Ohio Supreme Court Denies Mackenzie Shirilla’s Latest Bid to Reopen Case

Mackenzie Shirilla has suffered another legal setback after the Ohio Supreme Court rejected her attorneys’ request to reconsider its decision not to hear her latest appeal.

According to Fox News, Shirilla, now 21, is serving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life for the deaths of her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and their friend, Davion Flanagan, 19.

Prosecutors said Shirilla intentionally drove her Toyota Camry into a brick building in Strongsville, Ohio, in July 2022.

Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy denied Shirilla’s motion for reconsideration Tuesday, leaving intact the court’s June 23 decision declining to take up the case.

“It is ordered by the court that the motion for reconsideration in this case is denied,” Kennedy wrote.

The latest ruling centers on a procedural deadline rather than the substance of Shirilla’s claims. A lower court previously determined that her postconviction petition was filed one day late.

Under Ohio law, such petitions generally must be filed within 365 days after the trial transcript is filed in the court of appeals. The relevant transcript was filed Oct. 24, 2023, making Oct. 23, 2024, the deadline.

Shirilla’s attorneys filed the petition Oct. 24, 2024 — the 366th day.

Her lawyers argued that confusion surrounding the filing timeline contributed to the missed deadline. They also pointed to the 2024 leap year and argued that the filing clock should have started later, when transcripts from juvenile proceedings were submitted.

The appellate court rejected those arguments, finding that Ohio law refers specifically to the “trial transcript” and sets 365 days rather than simply one calendar year.

Shirilla’s postconviction petition sought to raise claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. One argument focused on Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS, a condition her attorneys said could have caused her to lose consciousness before the crash.

The defense argued that the condition was only “cursorily referenced” during the original trial despite claims that Shirilla and her family had alerted her attorneys to it.

Those arguments have not been reviewed on their merits in the latest proceedings because the courts have focused on the filing deadline.

Shirilla was convicted in 2023 following a bench trial on four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault and two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide. Prosecutors argued she deliberately crashed to end her relationship with Russo and that Flanagan was an unintended victim.

Evidence included surveillance footage and vehicle “black box” data. Prosecutors said the car was traveling nearly 100 mph without braking before the crash.

Shirilla has maintained that the crash was not intentional. Her convictions were upheld on direct appeal in 2024.

The case has drawn renewed attention following Netflix’s release of “The Crash,” which examines the deadly incident and the legal proceedings surrounding Shirilla.

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