“She’s just a little kid”: Mackenzie Shirilla's dead boyfriend's father speaks out as Ohio teen sentenced to life 

Mackenzie
Mackenzie's official sentence hearing has been scheduled for Monday, (Image via PopPot Illinois/Twitter)

While Mackenzie Shirilla was sentenced to life imprisonment, her deceased boyfriend's father stated that he doesn't want to see her spend the rest of her life in prison. To give context, in 2019, Shirilla deliberately drove her car at a speed of 100 mph and crashed onto a wall, but the car crash killed her then-boyfriend, Dominic, and his friend Davion Flanagan.

However, Frank Russo, Dominic's 61-year-old father, stated he wants the convicted Ohio teen to get help. He further added:

"She’s just a little kid. She f**ked up."

Mackenzie Shirilla has been found guilty on four counts of felonious assault, two of aggravated vehicular homicide, one of drug possession, one of possessing criminal tools, and four counts of murder.

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Dominic's dad is fine with a reduced sentence of Mackenzie Shirilla if she speaks the truth about the day of the car crash that killed his son

On July 31, 2019, the then-17-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla slammed into a brick wall, while driving at a speed of 100 mph. The crash killed her boyfriend and his friend, and Shirilla is found guilty of the deaths. She currently faces life imprisonment, but Dominic's father recently shared his thoughts about Shrilla's prison sentence and that it might be too harsh for the teen. He said:

"It’s horrible for everybody. Yeah, I lost my son, it’s harder on our family, but I don’t want the rest of her life ruined too, it isn’t going to make me feel any better. The whole thing’s just a shame."

Russo further added:

"She did a damn stupid thing but now her parents are destroyed, her family’s destroyed too. I wish there was a way she could get some kind of help, some kind of treatment."

Russo revealed how difficult it has been to attend the trial since it began around the one-week death anniversary of his son. Addressing Mackenzie's sentence, he said that she needed help more than a life imprisonment. The grieving father spoke about his son and said:

"He was opening up his own clothing line, he was not average kid, I’ll tell you that."

He described Dominic as his "go-getter" son and also mentioned that Mackenzie Shirilla has already suffered a lot even before being thrown behind the bars. When the trial was undergoing, a text was shown that was sent to Dominic's mother by Shirilla, where she wrote:

"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 gonna try to go get hypnotized and make myself remember."

To this, Dominic's father said that he would be on board with a reduced sentence, if she speaks the truth about the chain of events that took place that day. Dominic's eldest sister also addressed the matter, saying:

"Justice was served, when you do something intentionally you have to pay for your actions, but at the same time... It’s even more terrible now that it’s in stone, that my little brother, his life was stolen, was taken intentionally."

News outlets have tried reaching out to Mackenzie Shirilla's attorney and her family, but they haven't released a statement as of now. Shirilla's sentence hearing is reportedly scheduled for Monday.

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Edited by Priya Majumdar
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