Mackenzie Shirilla has been making headlines ever since The Crash was released on Netflix on May 15, 2026. The series has been out for almost a week, and not a single day has passed without it being in the limelight. Mostly, because viewers still find it hard to digest how a normal drive back home took the lives of two young men named Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan. Amid that, PEOPLE has obtained an undated phone recording of a conversation between Mackenzie and her mother.
Mackenzie Shirilla’s conversation with Natalie Shirilla makes headlines amid The Crash buzz
Mackenzie Shirilla has been in the limelight once again, this time because of a conversation she had with her mother, Natalie Shirilla, while in jail. In a jail call obtained by PEOPLE, Mackenzie claims how she does not believe she needs rehabilitation while discussing her future behind bars. The undated phone call was recorded while Mackenzie was being held at the Cuyahoga County Jail following her conviction in the July 2022 crash that killed her boyfriend, Dominic (Dom) Russo, and their friend, Davion Flanagan.
The now 21-year-old is serving two sentences of 15 years to life at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, Ohio. According to reports, the prosecutors had alleged during the trial that Mackenzie Shirilla intentionally crashed her car into a brick wall at nearly 100 mph in the early hours of July 31, 2022. They alleged that Mackenzie took such a drastic step amid what they described as a toxic relationship between her and her late boyfriend, Dominic Russo.
Mackenzie Shirilla talks about rehabilitation during the call with her mother, Natalie Shirilla
During the call, Mackenzie and her mother discuss what prison life could look like after her conviction, including visitation, school programs and other resources available to inmates. Mackenzie said she liked that they tried to make it enjoyable. However, when her mother responds that prison is meant to be rehabilitative, Mackenzie responds by saying that she knows that jail is supposed to do that, but she doesn’t need to be rehabilitated. She was quoted as saying:
“I like how they try to make it, like, enjoyable there. Like, I don’t even like, I don’t want to enjoy life there, but, like, it’s just sad. Like, I don’t know….See, that’s how jail is supposed to rehabilitate people, but I don’t need to be rehabilitated. Like I don’t know that.”
Natalie Shirilla goes on to say that prisons are intended to help inmates rebuild their lives through education, work opportunities, mental health support and other programs ahead of their eventual return to society. She explains how, while it might not be for her, it is what it’s meant to do. Natalie explains to Mackenzie Shirilla, “Not you, but people who have been convicted of crimes like actual criminals.”
Mackenzie Shirilla also talked about her fear of missing out on having a family
Later in the conversation with her mother, Natalie Shirilla, Mackenzie, who will be eligible for parole in 2037, also talks about her fear of not having a family if she’s eventually released from prison. She reflects on how she would want to live off the grid, and the thought that she will come out of jail older has made her question the possibility of ever having a family of her own. She was quoted as saying:
“I feel like I want to live off the grid, like, and I’m just — I’m just I’m thinking about like how I’m just gonna be like old when I get out of jail and like, I don’t know, like I’m not gonna be able to have kids or like a family and sh– like that.”
image credit: TheCrash/Netflix
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