police Department reported.
“Her actions were controlled, methodical, deliberate, intentional and purposeful,” Common Pleas Court Judge Nancy Margaret Russo said Monday. “This was not reckless driving. This was murder.”
In a live video broadcast by WKYC, Shirilla held her hand over her mouth and cried as the the judge announced the verdict.
Shirilla, who was taken to jail after being convicted, is set to be sentenced in the case on Monday.
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100 mph into a building
The wreck took place about 5:30 a.m. after police and prosecutors say Shirilla − 17 at the time − intentionally slammed her black Toyota Camry into a commercial building.
The area where the wreck took place is about 20 mile southwest of downtown Cleveland.
Police said when they arrived at the scene, they found all three people inside the Camry unconscious, not breathing and trapped. Firefighters extricated them, and Flanagan and Russo were pronounced dead at the scene.
A medical helicopter took Shirilla to a hospital until she recovered, police said.
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‘Literal hell on wheels’
The judge, local Cleveland.com reported, said final seconds of video recorded of the crash from a nearby business was “key to her verdict.”
“She morphs from responsible driver to literal hell on wheels,” Russo said.
Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said those moments were also why the district attorney’s office chose to try Shirilla as an adult, the outlet reported.
“When you drive for four or five seconds with the pedal all the way down until you hit 100 mph into a building, we felt the charge was appropriate,” O’Malley said.
Her conviction, according to the outlet, carries an automatic life sentence with the possibility of parole after serving a minimum of 15 years.
‘An innocent passenger’
In a GoFundMe set up after the crash for funeral expenses, Russo was described as bringing “so much happiness and joy to others.”
“His smile could light up a room instantly,” it said. “He inspired many people to better themselves in such a short amount of time.”
Scott Flanagan, Davion’s father, said in a Facebook post earlier this week that he was hoping the verdict would be fair “and brings peace to the families of Davion and Dominic.”
“We do not seek vengeance, only justice for our son who was nothing more that an innocent passenger looking for a ride home,” he said.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @nataliealund.
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