The judge who sentenced her to life in prison called her “hell on wheels,” and newly obtained prison records reveal that Mackenzie Shirilla has been living up to that label behind bars with a stunning array of misconduct, including allegations of sexual harassment, flashing her breasts during video visits, and hoarding contraband. The 20-year-old, convicted of murdering her boyfriend Dominic Russo and his friend Davon Flanigan by intentionally driving 100 miles per hour into a wall in Strongsville, Ohio, in July 2022, has accumulated dozens of conduct reports since entering the Ohio Department of Corrections. These records, obtained by Law and Crime, paint a picture of an inmate who refuses to follow rules, denies responsibility, and appears to view herself as above the prison system.
The most serious infraction occurred in September 2025, when corrections officers reviewed video visits and witnessed Shirilla exposing her breasts to a visitor who was not an approved contact. The conduct report details that during the visit, the visitor displayed a 𝒔𝒆𝒙 toy and also 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓮𝓭 her own breasts, with the interaction lasting for several minutes. Shirilla could not deny the incident, as it was captured on the prison’s video monitoring system. She lost access to electronics for 30 days as a result, but the pattern of behavior had already been established.
Just months earlier, in April 2025, Shirilla was caught conducting video visits with an ex-inmate who was not on her approved visitor list. The officer noted that the pair had engaged in over 100 such visits before being discovered, with the visitor using a false identity to gain access. Shirilla admitted guilt at the hearing, offering no statement in her defense. This incident came on the heels of a sexual harassment allegation from March 2025, when a corrections officer reported that Shirilla made a crude comment about an officer’s anatomy after being asked to remove an altered hoodie.
The officer wrote that Shirilla stated, “If he got an erection from the way I’m dressed, that’s his fault,” using a vulgar term for the male anatomy. When escorted to a restroom to verify she was properly dressed, Shirilla unzipped her hoodie to reveal her state shirt completely unbuttoned, wearing only a sports bra underneath. She was described as “very disrespectful” and spoke with a loud tone, questioning why staff were focused on her altered clothing. Shirilla pleaded guilty to the charges.
Contraband has been a recurring theme in Shirilla’s prison life. In October 2024, officers conducting a random bed search found two pairs of altered state pants, a fan with another inmate’s name crossed out and replaced with hers, and four 𝓷𝓾𝓭𝓮 magazine pictures. She was found guilty and lost commissary privileges for 30 days. The following month, she was caught with a block of cheese and a package of noodles hidden in her hoodie, and she was not wearing a state shirt, violating dress code. She admitted guilt and lost access to packages for 30 days.
Two days later, she was written up again for wearing an altered blue sweatshirt that had been modified into a hoodie. Shirilla claimed she did not alter it herself but admitted to having it. She lost commissary privileges for another 30 days. The pattern continued into August 2025, when she was accused of stealing items from the prison’s kind wear room, including dangle earrings with charms, bottles of paint, wax, 11 paint tubes, a plastic bin, 20 rocks, homemade pillows, altered painted shoes, 𝒻𝒶𝓀𝑒 eyelashes, and a neck scarf. She initially denied stealing, claiming she received the items from another inmate, but later pleaded guilty.
Crisis manager Justin Pernie, who advises inmates on navigating prison life, analyzed the conduct reports and described Shirilla’s behavior as a “total case study of what not to do.” He noted that while minor infractions like taking food from the chow hall might be overlooked, Shirilla’s repeated violations threaten the security of the institution. “She’s setting herself up on a path to be there for the rest of her life,” Pernie said, pointing to the lack of remorse and the focus on her own image. He emphasized that until Shirilla accepts responsibility for killing two people, she will continue to make decisions that keep her incarcerated.
The Netflix documentary “The Crash,” which featured Shirilla attempting to portray herself as remorseful, has only exacerbated the problem, according to Pernie. “Netflix has an agenda to get viewers, not to help her,” he said. “She doesn’t recognize that, so she’s making decisions that are going to keep her in prison for the rest of her life.” Shirilla has complained about being in protective custody, describing her fellow inmates as “weird and sick people,” but Pernie argued that she may be the problem. “She does not identify with them. She is not one of them. She is innocent,” he said, explaining her mindset.
Shirilla’s parents have been described as enablers, telling her what she wants to hear rather than the hard truths she needs to hear. Pernie advised that she should begin journaling, reading books, and building a documented record of improvement. “She should write an open letter saying, ‘I’m young, I’m immature, my parents enable me, I am too focused on celebrity, all I do is think about myself,'” he said. “And then do it.” Without such a transformation, he warned, her chances of parole in 2037 are slim.
The conduct reports show that Shirilla has been written up for being out of place, possessing contraband, violating dress code, and engaging in sexual misconduct. In one instance, she was found in the dayroom after it had been closed, claiming she “just didn’t know.” In another, she was accused of having her hands in another inmate’s pants in the buttocks region, though she denied the allegation, stating, “I don’t do that kind of stuff.” The pattern of denial and deflection is consistent throughout the records.
Pernie noted that the prison has given Shirilla a “longer leash” than many inmates, but that could change if she continues to push boundaries. “If she gets one or two disciplinary infractions in the federal system, that’s a wrap,” he said. “She would go to the hole, get transferred to higher security, lose good time.” The consequences in Ohio’s system appear less severe, but Pernie warned that total isolation is likely if she does not change course. “She’s going to get exactly what she doesn’t want: total isolation, 23 hours a day in a bunker,” he said.
As of now, Shirilla remains incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, serving two consecutive sentences of 15 years to life. The victims’ families have not commented on the latest revelations, but the records suggest that Shirilla’s behavior behind bars is far from the remorseful image she attempted to project. The judge who sentenced her said she was “hell on wheels,” and the evidence from prison indicates that assessment was accurate. Whether she can turn her life around remains uncertain, but the path she is on leads to a lifetime behind bars.
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