“WISH IT COULD WORK”: The Heartbreaking Breakup Text Netflix Hid To Protect Mackenzie Shirilla’s Alibi… 💔📱

“We were in love. I am not a monster. I just blacked out.”

If you watched the recent Netflix documentary about 21-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla, you were sold a very specific, carefully edited story. The producers wanted you to believe that Mackenzie and her 20-year-old boyfriend, Dominic Russo, were a star-crossed teenage couple whose lives were shattered by a sudden, tragic medical emergency.

They wanted you to feel sorry for her. They wanted you to believe she simply lost consciousness before that devastating 100mph crash.

But Netflix lied by omission.

True-crime investigators have just uncovered a bombshell piece of evidence that the documentary deliberately buried. It wasn’t a medical emergency. It was the oldest, darkest motive in criminal history: “If I can’t have you, no one will.”

📱 “Wish It Could Work”: The Final Rejection

To sell the “tragic love story” narrative, the documentary completely erased Dominic’s voice. They hid the fact that he was desperately trying to escape the toxicity of their relationship.

Law enforcement sources have revealed that just weeks before the f*tal crash, Dominic sent Mackenzie a long, agonizing, and definitive breakup text. He didn’t scream. He didn’t threaten her. He tried to let her down gently, outlining his boundaries and ending the long message with four heartbreaking words: “Wish it could work.”

He was trying to peacefully close that chapter of his life. But Mackenzie Shirilla’s ego could not handle the rejection. She didn’t mourn the relationship and move on. She began to plan.

🚗 The Kindness That Cost Him Everything

If they were broken up, why was Dominic in the passenger seat of her Toyota Camry that early morning? And why was his innocent 19-year-old friend, Davion Flanagan, in the back?

Because Dominic made the f*tal mistake of trusting his ex-girlfriend. He just needed a ride home. He thought the worst of their drama was over. He had no idea he was stepping into a high-speed trap.

When you combine Dominic’s heartbreaking breakup text with the cold, hard data from the car’s black box, Mackenzie’s “POTS blackout” defense shatters into a million pieces.

⚙️ The Anatomy of an Execution

A fainting victim’s body goes limp. But the digital footprint of that night proves Mackenzie was wide awake and driven by pure, calculated rage.

In the final 4.6 seconds, the machine recorded her foot forcefully pinning the gas pedal at 100% capacity. She never touched the brakes. And most terrifyingly, she executed a deliberate, 142-degree hard yank on the steering wheel, aiming the vehicle straight at the thickest, most unyielding part of the brick wall.

The EDR also recorded a violent struggle over the gear shifter in the final moments. Dominic realized too late that she wasn’t just speeding—she was executing her revenge. He fought for his life, but he couldn’t stop her.

🛑 Defaming the Dead

The most sickening part of this entire media circus is how Netflix allowed a convicted k!ller to manipulate the memory of her victims.

By hiding Dominic’s breakup text, the documentary robbed him of his truth. They erased his attempt to better his life just so Mackenzie could look like a grieving, innocent girlfriend. They turned Davion Flanagan into mere “collateral damage” to push a fake narrative.

Mackenzie Shirilla and her parents thought this arrogant documentary would pave the way for her 2037 parole. Instead, the leak of this heartbreaking text has triggered a global outrage. The public now sees her true character. She didn’t black out. She snapped. She took the lives of two young men because she refused to be rejected.

👉 Do not let the documentary manipulate you. We have the full, unedited transcript of Dominic’s devastating breakup text and the exact timeline of her chilling revenge. Read the truth they tried to bury in the link in the comments below! 👇

Dominic Russo Sent Mackenzie Shirilla a Long Breakup Text Weeks Before She Murdered Him: ‘Wish It Could Work’

At the time, Russo discussed ending his rocky relationship with Shirilla, who did not want to break up with him, according to texts obtained

NEED TO KNOW

• The couple’s four-year relationship was marked by repeated arguments and breakup threats, according to texts obtained by PEOPLE.

• The couple often exchanged angry text messages with each other

• Russo and his friend, Davion Flanagan, were killed on July 31, 2022, when Shirilla drove her Toyota Camry into a wall at nearly 100 mph with them inside

Mackenzie Shirilla knew that her boyfriend of four years, Dominic Russo, was considering breaking up with her just weeks before she killed him and their friend, Davion Flanagan, according to texts obtained by PEOPLE.

“Kenzie u know i love u but i don’t think we should be together at this point there isnt very much time on earth yaknow,” Russo, 20, wrote on July 2, 2022, according to text messages obtained by PEOPLE in May 2026 from the Strongsville Police Department.

“id like to think we could stop fighting but its a breakup fight everyweek,” he continued.

He added, “neither of us deserve that i dont wanna fight all the time.” He then wrote that he believed she didn’t want to keep arguing either.

Expressing his concern for her, he wrote, “i dont want u to think im abandoning u i wish it could work but i dont think its going to at this point especially with the threats we should just breakup so we can both [find] happiness somewhere else.”

Then, in a continuation of the couple’s pattern of breakups, threats to break up, and reconciliations, Russo quickly retreated from his stance, writing, “i want the best for both of us baby im sorry we were fighting i love u.”

Shortly after, he wrote, “Look im sorry talk ltr.”

Shirilla started dating Russo when she was a freshman and moved in with him at 17 when she graduated from high school on June 24, 2022.

She had told friends and others that she planned on marrying Russo one day.

But the texts between them show how tumultuous their relationship was. Sent from January 2020 to July 30, 2022, the texts show how often the couple argued.

Arrested in November 2022 and charged with a slew of crimes including aggravated vehicular homicide, Shirilla — whose crimes are chronicled in the new Netflix documentary The Crash — was convicted of double murder on Aug. 14, 2023.

Now 21, Shirilla is currently serving two concurrent terms of 15 years to life in prison at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville.

When Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Nancy Margaret Russo (no relation to the victim) handed down two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life, she said, “This was not reckless driving. This was murder. . . . [Shirilla] morphs from a responsible driver to literal hell on wheels.”

Interviewed for the first time in the documentary, which began streaming on May 15, Shirilla says, “Nothing about [the crash] was intentional, because that’s not my character. I’m not saying I’m innocent. I was a driver of a tragedy, but I’m not a murderer.”

In the documentary, Russo’s brother, Angelo Russo, is heard telling police after the accident that “Dom tried to break up with her multiple times in July.”

But, he said, “They kept making back up.”

He told police Shirilla wanted Russo all to herself. “Kenzie’s like, she’s let us know she will never let go of Dom. And if she has to let go of Dom, she would not go on living herself.”

Mackenzie Shirilla asks Ohio Supreme Court to review case after appeal missed by one day, attorneys say

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Mackenzie Shirilla, who was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole after 15 years served for a deadly crash that killed two young men, is asking the Ohio Supreme Court to take a look at her case after previous appeals were denied.

Shirilla was convicted in 2023 of murder in the deaths of her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and their friend, Davion Flanagan. A judge sentenced her to life in prison after prosecutors said the evidence showed the crash was intentional, pointing to surveillance video, vehicle “black box” data, and evidence the car was traveling nearly 100 miles per hour without braking.

Now, Shirilla’s lawyers say a calendar mistake cost her a critical legal challenge.

Court records show her attorneys missed the deadline to file a post-conviction challenge by one day, because they failed to account for 2024 being a leap year, her legal team argues.

Under Ohio law, convicted defendants generally have 365 days after their trial transcripts are filed to challenge their conviction. Prosecutors say Shirilla’s deadline started Oct. 23, 2023, and that her attorneys filed late on Oct. 24, 2024.

Shirilla’s new attorneys filed another appeal with the Ohio Supreme Court on April 27, 2026, arguing the clock should have started later because a separate transcript was filed weeks after the main trial record. They also argue Shirilla would have been acquitted if she had received effective assistance of counsel.

The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office says the latest appeal should be thrown out. In a statement released Wednesday, prosecutors said they remain confident in the conviction, writing: “We are confident that any court that reviews this case will come to the same conclusion.”

The Ohio Supreme Court has not yet decided whether it will hear Shirilla’s appeal. Her first parole hearing is scheduled for 2037.

19 News reached out to her new attorneys and are waiting to hear back.

Mackenzie Shirilla’s Boyfriend DomSent Chilling Text Before Fatal Crash

Netflix Composite

Mackenzie Shirilla‘s late boyfriend Dominic Russo sent her a chilling text message in the weeks before she killed him in a car crash … talking to her about life being short.

In the text message, obtained by TMZ, Dom tells Mackenzie … “Kenzie u know i love u but i dont think we should be together at this point there isnt very much time on earth.”

Dominic proceeds to mention constant fights and breakups that don’t stick … telling her they need some time apart.

He adds … “i dont want u to think im abandoning u i wish it could work but i dont think its going to at this point especially with the threats we should just breakup so we can both fimd happiness somewhere else.”

Netflix

Dom sent the text on July 2, 2022 … about four weeks before the fatal crash that killed him and his friend, Davion Flanagan. Mackenzie was driving 100 MPH when she crashed into a brick wall in Ohio, and she was later convicted of murdering them. Prosecutors said the crash was intentional.

For her part, Mackenzie’s maintained it was all a tragic accident and she experienced a medical emergency behind the wheel. She’s behind bars and is eligible for parole in 2037.