Hell On Wheels

Discretion is advised. This is ten minted murder. On the thirty first of July twenty twenty two, at five thirty in the morning, a Toyota camera crashed into a brick wall in Cleveland, Ohio. The driver was a seventeen year old girl named Mackenzie Shrilla. She had two passengers, her boyfriend, twenty year old Dominic Russo and their friend, nineteen year old Davian Flanagan. Dominic and Davian were both killed in the crack, but McKenzie survived after being rushed to the hospital. While still in a wheelchair in the hospital, she began searching the Internet for modeling gigs in Los Angeles. Even after being discharged from the hospital, she didn't seem too affected by the trauma, attending a concert in her wheelchair and filming TikTok videos with her friends. McKenzie appeared to be moving on with their life, but local police were still examining the case. There had not been another vehicle involved in the crash, and the driving conditions had not been dangerous. McKenzie had admitted that she, Dominic, and Davian had smoked marijuana before the crash, which was confirmed by toxicology reports, but the marijuana didn't explain why a fatal crash had taken place. So why had the car ended up colliding with an easily avoidable wall at such a high speed. McKenzie, as the crash's only survivor, claimed that she had no idea what happened during the seconds that led up to the accident. For investigators, the answer to that question came in the form of video footage pulled from the surveillance camera of a nearby business. The camera managed to capture the wall of the commercial building that the car made contact with, as well as the area where mackenzie had been driving the Toyota before the crash took place. The video footage was only a few seconds long, but it completely changed how the case was viewed. At first, McKinsey appeared to be driving the Toyota normally, and within a few seconds her driving style completely changed. For up to five seconds, she drove directly toward the brick wall at more than one hundred miles per hour, not trying to swerve out of the way or slow the car down. It appeared as if she had one single minded focus making contact with the wall at the fastest speed possible. Based on the video footage, the prosecution made a controversial decision McKenzie, being seventeen years old at the time of the crash, they wanted to try her as an adult. Cayoga County Districttorney Michael O'Malley justified the choice, saying, when you drive for four or five seconds with the pedal all the way down until you hit one hundred miles per hour into a building, we felt the charge was appropriate. During the trial, the prosecution described McKenzie's relationship with Dominic as tumultuous and argued that McKenzie had planned out the crash with the intention of killing both of her passengers. They showed evidence that McKenzie appeared to have practiced the roots the previous week with the intention of killing Dominic as a way for her to escape their toxic relationship. According to the prosecution, Davian's death had not been planned, but when he got into the car that day, McKenzie was so determined to end Dominic's life that she decided to kill Davian as well. However, McKenzie's lawyer insisted that there was no way to prove what mackenzie's intentions had been the best that they could do was guess. Despite having video footage of the crash, there was no video or audio taken from inside the car at the time, so nobody had any idea what conversations or actions had taken place inside the Toyota before the crash happened. Sentencing was highly emotional, with statements from the family members of both victims. Davian Flanagan's mother, Jamie, spoke about her son, who she had adopted from foster care along with his sisters. My girls lost their best friend, Jamie Flanagan said, who had been by their side since day one. We are honored to have been chosen to be their parents, their forever family. I am devastated. She told the court about Davian's talents on the sports field, as well as the kindness and friendship that he showed to others. He had planned to train as a barber so that he could open his own barbershop, a future which Mackenzie Shrilla has destroyed in less than a minute. One of Davian's sisters asked the judge to give McKenzie the harshest sentence possible, saying that she'd known McKenzie for three years and that she was always taking the easy way out. Dominic's sister also shared her thoughts, telling the court about how much her brother had loved singing and writing his own music. Dominic always had the cutest voice ever since he was young, she said. She revealed that Dominic was passionate about fashion and had only just launched his own line of clothing when he died. Dominic Russo's mother, Christine, focused her impact statement on making sure the courtroom knew what she believed to be true, that her son had been killed intentionally by his then girlfriend Mackenzie. She had no idea what McKenzie's motive could have been, but it didn't matter. Regardless of why mackenzie had driven the toyota into that wall, the end result had been the same quote. I lost three children in that crash. My heart is forever broken, Christine said. Mackenzie Shrilla had a choice. Dom and Davian did not. Mackenzie, you're going to prison because you did this. Be thankful you are still alive and have a future, whatever that may be. Dom and Davian were robbed of their futures, their hopes, and their dreams. McKenzie during the trial made the decision not to testify, but she did speak during the sentencing, choosing to read a statement to the courtroom. It said, the families of Dominic and Davian, I'm so deeply sorry. I hope that one day you can see I would never let this happen or do it on purpose. I wish I could remember what happened. I'm heartbroken. I wish I could take all your pain away. We were all friends and dom was my soulmate. And to my family, thank you for the supports and all the love you guys give. I love you all so much. The judge in the case ultimately agreed with the prosecution's argument that the car crash had been a deliberate attempt to kill Dominic and Davian, and McKenzie was found guilty of two counts of murder, as well as additional charges for possession of drugs and vehicular homicide. Mackenzie's actions were controlled, methodical, deliberate, intentional, and purposeful. This was murder. She had a mission and she executed it with precision. The mission was death. The judge said that, before telling McKenzie that she would spend the next fifteen years in jail before being eligible for parole. The sentence was lighter than the victims families had been expecting. Despite insisting that mackenzie had knowingly committed murder, Judge Russo allowed McKenzie to serve her sentences concurrently instead of consecutively. Later, the judge stated that the last few seconds of the video of the crash had influenced her decision to charge McKenzie with murder, saying that in those final moments, McKenzie morphed from one responsible driver to literal hell on wheels. She believed that the two passengers would have been aware that they were about to crash, and that their last moments would have been full of fear while McKenzie kept her foot held down on the accelerator, driving straight towards the wall. While mackenzie sobbed, her family members called out to her, saying you're innocent and we love you. Dominic's older sister, Christine Russo, was relieved that McKenzie's trial was over, but the verdict wasn't anywhere near as harsh as he'd hoped. It was terribly emotional, She said to a reporter, I'm shocked and saddened that the judge ran these sentences concurrently and not consecutively. McKenzie took two innocent young men's lives, and I believe she should have to serve the rest of hers in prison. With McKinsey maintaining that she has no idea what happened before the car crashed into the wall with her behind the wheel, the families of Dominic and Dave have been left wondering why the tragedy took place. Mackenzie never told anybody about a plan to hurt either of the boys, and she didn't leave a note or a message explaining her actions. And for a crash at such a high speed into a solid barrier, there was every chance that McKenzie herself could have died in the collision. Why pick such a risky way to murder someone? Evidence and science proved that McKenzie Shrilla murdered my son Dominic as well as Davian. Christine said, we all know what happened in the car that day. What we don't know is why that is ten minute murder For today brief and bingeible true crime. I'm Joe, that's my name, I'm the host, and I really appreciate you listening today. If you are new to ten Minute Murder, welcome, I'm happy you're here. Please make sure you subscribe now so that you can more easily catch up with all the back episodes available of ten Minute Murder. Connect with me on social media. See pictures of what we talk about here on the podcast. It's never gross and graphic stuff, but you'll see the pictures and the places and the faces of what you hear here on the podcast. And if you like this episode, please leave a rating and review on Apple, Spotify or any place that that's possible. Positive feedback is appreciated. Now, how about an email from one of you that listens to this podcast, My dearest Joe, quick question, have you ever gone to Krispy Kreme? Have you ever gone to Krispy Kreme? Was it Crispy? I've seen the TikTok video. That's a good one. But there's more to the email. But seriously, I'm wondering if there is a case that you have not talked about that you may never talk about. If so, what is it and what is the reason? Thanks Christy in Portland, Oregon. Christy, that is a very good question, and I think I've mentioned this before, maybe I haven't, maybe I just thought I did. But there's one story that I really want to talk about that all of you listening to the sound of my voice right now know the ins and out to the case. I'm confident, but it's the John Bennet Ramsey case. I guess I could talk about the timeline of what happened and when it happened, but you all know that I thought about doing an episode where I discussed the theories of what happened, but that's ten minutes of just speculation, and so that's why I haven't done it at this point. I just can't right now wrap my brain around what that would entail. And also, there is another story that I haven't talked about ever I think on this podcast that I would like to do an episode on, but I'm afraid it's going to divide people. It's the West Memphis Three. I have strong opinions on that case. I don't know that I'm ever going to share them because they're so divisive and we don't Again, this is one of those stories where we don't actually know. There are people that do know, and we don't know. So that's the tough one, Now that I'm saying it out loud, I think that I might actually do that story, but it would be a longer one to do. Okay, thank you for your questioning Christy in Portland, and that's going to do it for today's episode. Thank you so much for listening to ten minute Murder