Mackenzie Shirilla’s boyfriend Dominic Russo allegedly addressed his mortality four weeks prior to her 2022 car crash that killed him.
According to a Tuesday, May 26, report by TMZ, Russo, who died at the age of 20 in a high-speed crash caused by Shirilla, 21, sent the convicted killer a text that read, “Kenzie you know I love you but I don’t think we should be together at this point, there isn’t very much time on earth,” before his death.
Shirilla, who is the subject of Netflix’s The Crash documentary and currently serving two concurrent life sentences behind bars as a result of the incident, has maintained that the July 2022 crash was the result of blacking out behind the wheel due to postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). Her friend Davion Flanagan also died as a result of the incident. (POTS is described by the Cleveland Clinic as a condition that affects transitioning from “lying down to standing up, such as a fast heart rate, dizziness and fatigue.”)
The outlet’s screenshot of Russo’s alleged text went on to detail the nature of their volatile romance. “I’d like to think we could stop fighting but it’s a breakup fight every week neither of us deserve,” the screenshot read. “I don’t wanna fight all the time [and I know] you don’t either. Anyone who’s around anyone every day of the week is bound to fight. If we can’t separate for a little then we are only going to fight more.”
The alleged text concluded, “I don’t want you to think I’m abandoning you, I wish it could work, but I don’t think it’s going to at this point especially with the threats. We should just break up so we can both find happiness somewhere else.”
The outlet stated that the text was sent on July 2, 2022. The car crash occurred in the early morning of July 31, 2022.
Shirilla went to trial in 2023 and was convicted of 12 felony charges including four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault, two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and one count each of drug possession and possessing criminal tools. Prosecutors argued that the incident was a botched murder-suicide attempt, pointing to the vehicle’s speed of 100 mph and the absence of braking before the vehicle slammed into a brick wall.
In the Netflix documentary, which was released on May 15, Shirilla was filmed from behind bars. She expressed remorse for the deaths of Russo and Flanagan while stating that her POTS diagnosis caused the crash.
People reported on Tuesday that Shirilla texted Russo’s brother in the wake of his death to ask that the family place photos of the former couple within his grave “so he can be with me forever.”
The outlet also reported on Tuesday that Shirilla reached out to Russo’s mother to tell her she was considering hypnosis in an attempt to recover memories from the incident.
Shirilla is eligible for parole in 2037.
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