
Mackenzie Shirilla was found guilty of murder, felonious assault, and aggravated vehicular homicide after she murdered her former boyfriend Dominic Russo and his roommate at the time, Davion Flanagan. She deliberately ended the young men’s lives by driving her car into a brick wall at 100 miles per hour. Boom. That’s the graphic t-shirt that Mackenzie’s father decided to wear for his Netflix documentary debut. “I’m a buff baby who can dance like a man, I can shake'a my fanny, I can shake'a my can, I'm a tough tootin' baby—“ That’s the ringtone to Steve Shirilla’s phone that goes off mid-interview. “This wasn't a volatile relationship. They were never going to break up.” And that’s Steve’s line he tells an interviewer when asked about his daughter’s relationship with one of the young men she killed. We personally read tens of thousands of pages of text messages between the two that suggest the complete opposite. This is Mackenzie Shirilla’s double homicide case continu...
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See ahs.com contracts for coverage details, including service fees, limitations and exclusions. Bada bing, bada boom. Sometimes shutting up is the best answer. And I say this with full irony, just ironically, as someone who posts hours and hours of footage every week of herself yapping to no end. But sometimes, yes, the answer is being quiet. The answer is no answer. The answer is in staying silent. It's probably the reason why so many defense attorneys spend a great deal of energy convincing their client, who's probably kind of dumb, of everything that they could mess up if they testify on the stand at their own trial. A lot of defense attorneys believe that how the person comes across to the jury is arguably way more important than what they actually testify to. Which is why more often than not, it's not worth it in most cases for clients to testify. I mean, I guess it's just a thing humans do. You would think that, no, when you're on the jury for a major case, you want to make sure that you're just listening to the judge. But once someone involved starts yapping, it becomes less about the facts and more about do I like this person? Do they seem trustworthy? I don't know if they do. In 17 year old MacKenzie Shurilla's case, she does not testify. July 31, 202217 year old MacKenzie crashes a car going nearly 100 miles per hour straight into a brick building. Her boyfriend Dom in the front passenger seat is killed. Their friend Davion in the back seat is killed. And the only survivor is Mackenzie, and she is now a convicted murderer. She didn't testify during her murder trial, although I will say it wasn't a jury trial, she opted for a bench trial, meaning it's the judge that's going to be determining if her testimony is trustworthy. But even after being convicted, Mackenzie and her parents do not believe she's a murderer. They think that this is an accident. All three of them, Mackenzie and her parents, Natalie and Steve, they sit down with Netflix for the very viral documentary the Crash. They try to explain blame their side, and the reaction is probably not what they were hoping for. The reaction that they received to this whole thing of yapping on Netflix ranges anywhere from oh my God, I hate the dad. What's wrong with his shirt? All the way to people spreading rumors that they think Mackenzie and her dad have an inappropriate relationship that was happening in odd hours of the night. Steve Shurilla, the dad, even gets placed on leave from his job. He's an art teacher at a Catholic school because of the comments that he makes on the Netflix documentary. And. And one might think that it would probably be in everyone's best interest for Natalie and Steve to let things quiet down after this Netflix documentary goes live, after Steve loses his job, because maybe just shut up for a second, right? But no, they do not. They want to keep, quote, clearing the air. They want to keep sharing their side of things. And every time they open their mouths, it feels like they're just making it worse. Since the release of the Netflix documentary, Steve Scribrilla has done a few sit down interviews. And it's just the point that he's trying to make doesn't feel like it's being made on a large scale. People just seem to hate him more. Steve passionately rants in a more recent interview. There was no evidence to support the charges. There's none. There was none. The prosecution came up with that she's a danger to society, blah, blah, blah. And there was no proof of that. You know, they said she has no remorse, they never spoke to her, which, I mean, I guess, sure, but one could also argue that taking photos and videos, getting high in her car, likely driving, that's very dangerous to society, considering she also just did kill people in a car crash. And as for the no remorse, she did go to a Kid Cudi concert in a wheelchair and dressed up for Halloween and went out in a ripped corset outfit with corpse like makeup. So I don't know if they necessarily have to talk to her to gather in their opinion that she has no remorse. But Chris Cuomo, who is the one interviewing Steve, tries To ask him about what? Well, you know, I mean, maybe the no remorse part comes from all the DMs and, like, the social media posts. Like what? What about that? Steve goes from being very loud, very aggressive to a little bit softer. That was something that was involved prior. Because, remember, she was, like, talking to the modeling agency. He's like, that was something that was involved prior. Some of that is taken out of context, is blown out of proportion. What, is she supposed to dig a box or. Or dig a hole and just hide in the hole for the rest of her life after this? Chris Cuomo fights back. No, but it was right after. What does that mean? What does that mean? So now she's not allowed to live. She's lucky to be alive. He says Mackenzie still doesn't remember what happened in that car crash. He says she does not remember. That has been her story from day one. There's no memory of it. And I'm telling you, I know my daughter does not like pain. She would never, ever hurt herself intentionally. I know my daughter. I've known that kid all her life. I know when my daughter lies. I just know my daughter. People don't really see that as a spectacular defense. He just seems to think it is. How can you know your daughter when he himself admits that he didn't know about the driving and smoking weed videos and photos? So, like, how well do you really know your daughter? As for what happened in the car, he says, I'm not saying POTS is the reason for it. I'm not saying the car had an issue. I'm not saying the boys did anything. I don't know. I have no idea what happened in that car. And if I don't have any idea, nobody does.
B
Okay?
A
Yeah. I mean, I don't know how fucking intergalactic space works. Doesn't mean it doesn't work. Okay. Or space travel. Like, I don't understand how any of these work.
B
Yeah, I feel like we all have an idea, except why she turned out the way she did.
A
But he does, by this interview, and he says the analogy about how MacKenzie was found guilty, and he's saying this all after the fact. He's saying the analogy is the wife dies, the husband did it. That's it. That's the analogy that's going on here. There's no evidence of why it happened. No evidence of why. There will never be any evidence of why. And that's the point that needs to be taken here. The black box information is. Is about the car. I can't explain the acceleration I can't explain why the pedal was down. Could it have been the slipper stuck on the pedal that they refuted? Could it have been the car? Yeah. It's just as likely as she did it on purpose, and there's no evidence of purpose. And speeding is not a precursor to murder. It's not. I'm sorry. It's recklessness. It's reckless. That's why it should have been vehicular homicide in juvenile. He says if it's just the black box information that made his daughter guilty in the court of law, then, quote the black box information, then the car did this, the car did it, put the car in jail. We have no evidence of why. And you can't just say, well, the science says she was going fast, so that's intent. That is absolute bs.
B
Wow.
A
There seems to be a very interesting explanation for just about everything that people have been pointing out on the Internet. People are saying that Mackenzie was a bully in school. I mean, there are multiple school reports in the FOIA request that don't necessarily depict Mackenzie in a great light. One teacher literally told administration that she couldn't handle being verbally assaulted by Mackenzie anymore. And Steve's reaction is, well, I can't explain it. Look, was she an angel? No. Did she have a problem with authority? Sometimes. I believe when she felt she was being unjustly treated, she stuck up for herself. That's the simple fact. They state that the trial was unfair, and they think that Mackenzie's lawyer did not represent her fairly, and they at the time didn't know any better. Since Steve says, you know, are we bad parents? No. Are we uninformed parents of a child that was on trial for murder? Yeah. As far as parenting and how Mackenzie grew up, he says there was not a problem with her until this accident and how it got blown out of proportion and how everything now is so blown out of proportion, Steve starts rambling more or less about whether or not Dom's mom knew the judge and if they had any sort of working relationship, which I will say the judge and Dom's mom and Dom himself, they all share the same last name, Russo. But it's not a particularly unique last name, and they are not related. But when Steve is asked whether or not he has proof that there's some sort of fix going on in court, because he keeps alluding to some sort of fix that must have happened, Steve says, I have as much proof that it's a fix and that the judge is dirty or incompetent as they do. That My daughter did this on purpose. All I have to do is say it. So it's true. Right. That's what the prosecution did.
C
Steve.
A
Steve ultimately believes, quote, I'm sorry, no lawyer, no person is ever going to make me believe that my daughter did this on purpose. And that's probably, like, the only statement of his that I truly believe.
B
What do you mean?
A
No one's going to convince him that his daughter did this on purpose. But the two parts of his most recent interviews that have been going viral is there's this one part in the interview where he's talking to Chris Cuomo, and he's just talking about how he thinks that the judge is biased, and he's just throwing all these allegations out there. And there's this very light, airy voice coming from the side, because this is a video zoom recording, like, a zoom interview. And it's like, I'm a bus baby that can dance like a man. I can shake. I'm a fancy. I can shake my can.
C
Yes.
A
And it's like the most uncomfortable, weird, bizarre. Chris Cuomo looks stern, and he asks, what is that? It's my phone. It's a phone ring. That's your ringtone? It's for a friend of mine. So the ringtone is from a show called Adventure Time. It's like a cartoon. And it. I mean, there's nothing nefarious about it, but it just adds to the weirdness of, like, I've seen a lot of memes online now where they just say, the whole family jail. The whole family jail. They just don't get good vibes.
B
Is it a children's thing or children's cartoon?
A
I think it's an adult cartoon, if I'm not mistaken. But I think the choice of that in a ringtone is very bizarre at that age.
B
And who would you want to set up that ringtone for? You know?
A
Yeah, it's just very odd, the whole thing. I mean, this whole interview is probably the reason why defense attorneys. Not that Steve needs a defense attorney. That's not what I'm saying. But a loose example of probably why defense attorneys don't necessarily think involved parties speaking for themselves is ever helpful in any situation. The whole interview is a dumpster fire. Steve starts running through hypotheticals. He's like, what? What if we can prove that her POTS caused her to pass out and she seized and it caused the accident? Which, like, there's already so much wrong with that statement, because typically when you pass out from pots, typically it's not a seizure. You don't seize. You pass out. You go limp. Chris Cuomo, who was an attorney before, he is like a journalist. Newscaster, right? But he quickly responds, then it would be an accident. What if we can prove that either one boy or the other boy did something in the car that caused the accident? Then she would not have the intent and maybe not the act to trigger a charge. What if we could prove the car malfunctioned, then it was an accident, and maybe there's a case against the manufacturer. It just seems like every single point Steve tries to make, nothing really comes of it. It just feels a lot like angry ranting. He'll say some crazy things like, just because you don't like my daughter doesn't mean she's guilty of murder. Just because you don't like what you see on the Internet about my daughter doesn't mean it's murder. That's speculation. That is reckless speculation on anybody's part. And I tend to agree with that. Like, technically, the points he's making makes sense. Just because you don't like somebody doesn't mean they're guilty of murder. But it's the fact that your daughter Mackenzie is convicted of murder that makes her guilty of murder. She is guilty of murder. That is a statement of fact in the court of law. She has been found guilty. That is not speculation. That's not even reckless speculation. It's literally a matter of public record. Otherwise, you could have a field day suing everyone for defamation. Chris Cuomo goes to ask about Mackenzie and Dom's volatile relationship. And I think this is the point in the interview where I realized there's no coming back for this person. Like, there is nothing that he can say, I think would convince me, or maybe people who feel like me to even open their minds to the idea that Steve might be onto something because he's just so far off the pulse. There's this moment where Chris Cuomo brings up the relationship, and Steve. Steve ducks his head and he starts laughing because Chris Cuomo categorizes Dom and Mackenzie's relationship as volatile. Steve starts laughing. That's a lie. And I cut you off. Sorry. That is a lie. That's a lie. Volatile is not the right word. That is harsh. These kids fought and they broke up and they got back together. That was their M.O. they weren't fighting. This wasn't a volatile relationship. They were never going to break up. They were talking about getting married. They were talking about a life. They were buying furniture for that house. They were making a life for themselves, period. That's it, they were not breaking up. And anyone who says that, sorry, that is untrue, that is a lie and that is a narrative that the prosecution needed to go to put my daughter in a bad light to make it seem like she had a thing against this kid. He claims they absolutely were not going to break up. They did not have a volatile relationship. But is that really true? We went through the entire FOIA and there are never ending fights between Mackenzie and Dom McKenzie threatening to break open the front door to be let into his house, refusing to leave him alone, and a reoccurring fight between the two where Dom accuses her of engaging in sex work. Does Steve Scrilla know all of that and still categorizes their relationship as not volatile? Or does he genuinely think that that is not a volatile relationship? Or is he in denial? This is part three of the Mackenzie Charill. We would like to thank today's sponsors who have made it possible for Rotten Mango to support Change the Game for Dom foundation and Davion Flanagan's Memorial Scholarship Fund. Both GoFundMes are run by the families of the victims and we will include those plus all the information regarding Dom and Davian's Law, which aims to update Ohio's Son of Sam laws in order to prevent violent offenders from profiting off their crimes. All of those are to be included in the show notes. This episode's partnerships have also made it possible to support Rotten Mango's team of dedicated researchers. We'd also like to thank you guys for your continued support. As always, full show notes are available@rogen mangopodcast.com Today's case involves mentions of illicit drug usage, reckless driving, driving while intoxicated, self exit, and possible domestic violence and sex work. We did pull the FOIA for this case and literally went through tens of thousands of pages of text messages, detective incident reports, autopsy reports and more. So naturally quotes and statements may be condensed for brevity. Second, there is a list of discourse surrounding the case, from loved ones involved all the way to unrelated netizen audiences. So to in order to explain the entirety of the case we're going to go over all of those. But just keep in mind throughout that any opinions, comments or speculations made by netizens do not represent our own. And this is part three of a five part series. In the first part we went over the crash itself and generally what people believe happened that night. In part two we broke down the Netflix documentary as well as we actually interviewed Rosie and Bubba, two of the more controversial individuals in the documentary asked them all the questions social media had. In this part, we're going to be breaking down all the relationships as well as covering Internet rumors, conspiracy theories that people have about Mackenzie's relationship with her parents and whether or not people believe they played some sort of indirect role in all of this. In part four and I might switch this with part five, but in part four we'll probably be breaking down the entire 31,000 page document of text messages between Mackenzie and Dom. And in Part five, we're going to cover the jail calls, the alleged prison girlfriends, the trial and the appeal and where we're at. So with that being said, let's get started. 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See ahs.com contracts for coverage details, including service fees, limitations and exclusions. I've watched a lot of documentaries where police will talk about how they're tasked with death notifications for loved ones. And they always describe it in a very similar yet very specific way that the family members let out what sounds like a guttural scream. Some people have even described it as almost sounding animalistic. It's not just this like, oh, I'm so scared. Oh, I'm so shocked, I let out a scream. They say it feels primal. It's almost like the scream is being ripped out of them. Steve Sharilla says in an interview, if you would have heard her, he's talking about his daughter. So he's saying, when we told Mackenzie that Dom, her boyfriend, is dead, quote, if you would have heard her when she found out that Dom died, if you would have heard the sound that came out of her, it would have crushed you. Natalie describes how Mackenzie found out. You know, she says in the night, Mackenzie says, where's Dom? And this is when they're in the hospital. I had to tell her. I had to tell her that it was him, that he didn't make it. And so she screamed and I said, I'm so sorry. She goes, no, it's not him. It's not him. Please go check, go check. And I said, mackenzie, it's him. Because if it wasn't him, he'd be here. Steve says, that was devastating to hear her. The sound, I mean, it was gut wrenching. Natalie says right after she was asking, well, what about Davion? Is he okay? And I had to say, no, he didn't make it either. And she was like, oh, go. And I just thought that this was such an unfortunate interview. I get that Mackenzie was dating Dom and was friends with Davion. So I'm not discounting that this didn't happen. Like, I'm saying this probably did happen or that these emotions were not genuine. But when her parents describe her finding out, it's not really sympathy inducing because, yes, she can be upset and be sad, but ultimately she's the one that caused their deaths. So it's like, you can have this experience, but maybe, like, don't share it with the world. And I didn't even want to show this footage, but I've seen it circulating now, and every time I watch it, I think about how Mackenzie's parents were describing her reaction. And it's just unfortunate because this footage, I mean, I think we finally hear what the police and the documentaries Are talking about when they talk about doing these death notifications and how they're the most painful thing to do. When Dom's mom is told that Dom didn't make it, there are two cops. So they go to her house, and they have to inform her. There's two cops that are squatting down on their knees next to her. She's sitting outside on this chair on her front porch, and they're sitting down next to her, and they're just telling her, just stay seated, please. Take your time. Take a deep breath. And she's screaming, and they have to try to calm her down. And she keeps screaming, oh, my God, no, he can't be. He can't be. What did she do? The scream. It's almost like she doesn't really know entirely what to do with her body. As she's screaming, she almost reflexively jumps out of the chair, but she doesn't necessarily have anywhere to go. It almost feels like, as a mom, maybe she's trying to go help, go do something, save her, her child. But there's nowhere to go. There's no one to be saved right now. So it's just this very strange moment to watch. I mean, it was like I really didn't want to put it in, but I think I was just getting very upset because I kept remembering what Mackenzie's parents were saying about her when she found out about Dom's death. And I was, like, crying when I was watching Dom's mom's death notification body cam footage that was in the FOIA request. It's just like, it's so long. Eventually, when they think that she's calm enough, they go inside her house with her. The police do, but she's just. She's, like, pacing around her living room screaming, it can't be true. It can't be true. It's like she can't sit still. But she also. She's, like, in shock. She's in denial. It seems like there are multiple points throughout that the officers, they either seem like. Either they know they need to let her go through these emotions, or they almost, like, don't know what to say to bring her any comfort. But Dom's mom starts asking, what happened in the car? What happened in the car? I didn't want her driving anyway. I don't like her driving. Oh, my God. And that other kid, I don't even know him. I don't even know him. So she's talking about Davion, and it seems like she's getting hit with the impact that not only is her son gone, but another life, like another child is gone. Because later she's outside and she's crying, oh, that other little kid. He's younger, I think that little kid. It can't be. She asked the police, why couldn't they save him? The officers have nothing to say. They can't even respond. She explains, I was making buffalo chicken dip. They said that they had some party to go to and they were gonna be back to eat the dip. I was making the dip. Dom's mom will later tell the judge that when she found out that Dom and Davion were gone, she says, I called Mackenzie's mother hysterical with the loss of my son and Davion. I knew Mackenzie was in the hospital. And the first statement Natalie Mackenzie's mom said to me was, oh, please don't listen to what everyone's saying on Facebook. Yeah, my son is dead. His friend is dead, and I'm checking on yours. But social media is what's important. Social media after the crash in Strongsville, Ohio, has been a literal hellhole. People who know Mackenzie are posting things about her again, against her, in support of her. And a lot of the posts are just questionable and weird at best. For example, one of Mackenzie's friends decides that she's going to post Mackenzie on Snapchat. And it is a picture of Mackenzie in the driver's seat of her car holding a giant blunt. I mean, it doesn't look like she's in motion, but she's in the driver's seat holding a giant blunt. This is an absolutely, completely sane picture to choose, considering the circumstances. Okay? And this friend writes in the caption, happy birthday, Kenzie. Cherilla, you're in everyone's thoughts and prayers. Beautiful girl. Nobody involved deserved this whatsoever. And to the people talking down on her as if any of you haven't said some shit you probably shouldn't have, respectfully. Fuck right off. Just because y' all had beef don't give you the right to speak about her when she's fighting for her life right now. She was the sweetest to the people she cared about and loved, always greeting everyone with a smile and a hello. I'll never forget chopping it up with you in gym class, hitting our pens. Happy birthday, gorgeous. You're gonna get through this. Which I'm not saying that you can't form a real friendship over smoking weed together in gym class, but, like. Like, that's your fondest memory of Mackenzie and you're ready to defend her with such a picture and such A passion. It's so odd to me. Meanwhile, Mackenzie is dming Rosie, the friend that we interviewed for the last episode. This is after the crash. This is like a few days after the crash. Did you get the new skims? I got this cute Skims. Yeah, skims. Like the. The dress, like the loungewear. I got this cute set, soft lounge. Rosie responds, oh, my God, no. I need to order more. I need the leggings. Show me when you can the new one once. This is 20 days after the crash. Mackenzie is just saying, I got it in pink too, literally. We need to become the skims duo. What is happening?
B
Crazy.
A
What is happening? The police even agree with Dom's mom because Dom's mom is later telling the police, like, when I first called Natalie, she's talking about Facebook and I wanted to punch her in the face. The police agree, and one officer tells her, you know, we went there to the hospital and her biggest concern was what the people are posting on the Strongsville page on Facebook and can we intervene? And that was her biggest concern when we walked in. Even in the first hospital visit, one of the officer notes in his report, quote, natalie expressed concern about the public's reaction on social media. Mackenzie was barely able to speak. She asked to see photos of her vehicle. I told her once she's discharged, we can arrange for her to see them. Then a few days later, Natalie calls the detective again, reporting a couple of girls for saying, quote, mean things to her daughter on social media. Although Natalie said her daughter was no longer on social media, she states that there are two girls bullying MacKenzie. The report reads, the second girl, whom she only identified as Jenna, reportedly blamed Mackenzie for killing Dom on purpose. Natalie said Mackenzie had screenshots of the messages. I asked her to email them to me and I would look into it. I further explained to Natalie that unless the speech was threatening in nature, I will not be able to control what people say about the events. Natalie never emailed me the screenshots. Even later, when police are giving Mackenzie her phone back, the officers are just saying, like, they're still investigating. To which Steve, the dad, butts in, what are people coming in and saying? He's asking, like, what are people reporting to you? The cops naturally tell him, I cannot tell you that that's the investigation. To which Natalie, I don't know who made her the police chief. She says, well, it doesn't matter if it has nothing to do with the crash. The officer explains, we don't know. We have to put everything together. And I can see why people Think that all Natalie and Steve care about are what people are saying about their daughter rather than what she did that caused those two boys to lose their lives. Another report from the hospital record reads, patient continues statements of depression and quote, why did this happen to me? Mom and dad both acknowledge her feelings and assist with making patient feel better. And it just feels like it takes a very special person to be Talking about SKIMS 20 days after a fatal crash where two people died and you were the driver, but still wonder, why. Why did this happen to me? It's all so weird. Like, how do you even get to that point? A lot of people think it's the parents. And I have seen people online, and maybe it's based off looks or maybe it's based off the fact that two of them have really viral Netflix documentaries where they're both interviewed or the fact that they're both moms. Who knows? But a lot of people have been. I've seen compare Natalie to Kendra. Remember the mom who was texting and bullying her own daughter for years, and then, yeah, to Kendra that Kendra was comforting her daughter while also being the one that was anonymously cyber harassing her. Kendra. That Kendra. Some netizens point out that both Kendra and Natalie have this very weird feeling that they give people where it just feels like they want to be friends with their daughters. They don't want to be moms. They want to be in high school, and they want to be friends with all the friends. Friends.
B
But Kendra once was basically bullying the daughter the whole time.
A
Yes.
B
Natalie Sharilla was more, what, Enabling. Huh. So why? What's the similarity exactly?
A
I think the similarity lies in the fact that they both want to be their daughter's friends. Like, they both want to be in that age group, not necessarily friends. Like, I know, you know, Kendra is bullying her daughter. So it may not seem like she wants to be friends with her daughter, but more so they're stuck in, like, this arrested development phase where they all act like high schoolers. So instead of disciplining their daughter and being like, no, you're not allowed to do that, they act like a high schooler themselves is what people are kind of connecting the dots. These are opinions online. These are not facts. It's just opinions and it's the energy, I suppose. For example, there's this one incident where even when, okay, this is from the body cam. And I don't know, maybe I'm being petty, maybe I'm being, like, hyper judgmental. But the officers inform Natalie and Steve Sharilla that most likely Dom and Davion have passed. They're in the hospital. So Mackenzie's being operated on. And it is without a doubt, an incredibly traumatic situation for them in their own perspectives. But Natalie is asking for the officers that she might need a puke bucket. And this is, like, such a niche experience, like, that. I'm connecting to this. Okay. The officer goes to fetch one for her, and, like, the way she asked for a puke bucket almost seems casual. Like, she's like, oh, my God, I'm gonna throw up. It's not like, no, I'm genuinely gonna throw up. So the officer is like, do you need a puke bucket? She confirms she needs a puke bucket. Officer goes to fetch one for her, and the nurse is bring. And says something along the lines of, like, well, you're in the best place to have one. Okay. You're in a hospital. We got a lot of puke buckets. She responds, that was a good joke. Okay, do we need to, like, do we need to throw up, or do we need to convince the nurse to quit her job and pursue Stand up? Like, I just thought it was odd, right? But then she. In my personal, humble opinion, and this might be, like, hyper judgmental, because I have a lot of experience throwing up. Okay. I am someone who is super prone to nausea. Everything makes me nauseous. I have Zofran on the go at all times.
C
Times.
A
She's not really sitting like someone who's about to throw up. She's sitting with her legs crossed in the chair, and she's leaned back when I have to throw up. I've never met someone who's about to throw up. They're always forward, and they have a puke bucket or some sort of container ready to go just in case. Or they're kind of hunched because when you extend your stomach, it always makes the nausea worse. That's why people go into, like, a fetal position when they're throwing up all night from drinking or whatever it may be. Right. And she's leaned back. She hasn't even touched the puke bucket. She just places it on the chair
B
next to her so she doesn't look like she's about to throw.
A
Yeah. And, like, none of this really means anything, but I just thought it was weird because you're in such a highly tense emotional situation. The last thing I would do is, like, go through this whole dramatic back and forth with multiple parties of getting a puke bucket if I genuinely was not on the verge of throwing up. It just feels like a really weird, intricate song and dance involving multiple parties of grabbing this puke bucket and doing a lot when you were in this heightened emotional state. Like, if I were in this situation, I just could not foresee myself asking for any sort of puke canister bucket bag unless I was literally on the verge of throwing up on the floors. And even then I think I would try to hold it in until I could no longer. None of this again means anything, but I guess it's the whole energy that Natalie gives off is a little bit strange. And maybe I am being harsh. I just thought it was a little dramatic. She also, Natalie does this thing where she makes custom balaclavas that Mackenzie will wear. So like the kind of they look like rave balaclavas. Like you, you know, with the bunny ears, like a ski mask with the face cut off and then with the bunny ears and then you wear them like bikinis to the raves.
B
Okay.
A
Okay. Yeah, she, I guess she hand makes them and Mackenzie will wear them and sometimes I guess she sells them because I see a lot of Instagram dms where she's trying to sell them. And Mackenzie will tell people like, my mom custom makes them. Her ad is this, you can DM her. And I think she's only going to charge you $20, but if you live far, she'll have to add $5 shipping. But it shouldn't take. Take long, probably a week. And again, I don't have children, but if my 17 year old daughter were posting these types of videos wearing the balaclavas that I made and wearing these types of clothes and filming herself smoking weed, I feel like I would have to ground her for half a century. It's just like not hard to feel that Mackenzie's priorities are all screwed up. And it feels like maybe even Natalie's are. Even when the officers are giving Mackenzie her phone back, Natalie, the mom clarifies with the officers. And this is in the hospital. And this is in the hospital. Report the officer report. You'd search activity. You download the date, everything you know. Now nobody's looking at it. So that's what what it is. So Natalie is asking the officer, like, you got the search activity, you downloaded the date. Like everything. Now nobody's looking at it. Like no one's gonna look at her stuff. Like her phone is private now. And the officer is like, we mirrored the phone, we're gonna look through the phone. Right? But everything she does now, now she's on her own. So they're like, yeah, now she's on her own. Like we're not gonna, we don't have like a tracker on her phone. We're not watching in real time what she's doing on her phone. And it's just interesting that Natalie is so gung ho about that. Later, she asks again. So this, you know, this one does have total privacy again. Yeah. Total privacy.
C
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Simplisafe Active Guard Outdoor Protection plan starting at $49.99 a month. Visit simplisafe.com licenses for alarm license information. Tennessee 20. From here on out, everything we're going to look at we have already obtained through search warrants for, you know, everything including social media. And while they go over the copy of the search warrants, Mackenzie asks the officer, are people going through my Snapchats too? Like opening stuff? Because she got her phone back for the first time in the hospital. We did not. We just mirrored your phone. So they're like we didn't go through your Snapchat, but like we mirrored your phone because I see like three of them open. The officer clarifies with Mackenzie, we did not. But either way, even if we did we have a search warrant. We're going to look through everything that's on your phone. So, like, maybe we didn't now, but we are going to. I'm not entirely sure why that's her biggest concern right now, but if she must know, we did receive four massive folders just containing her Snapchat data extracts. So, yeah, they did go through your Snapchat and so did we. We FOIA this case and the Snapchat files the police gave us were extensive and ridiculously out of context. I'm just taking you on the journey that we went on in the multiple zip files of Snapchat evidence. We kept seeing. Okay, like, obviously we saw messages and, like, we saw her posting, like, random things on Snapchat, but we also saw there would be, like, random things out of context, and we're just trying to, like, contextually piece it together. We see so many pictures of MacKenzie with a white wall behind her, almost like a passport photo. Like, why she Snapchatting passport photos? It's so weird. Just variations of poses. Sometimes it's slightly pouty, less pouty hair back. Hair in front, one side of hair in front, one side of hair in back. I'm like, okay, is she getting a passport? And I don't know why. We're like, we need to get to the bottom of this. We were like, l sitting around the dining table and I'm like, okay, team, we got to get to the bottom of this. No, no reason. Okay. But we just needed to know. We needed to see it through. And we think based off the context clues, those are the photos that she's sending to fake ID websites to try and buy a fake ID online from.
B
Because she just, like, screenshot it right before.
A
Yeah. So it's like fake ID.com, like something as ridiculous. It's the most fake fake ID website name that you could think of. And she has screenshots of her applying for fake IDs on those websites sites. She also screenshots pictures of her phone, of her, like, weird search history. Can you see a person's age using a debit card? Then she screenshots the answer from Quora, which reads, none in. Nope. In the States, there is nothing on your debit card to indicate your age. Your card lists your bank name, your name and card's expiration date, and your debit card number tied to your bank account. That's it. She seemingly documents her search for the best senior quote of all time. She starts searching on Pinterest, the 100 most epic and Funny. Senior quote quotes Planet of Success. She clicks on that one. One of them reads, see, kids, I told you your mom was hot back in high school. Another reads, I have to be successful because I like expensive things ultimately. And, like, you would have to tell me if you can confirm if you have this yearbook. It seems she settles on this poetic masterpiece. You can't get what you always want, but I certainly can. I don't know how.
B
That's it.
A
Yeah. It's like the weirdest quote.
B
Yeah.
A
She also complains to her friends about Dom on Snapchat via audio notes that I think she thought disappears forever into the ether, goes into the intergalactic space. But, like, we have him. She sends this to a friend. No, like, he gets me flowers and stuff like that. I don't know though, but I have to be like, if you don't do this, I'm breaking up with you. If you don't make it up to me, we're done. Like, you have until 6 o' clock today or we're done type shit. Like, that's like how it is. So it makes it, like, not special. He can never just, like, apologize on his own, make it up to me on his own. I have to, like, kind of give him that, like a little. No, actually a giant ass fucking push. Like, I have to shove him off a fucking 60 foot diving fucking board type shit. Another audio message where MacKenzie says, I have told him a million times that I will be the perfect girlfriend. I will fucking clean his house in a fucking maid costume. All he has to do is be good and get me what I want and be good to me. Like, literally that's how it is. Like, that's how it is. He can't do that. Like, it's really not that hard to please me. Then another one. Guys are like pea brains. Like, real shit. They do not think big at all. She complains quite a bit. She also whines to another friend. So she got into this modeling school and, like, by got in, her parents paid for it. Okay, that's pretty much it. She says, today was the worst fucking class I have literally ever been in my whole goddamn life. Like, I'm honestly starting to feel like this shit's a scam. Like, I paid $4,000. I mean, my family did for me to go to this modeling school. I thought I would get placed immediately, but, like, dude, this shit's taking so long and we're like doing repetitive shit. It just feels like cosmetology over again. Like, I don't even know they treat us like fucking children too. Like, bitch, I don't even know how to describe this to you. I fucking hate it. Every second of it. And this is going to sound even worse. I don't even know the fact that some of these people even made it in. It's shocking. It's shocking. Y' all ugly as hell. Like, how the are y' all in here? Like, we need the supermodel looking like there are five girls that are hot in that class and the rest are weird. Like it's fucked. Also, in her Snapchat folders, you know, she's filling out this medical exam and it asks her, like most do, do you currently smoke or vape? Yes or no. And there's like a little box next to yes, little box next to no. Okay. She of course indicates yes, but instead of doing a check mark or an X or filling in the box, she does a heart around yes. And then takes a picture and sends it to somebody on Snapchat. I don't know. Because now we have it in the Snapchat file. So. Yeah, Mackenzie, the police went through your Snapchat history and so did we. So kind of a dumb question to ask whether or not the police opened her Snapchat. But on the note of dumb questions later, Mackenzie asks the officers if they were all wearing body cameras, which side note, this is before her arrest. So it's possible that she thinks that they're just investigating and the case is going to be concluded with her getting her license suspended for like 10 years. Which is what she asked them to do. Right, which she asks if they're wearing body cams. They confirm she asked to see them. They tell her no.
B
When will they.
A
Was this.
B
When was she asking?
A
She's in the hospital.
B
Oh.
A
So this is like after the crash.
B
And the police is currently wearing a body cam. This is being recorded.
A
Well, they were audio recording a lot of these hospital. Yeah, they were not. I didn't get the body cam probably because HIPAA and like there's lots of stuff happening in the. Actually. Well, I do see lots of body cams in hospitals. Maybe because she's on.
B
Well, yeah, but we only got audio.
A
Yes. And so she's acting like this is just like a friendly he, haha girly pop chat. And she's like, why can't I see it? Like, what do you mean why can't you see it? This is an open investigation. Like, they're not just going to give you. What do you mean?
B
She's like, my mom would give it to Me?
A
Yeah. What would have given to me, like, 10 years ago?
B
You can get what you want, but I certainly can.
A
Exactly.
B
Like. What do you mean?
A
What the hell is going on right now? It's just all very deplorable behavior. And I don't know if Natalie and Steve ever call their daughter out on it or if all they do is sympathize Natalie, as per her very recent Daily Mail interview. So Steve's been doing, like, I've seen a at least two on camera interviews. Natalie has a Daily Mail interview. She says, I'm always going to be a villain in someone's story because I'm the mom of someone driving a car who killed two kids. That's okay because I know I'm not a villain. I'm a good person. So is my daughter. She's not how she's being labeled online. She struggles with this daily. She's being labeled online as a murderer, and she was convicted of murder, so I don't know. She says, quote, I feel trapped. I feel like we're stuck in quicksand and we can't get out. I feel so bad for MacKenzie, but at the same time, I feel so bad for the other. I love Dom. I still love Dom. McKenzie still loves Dom. She's struggling. Dom was like part of our family. Steve says in the documentary she's lucky to be alive. But I was torn. I had some guilt being happy for my daughter and knowing that Dom and Davion passed. I think what you wear to a very important event is very indicative of who you may be as a person. I mean, typically, you don't wear white to someone else's wedding unless asked to. And if you do, it's very indicative of who you are as a person. And maybe sometimes you don't wear a graphic T shirt that's. That says boom on there. When you're being interviewed about how your daughter crashed a car into a building at nearly 100 miles per hour to the point where investigators say it looked like the car exploded. And ultimately that car crash killed two boys. Maybe don't wear the boom shirt.
B
Was this in Netflix or.
A
Yes, Netflix.
B
That's even crazier. Yeah, it's freaking. You know, this is a documentary. People, like, wardrobe is a huge thing.
A
And, like, the emphasis that they have on lighting, like, if you see some of these, like, setups for these documentaries behind the scenes, the amount of lights, like, 10% room, 90% lights and camera crew, studio, like, it's just so intense.
B
Yeah, to the T. Yeah.
A
And I'm sure, they don't have, like, a makeup team for, you know, documentary interviewees, but, like, it's still a big day on the calendar that you think of and you plan ahead of time, and you're like, okay, well, I need to wear something that is. Yeah. But no, he wears a boom shirt. It's a shirt that reads boom on there. It looks like a graphic tee. And he's wearing this throughout the Netflix documentary. And netizens have thoughts ranging anywhere from it's just a shirt to he's an art teacher. He's trained in media literacy. He did this on purpose, and it's wild. Another one reads, it feels like he's making a joke about his daughter's actions. Maybe I'm reading into it, but it's not a good look. Another says, their level of immaturity in that family runs deep. Another says, zero situational awareness whatsoever. To which later, Steve does an interview where he's asked about this boom shirt, but not before he very sarcastically points out. So in this new interview after Netflix, he's wearing this solid orange polo shirt. So it's got the polo logo, but, like, just mainly orange. Right. He says, is this okay? I don't want to trigger anybody in this world. And I'm wearing this orange polo. I hope it's, you know, I'm not colorblind enough for anybody. Oh, the shirt I was wearing is from Drip Drop. So the boom shirt, he's like, it's from this Drip Drop, which is Crime Circus on YouTube. Crime Circus has been a defender for my daughter. He's made many posts saying she's innocent. And he shows the evidence and he contradicts what people say.
B
There. There's a YouTuber defending.
A
Yeah, MacKenzie Shrilla, like, way before the Netflix documentary, like, during the trial, as it was happening, I believe.
B
And this is their merch.
A
It's one of their merch. I mean, people have been saying he's got tons of merch. You could have chosen from the merch
B
was related to this case.
A
No, no.
B
Okay.
A
Unrelated to this case.
B
Still crazy.
A
Yeah. And yeah, yeah. He's like, you know, he shows the evidence, he contradicts people that who say, no, she's guilty, blah, blah, blah. And he goes, no, you have to look at this. And this. About a month after her trial, one of his posts showed up with. With us. Somebody had sent it to us, and he had found five, six videos. Interviews from the Strongsville Police Department that were not in discovery or were not in the discovery that we could find. And he says, that in those videos, people allude to Mackenzie passing out and having seizures. So it's like, it's a very lengthy police discussion with Angela, which is Dom's brother, and he, like, alludes like, yeah, I've heard about Mackenzie passing out and having seizures. Right. Or whatever. But he's saying, like, oh, that's proof. Regardless. I don't really think it's that pertinent because the verdict did come out the way it did come out. He's saying that he didn't get it in discovery, which, I mean, if that's true, that's the huge, huge allegation. And I would imagine that their appeal would go forward, but it hasn't so far. I mean, they're going to the Supreme Court, but it's just a huge allegation that I don't know, because I don't know what they got in discovery. Right. When. I mean, I got it when we did the FOIA request request. I didn't particularly find anything in there nefarious. Like, you know, the points where I was talking about in the last episode where Dom's mom was saying, oh, I'm not even worried about Mackenzie's attorney. He's not a concern for me. They kind of took it as, oh, everything is rigged. I took it more as, like, she found out who the Sherilla's hired. I don't think she's the one that told them to hire them. And then she's like, I don't think he's a great attorney. I think that was the vibe I got.
B
Yeah.
A
Of like, he's not like, this crazy. He's not fudgeing Mark Agnifolo, probably. Anyway, back to the shirt. He said the shirt was crime circus, his logo and one of the. His swag that he sells. So I wore the shirt to say thank you for what he was doing for my daughter. And he's done a lot. If I see him, I'm going to hug him. That's the first thing I'm going to do. He's been a very good champion for what I feel is misjustice against my daughter and the lack of evidence to support the charges. So that's what the shirt was about. Not me being colorblind to two boys dying because it was horrible. A day doesn't go by that I don't think about it. And that was one of the toughest things for me to do with this whole thing at the beginning was, how can I be happy that my daughter's alive and breathing? And the. The Fact that these two boys died. The shirt was a thank you to Crime Circus. It wasn't me being colorblind or insensitive to anybody. Because that's the most idiotic. Because. Oh, my God, why would I do that? That's got to be the dumbest take on that shirt. And again.
B
But you did. Yeah, you did wear that.
A
Yeah.
B
And then just apologize. Yeah, you can still explain, but just apologize.
A
That was his apology. And then he hits it with a. You know. And again. Everyone, this is orange. I'm sorry if it's offensive. I apologize now.
B
They're just so not likable. They're making everything not regarding to the case or legal side of it. They're just such unlikable people.
A
Yeah, they're people that I would not want to spend any second of my free time with willingly. Like, probably the only time I would spend time with them is if I were forced to be in a jail cell with them for whatever reason. That would be it. Like, you really. They just are not fun people. Yeah, I just wouldn't spend any free time with them. They're just very unlikable people. In another comment, it reads, he's the type of ad that joins his daughter's OnlyFans account for, quote, support. That comment got like 48,000 likes. So this is a sentiment that, I mean, I don't know you describe a lot, but that to me is a lot of people that liked it. Mackenzie's dad, Steve Sharilla, says, again, am I a perfect parent? No. And Natalie is like, backing him up. And she's like, nobody is. No one is. Have I made mistakes with my kids?
C
Sure.
A
It's. It's like life, you know, Mackenzie's mom, Natalie Butson, but she wasn't a bad kid. She didn't need to be disciplined a lot. You know, I mean, she. I mean, the only. The worst is her master mouth. And clearly our definitions of good parenting and bad kid are so vastly different that one of us might be reading the dictionary and the other party might be reading the freaking hobbit because, like, what do you mean? But this is where I'm going to leave you with the first half of part three. In the next part, we're going to dive into some of the more talked about text exchanges between Mackenzie and her dad. The infamous warm milk text messages at 3am and why people have been commenting things such as, guys, Mackenzie's dad is the type of dad to join her OnlyFans account for, quote, support. So with that being said, stay tuned for the second half of Part three and I'll see you in the next one.
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Rotten Mango Podcast: “Mackenzie’s Mom Calls Police For ‘Mean Post’ on Social Media – ‘There Are 2 Girls Bullying Mackenzie’”
Host: Stephanie Soo
Airdate: June 24, 2026
In this episode, Stephanie Soo dives into the aftermath of the car crash involving 17-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla—who survived a high-speed collision that took the lives of her boyfriend, Dom, and their friend Davion. Now convicted of murder, Mackenzie and her parents, Natalie and Steve, have faced intense scrutiny, largely due to their public appearances and statements—especially in the viral Netflix documentary "The Crash." This installment (Part 3 in a series) explores their ongoing attempts to defend Mackenzie, the family’s internet controversies, their unusual responses, and social dynamics before and after the tragedy.
Stephanie presents the story with characteristic dark humor and sharp skepticism. The episode is dense with references to direct quotes, FOIA reports, internet commentary, and firsthand reactions, all maintaining her conversational, sardonic tone. Dialogue between Stephanie and her co-host is woven seamlessly, often serving to highlight the incredulity many listeners feel as the details become increasingly bizarre.
This episode exposes not only the tragic circumstances and the criminal justice issues surrounding Mackenzie Shirilla’s case but also the damaging effect of parents becoming online “brands,” prioritizing image over empathy. The family’s public relations campaign is presented as deeply counterproductive and almost performative. Stephanie’s analysis, rooted in both documentation and cultural response, is ruthless, thorough, and peppered with wry commentary—particularly regarding social media’s role in amplifying every misstep.
Stay tuned for the next episode as Stephanie dives into even more of the text messages and behind-the-scenes details of the Shirilla case.