Latest Update: Mackenzie Shirilla is making one fi...

Latest Update: Mackenzie Shirilla is making one final legal push after a strange issue caused her to miss the appeal deadline

Shirilla, 21, was convicted of murdering boyfriend Dominic Russo, 20, and friend Davion Flanagan, 19, by crashing her car into a wall at nearly 100 mph

Mackenzie Shirilla; Mackenzie Shirilla crash scene.

Mackenzie Shirilla; Mackenzie Shirilla crash scene.Credit : Courtesy of Netflix; Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office

Mackenzie Shirilla’s attorneys are asking Ohio’s highest court to review her case after her appeal was rejected for being filed one day late — a delay they argue stemmed from a leap-year miscalculation.

In August 2023, Shirilla, now 21, was convicted of double murder in the deaths of her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and their friend Davion Flanagan, 19, after she slammed her Toyota Camry into a brick wall at nearly 100 mph in July 2022 without braking, according to data recovered from the car.

She was sentenced to two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life in prison, with eligibility for parole in 15 years.

Shirilla’s previous attempts to have her case appealed have been denied. Now her attorneys are asking the Ohio Supreme Court to review the case, saying she could have been acquitted if the paperwork was filed on time, court records first obtained by Cleveland 19 and reviewed by PEOPLE.

On April 27, 2026, her attorneys filed an appeal with the Ohio Supreme Court, saying “there is medical evidence” that Shirilla “suffered from a pre-existing medical condition that could have caused her to black out while driving.”

Her attorney at the time did not adequately investigate this aspect of the case and did not try to secure expert testimony, the appeal claims.

Her petition for post-conviction relief, according to the trial court, was filed “out of time,” her attorneys wrote on April 27, 2026.

In a memorandum in response to jurisdiction on May 14, they argued that Shirilla “miscalendared the date that her petition for post-conviction relief was due. The trial transcripts were filed in her direct appeal on Oct. 23, 2023, triggering the 365-day statutory clock to file the petition.”

Shirilla, they wrote, filed her petition on Oct. 24, 2024, the same day many of her exhibits were notarized.

“Because 2024 was a leap year, Shirilla’s petition was late by one day.”

As a result, they argued, the trial court denied her petition as untimely.

On March 12, 2026, Ohio’s Eighth District Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s decision denying Shirilla’s appeal, CourtTV reported.

But the justices disagreed, saying, “Ohio law is clear that PCR petitions must be filed within 365 days after the trial transcript is filed in the court of appeals, not on the date’s ‘one year anniversary,’” court records said, CourtTV reported.

On April 27, 2026, her attorneys filed another appeal with the Ohio Supreme Court

In a statement on May 27, 2026, regarding Shirilla’s case and her quest for appeal, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office wrote, Prosecutor Michael O’Malley “believes without question that Mackenzie Shirilla is guilty of murder. We are confident that any court that reviews this case will come to the same conclusion.”

Disclaimer: This story is fictional and created for entertainment purposes only. Any names, characters, places, or events are fictitious or used fictitiously. No real person or organization is intended to be portrayed.

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