Lesbian prison secrets of ‘hell on wheels’ teen Mackenzie Shirilla who killed boyfriend and friend by crashing into wall at 100mph… as inmates reveal her mean girl antics behind bars
One of America’s most infamous teenage murderers has become a prolific lesbian behind bars and is a Mean Girls-style ‘queen bee’ inside her women’s prison.
Mackenzie Shirilla, who was 19 when she was imprisoned in 2023 for driving her car into a wall at 100mph and killing boyfriend Dominic Russo, 20, is having a great time inside the Ohio Reformatory for Women near Columbus, the Daily Mail has learned.
A former inmate who gave her name as Kat said Shirilla, now 21, was enjoying such torrid romances with other women that she would regularly walk around with ‘hickeys on her neck.’
‘She showed absolutely no remorse,’ she said. ‘Mackenzie acted like it was glorified high school… she walked around like she was famous.’
‘The girlfriend thing was well known,’ Kat continued. ‘And in prison it’s very common especially for people in her life sentence situation, and especially with the younger girls.’
Shirilla, who also killed friend Davion Flanagan, 19, in the 2022 high speed crash in Strongsville, Ohio, that she still claims was an accident, has been written up in prison documents as having ‘consensual sexual contact’ with other inmates.
She is said to have a quickly developed a taste for other ‘lifers’ – women who have committed the most serious crimes and who face spending the rest of their lives incarcerated.
‘People would talk about her girlfriends, and you’d hear about her falling out with them,’ Kat added.
Another former inmate, Shyann Topping, claimed to have been in a relationship with Shirilla in a series of TikTok videos.
Mackenzie Shirilla is pictured in a selfie taken from the Ohio Reformatory for Women, where she is serving 15 years to life for killing her boyfriend and a friend by slamming her car into a wall
Shirilla with late boyfriend Dominic Russell, who she murdered by slamming a car into her wall. She maintains her innocence and is now said to be a lesbian bully behind bars
Topping said she fell for Shirilla’s good looks and charm and hoped the pair would ‘be together’ on the outside.
She made that pledge despite Shirilla facing 15 years to life behind bars.
Topping said she was later turned off by Shirilla’s personality and mean behavior towards other inmates. She has since moved on with her life.
Shirilla’s crimes have already been the subject of a HBO documentary – Murder on Wheels.
Netflix plans to screen their own show on her case in May called The Crash.
Earlier this month, Shirilla lost her second appeal for a new trial after her lawyers failed to file the necessary paperwork in time.
The double killer, who was famously branded ‘hell on wheels’ by sentencing Judge Nancy Margaret Russo, must now remain behind bars until at least 2037, when she will first be considered for parole.
Shirilla sent a brief text message to the Daily Mail last week from behind bars, insisting that she is the victim of a ‘wrongful conviction.’
The obliterated ruins of the Toyota Camry Mackenzie Shirilla drove into a wall at 100mph. She maintains she suffered a medical emergency – but was sentenced for murder
A former inmate who gave her name as Kat (pictured) told the Daily Mail that Shirilla acts like a ‘mean girl’ behind bars
Shirilla pictured with two other inmates at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. She is said to have developed a taste for other ‘lifers’ like her
Footage of Shirilla sobbing and looking the picture of sorrow as she was sentenced was beamed around the world.
Her good looks and continued assertions that she suffered a medical emergency helped fuel theories among some in the internet community that the murderess is innocent.
There were no sign of any tears or frowns in the most recent photos of Shirilla though.
She appears to be making the most of her time behind bars, with photos sent to family and friends showing her posing for selfies in a full face of immaculately-applied makeup.
In one selfie, Shirilla’s lips appear suspiciously plump, but Kat said there would not have been any way for her to be injected with filler while behind bars.
Kat told the Daily Mail that Shirilla’s parents have flooded her commissary account with cash, allowing the murderess to obtain the latest clothes and sneakers as well as high-end makeup.
‘Anything that was hard to get? Mackenzie would have it,’ Kat said.
Shirilla’s enviable wardrobe saw her adopt a Regina George-like demeanor, Kat said, referring to the school bully played by Rachel McAdams in the 2004 movie Mean girls.
Kat said Shirilla would cruelly taunt inmates from less fortunate backgrounds than hers while showing ‘no sadness or frustration about being in prison.’
Shirilla is pictured with late boyfriend Dominic Russo, whose brutal murder she was convicted of in 2023
Davion Flanagan (pictured) was also murdered by Shirilla in the horror trash
Shirilla gives a self-pitying sob as she’s convicted of murder in 2023. She is now a bully behind bars
Shirilla’s father Steve speaks to the Daily Mail outside his Ohio home on Tuesday. He maintains his daughter’s innocence and passionately defends her case
‘She always had full makeup. But as I got to know her more, she would see people who didn’t have much because they didn’t have family on the outside, and she would call them “state babies” and mock their clothes.
Shirilla’s parents Steve and Natalie Shirilla are among her staunchest defenders.
Her father Steve told the Daily Mail this week that they believe her portrayal in the public eye ‘as a monster just isn’t true’, and they insisted she is a ‘good kid.’
‘She was young, and the case should have only been in juvenile court and she should only have been charged with vehicular homicide,’ he said, adding that they believe she was ‘screwed over.’
Asked about allegations she was caught with contraband, the parents insisted there was ‘no way she is doing drugs’, and said reports are due to ‘strict prison rules’.
At her sentencing they shouted ‘Love you hun, know you’re innocent’ as she was led away to begin her sentencing.
They maintained the deadly crash had been the result of a medical incident suffered by Shirilla and that she is the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Speaking outside their home in Cleveland, Steve and Natalie told the Daily Mail that their daughter’s conviction was ‘corrupt.’
‘The whole thing was a joke,’ Steve added, suggesting without evidence that his daughter had fallen victim to a grave series of legal errors.
Asked about Shirilla’s lesbian romances, Natalie said: ‘When you’re in a place for life with only women, that’s what’s available.’
In other social media posts after the crash, Shirilla sparked controversy by dressing up as a corpse for Halloween. She was arrested days later on November 4, 2022
Prison inmates of Mackenzie Shirilla, 20, say she enjoys her ‘notoriety’ behind bars and spends her days with girlfriends as she serves a 15-years-to-life sentence for the murder of her boyfriend Dominic Russo (seen together) and their friend Davion Flanagan
Shirilla seen in footage from her arrest, months after the car crash that killed two people and left her severely injured
Following the crash in 2022, Shirilla was severely injured and her story captured public attention as she documented her recovery for her thousands of social media followers.
Shirilla showed videos of her sitting in a wheelchair attending concerts and shared TikToks seemingly making light of the crash, including one video where she said: ‘I’m just one of those girls that can do a lot of drugs and not die.’
Prosecutors said Shirilla and her two victims had smoked marijuana earlier in the evening before the crash, and cops found a digital scale and psilocybin mushrooms in her car.
In other social media posts after the crash, Shirilla sparked controversy by dressing up as a corpse for Halloween.
She was arrested days later on November 4, 2022.
In February 2026, Shirilla shared her first public statement since her conviction on an Instagram account controlled by her family.
She insisted she is ‘NOT guilty of murder!’, adding that she ‘loved Dom and would never do anything to hurt him, Davion or anyone else I care about.’
Shirilla’s family even tagged Kim Kardashian in the post, seemingly hopeful the reality star known for investigating miscarriages of justice would look into the case.
Shirilla built a social media following before her murder case drew national attention
Following the crash in 2022, Shirilla shared TikToks seemingly making light of the crash, including one video where she said: ‘I’m just one of those girls that can do a lot of drugs and not die’
The Shirilla family home in Strongsville, a suburb of Cleveland Ohio. Mackenzie Shirilla will likely not cross its threshhold anytime before 2037
Meanwhile, the family of Shirilla’s late boyfriend Dominic Russo say his killer’s total lack of contrition continues to cause them anguish.
Christine Russo said her brother’s memory has been ‘twisted’ in the public eye, and said ‘not only was his life ended, but my family’s life was destroyed. It’s unfathomable.’
‘The case has tortured our family… her claims of innocence are beyond insulting to us,’ she added.
Christine said her father has been tortured by the crash for years, and said he still ‘wants to know what happened in the car that day.’
‘He wants to know what Dom’s last words were, what was happening… it keeps him up at night and it’s the first thing he thinks of in the morning. If she ever cared about Dom, she would tell the truth and let us rest.’
There is some comfort at least for the Russo and Flanagan families in knowing Shirilla will spend the best years of her life trapped behind bars – and that there is no prospect of her re-entering society until the youth she squandered is far behind her.
