it was a peaceful Summer's evening in 2022 three teenagers were spending the night at a friend's house celebrating their recent graduation from high school McKenzie shella was the designated driver for the end of the night her boyfriend of 3 years and his friend both trusted her to get them home safely but what if this was the last thing she wanted in this CCTV footage McKenzie can be seen driving at 100 mph down a quiet street before smashing into a building the Collision killed both her boyfriend and his friend McKenzie claimed that this was a tragic
accident I wish I could remember what happened I'm just so sorry I'm heartbroken I love dond Davon we were all friends and D was my soulmate but ironically merely 3 months after the crash she was seen dressed up as a corpse is this the behavior of an innocent victim or a coldblooded killer this is the case of McKenzie shirilla it was the end of July 2022 in the peaceful town of Strongville Ohio the seniors of that Year's graduating class looked forward to Bright Futures their parents were proud of them this was the case for Dominic
Russo and Davon Flanigan both 19 Dominic was one of eight children a go-getter who loved playing basketball and was driven to succeed he was starting his own clothing line Davon too had Ambitions he and his two biological sisters spent some of their early years in foster care both of their parents were addicts and the children were removed from their parents' home as a result of neglect life in the Foster system was no easier when the siblings were adopted by husband and wife Scott and Jamie Flanigan Jamie recalls they were very underweight rescued from a difficult
life Davon recognized that he'd been given a second chance he was determined to Gras this chance with both hands he could pick up any sport and be good at it from the start so he was mainly focused on football that was his passion when lack injury spoiled his dreams of football he developed another dream that of going to Barber College and opening his own shop Davon was a resourceful teen who taught himself the basic skills from YouTube and Tik Tok and he had only recently submitted his application to the All State barber college life beyond
July was full of Hope for both young men yet an unforeseeable tragic ending lay in store for both of them to all appearances Mckenzie sherill was a typical if risk-taking teenage girl she had her own Tik Tok account where she posted careless videos of herself joking about her use of illicit substances I'm not even cool I'm just one of those girls that can do a lot of drugs and not die she frequently posed with paraphanalia in photos taken in her car this was irresponsible criminal Behavior but no one could have predicted where it would lead
what started as a whirlwind team romance had continued for over 3 years Mckenzie was now living with Dominic and his family and apparently the cramped quarters had taken their toll on the young Lover's relationship at school she had been considered something of a bully according to davon's Mother McKenzie would make it her business to humiliate people and took Delight in it in the past she had told people who were depressed to themselves this chilling lack of empathy was the first sign that something would go terribly wrong McKenzie and Dominic frequently fought and broke up before
making up again as if nothing had happened she treated him in the same way she had treated everyone else at school displaying narcissism and an Impulse to inflict hurt her own personality combined with a pressurized environment that was constant cohabitation with Dominic gave rise to one incident in particular that gave a disturbing taste of what was yet to come on July 17th 2022 Mckenzie was driving her Toyota Camry on Interstate 71 Dominic was her passenger they were in the middle of an argument and as was so often the case their conflict was taking place inside
a shared confined space Dominic wanted out he phoned his mother asking to be picked up when she was not available he then asked a friend this friend was on the other end of the line when he heard McKenzie say I'll crash this car right now Dominic's friend sped to the scene and when he pulled up behind McKenzie's car stopped on the side of the road Dominic's door was open as Dominic sat there Mckenzie was hitting him with both hands he observed at that time the defendant striking Dominic Russo with both hands and that he overheard
her make a statement uh an admissible statement and she said Dominic I'm going to crash this car in another incident that same month Dominic recorded another argument in the videos McKenzie could be heard repeatedly degrading him things it clearly degenerated between the couple from living together he was now no longer comfortable with her presence in his house she threatened to key his car if he wouldn't let her in or else break off the door handle my car she counted down enforcing a time limit for him to come and let her into the house when Dominic
still didn't open the door McKenzie said you're going to come open this door right now or there's going to be a serious problem once again Dominic called his mom for help the involvement of his mother in both situations reminds us as to just how young both Dominic and McKenzie were the conflict in their relationship continued to escalate but no one could have predicted where the relationship would end at approximately 5:30 in the morning of July 31st 2022 a car crashed into a Strongsville building at speeds of 100 mph this car was a Toyota Camry its
passengers were Dominic Russo and his friend Davon Flanigan its driver was its owner McKenzie sherill Dominic and Davon died at the scene Mckenzie was unconscious and not breathing she was flown to the hospital in critical condition to all appearances this was a tragic accident that had cut short the lives of two promising young high school graduates and seriously endangered the life of a third this was what the community believed these kids are part of my heart you lose one and it hurts it hurts to you it was shocking we've known Davon for about 14 years
they've been neighbors of ours we've watched him grow up to from this little scrawny kid to this big muscular football player and um he was really like a third son for me so it was it was devastating GoFundMe Pages were set up for each person involved in the crash family and friends were donating to Memorial funds for Dominic and Davon and to support McKenzie's family in covering her medical expenses as Kenzie recovered she took to posting on Dominic's obituary page she wrote seemingly heartfelt messages saying things like I miss your laugh your perfect smile and
God you are the last person to deserve this you had such a perfect life ahead of you I wish I told you all this more please wait her grief was public and apparently sincere no one could help but sympathize with McKenzie this teenage girl who'd been the victim of such an awful accident but that was before they knew the truth shortly after the crash Strongville police were notified that they had uh received concerning emails from the community that the defendant and her mother were seeking employment with the Los Angeles uh modeling agency Kenzie Shilla said
to Vali thank you for the comment I would love to work with you you guys I've been emailing you guys a lot such a great opportunity thank you is there a date there is not a date on this your honor based on the investigation um it was delivered to the police while uh the defendant was still in the uh Metro Health hospital so it was during that time period she was in the hospital for several weeks shortly after being released from the hospital the police were provided additional videos of the defendant from her wheelchair as
she attended a concert uh down in the flats and again your honor I'm introducing these to the court to show the shocking lack of remorse this was uh something that was being exhibited while the investigation was still going on before she was uh charged and arrested in November of last year and these were the sort of things that were coming to the police and the shocking lack of remorse coupled with the fact that the defendant um was reported driving of an automobile it shortly after this event that she was seen in Strongsville uh again driving
a car in spite of the fact that as her mother testified she got dizzy sometimes from a condition that she had to take salt pills for um in spite of the fact that it was in fact her mother Who provided her with the car that she used to take Dominic and davon's life 12 weeks later on October 31st 2022 McKenzie had recovered enough to celebrate Halloween she and her friends went out on the town trick-or-treating dressed as corpses in a corset and heavy makeup Mckenzie was almost unrecognizable she certainly looked nothing like The Grieving victim
of a horrific auto accident who'd lost her boyfriend only 3 months before in another outfit for the same celebration she dressed as drank a popular concoction with teenagers made of cough syrup alcohol and a soft drink combined her friend was dressed as a joint together they celebrated substance abuse and death the terrible Hallmarks of her recent trauma indeed the police found evidence of illicit substances inside the crashed car and McKenzie's blood had been tested the morning of the crash and the level of THC in her bloodstream had been found to be over the legal limit
this on its own would be enough to charge her with driving Under the Influence changing the track accidents into the consequence of Reckless teenage Behavior but a mere 5 days after McKenzie's decadent Halloween outing the police charged her with double homicide the tragedy that had torn apart three families and had rocked a tight-knit community was now under doubt had it been a reckless accident or a deliberate Act of murder McKenzie's lawyers contended that she had lost control of the car as a teenager they suggested she might have been easily overwhelmed by a chaotic situation and
unable to stop the car and save its passengers lives the attorneys pointed to how common reckless driving is among young people they describ McKenzie as inexperienced and irresponsible but not a murderer is it just kids being kids is it Dominic grabbing the steering wheel is it McKenzie maybe speeding and say oh my God dark out it's light I'm coming up to this I better do something and she goes like that to avoid an accident not acting purposely but in fact trying to avoid it is it sudden sudden acceleration Panic they cited her use of illicit
substances as another factor in the crash at this point no one was denying that Mckenzie was in some way to blame for the tragedy the intent was obvious upon seeing that video that there was only one goal and the computer demonstrated that there was no attempt to slow down or stop that it was full speed into a building and said tragically it cost two people their lives during a recovery in the hospital doctors noted that she expressed feelings of grief guilt and shame about the crash patient stated she open quote wanted to die close quote
and that it was her fault for killing her boyfriend whether she'd lost control of the car or been in charge of it the entire time she had killed her boyfriend and his friend and she was going to be held legally responsible McKenzie claimed she did not remember the crash she sent a text to Dominic's mother saying I remember turning onto the street and then my vision Fades to Black it really kills me not being able to remember anything I've been asking my therapist why I don't remember and she said it's because of trauma but I'm
going to try to get hypnotized and make myself remember if she didn't remember it she could deflect the moral weight of what she had done it would remain an accident and she would not be a murderer however the police and prosecution took a different view in their eyes this was a cold callously planned double homicide McKenzie Dominic and Davon had spent the night before the crash at a friend's house they had smoked to substances but this was not what lay at the heart of the horrific events to follow McKenzie had a plan and she followed
it pivotal to the case was the CCTV footage from a business neighboring the side of the crash this footage supported what the car's recorded data showed about her behavior as a driver both technical analysis and the evidence of our own eyes watching the chilling video demonstrate that far from being high and out of control McKenzie's actions were entirely deliberate the first video shows McKenzie turning the car slowly and carefully from Pearl Road onto Alam Drive she diligently signaled her right turn hardly the act of a substance crazed Reckless teenager but in the next piece of
footage something changed the early morning was dark and quiet until the car came tearing across the camera's View and smashed into a building how could McKenzie have gone from sober careful driving to hitting a wall at speeds of 100 mph in such a short space of time McKenzie had been to Strongville Progress Drive Business Park before and she knew exactly where and when she had to put her fuzzy Prada slipper down on the accelerator in order to kill everyone in the car her cell phone records held evidence that she had visited the area a few
days before with the intent to kill scouting out the scene of the future crime she chose the area and the time early in the morning before any Witnesses would be around this plan did not involve Davion Davon only needed a ride home and was in the wrong place at the wrong time McKenzie did not think about him in the back seat she treated him only as an item of luggage and had to be reminded by the judge of his tragic death when she was reading out her statement in court further evidence of the callous and
cold way in which she'd snuffed out two young lives the judge had no sympathy describing her as literal Hell on Wheels this trial is a culmination of decisions made by one person the defendant those decisions have forever altered the futures of three families and of you also because can and your decisions forever Rob Dominic and tavan of the Futures that they had before now if there is one thing that can be taken away from this case as painful as it is it is this every decision we make is important every action we make is important
regardless of whether the decision is a good one or a bad one or the actions are good or not the result is the same the consequences Ripple Through Time and affect many more people than one might think at the time of the decision in criminal cases the state carries the greatest burden under our law proved Beyond A Reasonable Doubt as I previously stated I considered all the evidence presented and at this point I would like to comment specifically on exhibit 802 the crash video this is the type of evidence you can never unsee you can
never forget the visual or audio of this exhibit is chilling and tragic as you review that exhibit you know that you are watching the oncoming deaths of two people and there is nothing that will stop it the video clearly shows the purpose and intent of the defendant she chose a course of death and destruction that day exhibit 802 crystallizes the deadly decision making of the defendant she morphs from a responsible driver to literal Hell on Wheels as she makes her way down the street McKenzie alone made the decision to drive the car to drive an
obscure route a route she visited a few days before and a route not rely taken by her McKenzie Al chose the time to make the drive early in the morning when any reasonable person would expect a few people would be nearby to witness it or offer life-saving assistance she made these decisions despite knowing as any reasonable person would that her mission of death could have involved others not even in the car with her other people other cars pedestrians she had a mission and she executed it with Precision the mission was de McKenzie alone decided to
push the pedal to the floor and demand the ultimate speed of that vehicle to 90 to 100 miles hour she alone decided what was to be Mackenzie decided death was the ultimate goal that day and she alone made that decision for Dominic and Deon and she continuously acted in a manner to achieve her purpose whether or not she intended to also kill herself as a matter of speculation have no relevance to the reain of the evidence in this case the totality of the evidence clearly demonstrates that McKenzie Shilla acted purposely and intentionally in the early
morning hours of July 31st 2022 her purpose was to kill Dominic Russo and no reasonable FactFinder could view the totality of this evidence in this case can come to any other conclusion her actions were controlled methodical deliberate intentional and purposeful this was not rless driving this was murder Court renders the following verdicts count one the court having had count one tried to have pursuant to way refines defendant McKenzie cherill guilty of murder to Wi Dominic ruso in violation of har code section 29302 A is charged in count one count two the court having had count
to try to pursuant labor finds in Senate McKenzie sherill guilty of murder to it Davon in violation of hard advised code section 29302 A chargeing Count indict count three murder the judge found McKenzie guilty of murder meanwhile McKenzie and her mother maintain that she is innocent of murder I just want to say to the families that I'm broken sad and lost and my heart hurts for everyone okay Davon was her new friend and Dom was the love of her life and he was part of our family okay I'm just so sorry that this happened and
we're broken okay and then your honor this was a terrible tragic nightmare accident to have happened that she has no memory of and she will never emotionally or physically recover of it recover from it um she almost died too and we're asking that you please not run the sentence in consecutive he was family and we all loved each other that morning of the accident she called I got a phone call that there was a car accident okay so we went to the hospital and I didn't even know who was in the car the name's had
not been confirmed yet and I was I'm going to cry because I missed D so much we loved him so much so I called down like over and over again praying that he was going to answer the phone and he didn't answer the phone so then I tried to call his mom and she didn't answer the phone either and I still didn't know who was in the car I didn't even know she was alive I didn't know what was happening so then we were in the waiting room and then his mom ended up did she
did call me so I answered the phone and I was like oh my God like I don't even know who was in the car like what's happening was that dime and she said what do you mean my son is dead and I was like I'm so sorry and then she said something like and now I have to wait until your kid's out of the hospital and then I didn't hear the rest I just I was like we loved him so much and I hung up the phone I did not talk about social media I didn't
even know what was going on yet okay so then that was it so in the hospital that Vitality post I commented on that because somebody had called her a murderer okay and she would she's not a murderer so she didn't even have her phone at that point cuz the police had still had it okay so um I jumped on and I was like you know she's not a murderer she's more sad than her than most of these people commenting um she's been trying to get in touch with you I mean at that point it was
just an accident so I commented on her behalf not because of the modeling opportunity I don't even who cares about that I don't want them to refer to her as a murderer okay and I don't even know how that commented got on the phone because the police still had her device and she could not access her phone or social media that's why I did it I just wanted them to stop calling her a murderer so that when she did come to and she did come out of surgery multiple surgeries that she wouldn't see all these
people calling her a murder because she would never ever ever murder the love of her life I'm hearing an awful lot about your daughter I'm not not hearing very much about the two dead people Dominic okay I'm asking you for leniency because this was a tragic accident that she does not remember and D Davon we don't he's a new friend and I'm so sorry what does that mean his life is worthless no no no no no God no not at all they all they all loved each other they all spent every day together you know
what I mean I don't I don't know too much that part of the problem Mr sh sorry isn't that part of the problem that they all trusted each other isn't that part of it's not a problem at all it's it was wonderful problem how they all ended up in the car together until she wom minut it up to I understand I understand what it looks like I'm I'm I'm saying that it was a tragic accident she would never no we're going to have to disagree on I understand right and I respect your position you disagree
with me I understand but anyway that's it I just wanted to address those we told her to go to those things and then she did go with Dom's family so look at that don't look at it with the look at look on that with different eyes if you can please this is that those things are not relevant not at all not at all not at all but she's a good if you would if you would have a moment all you would need is five minutes of a conversation to have with her to learn who she
is just that you would just need five minutes to learn who she is and what she's capable of not doing and doing and you would see for yourself that's all I'm so sorry guys I'm sorry I love you the fames of D davia I'm so deeply sorry I hope one day you could I would never let this happen or do it on purpose I wish I could remember what happened I'm just so sorry I'm heartbroken I love D and Davon we were all friends and D was my soulmate I wish I could take all your
pain away her please did not help the judge found McKenzie guilty of murder Mckenzie was sentenced to two 15 year to life sentences to be served concurrently meaning she'll be eligible for parole in 15 years time some members of the victim's families found this unfair I am devastated by the loss of Davon the world lost a truly special man now that Davon is gone I feel stuck I feel as if I can't move forward Dom is not only my brother he was also my best friend be thankful that you're still alive and have a future
whatever that may be Dom and Davon were robbed of their Futures their hopes and their dreams a twisted tumultuous relationship had ended in not one but two horrific deaths we are just thankful that we feel Justice was served today um there's not a day that goes by that we don't miss our son and Justice was served for him today um but honestly there's no winners here there's no winners here today what do you think think is McKenzie sentence Justice let us know your thoughts in the comments below at the decoder we gather evidence from reliable
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