Four Weeks Before the Crash: The Text That Haunts a Murder Case

In the weeks before a fatal car crash killed two people in Ohio, Dominic Russo sent his girlfriend Mackenzie Shirilla a text message that reads like a premonition—one that would take on chilling new meaning after prosecutors alleged the crash was intentional.

On July 2, 2022, Dominic reached out to Mackenzie with thoughts about time, love, and their relationship’s viability. The message, obtained by TMZ, captures a man struggling with the relationship’s cycles of conflict and temporary breakups. He wrote to her,“Kenzie u know i love u but i dont think we should be together at this point there isnt very much time on earth.”He went on to mention their constant fights and desire to find happiness elsewhere, telling her,“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.”

Four weeks later, on July 30, 2022, Mackenzie was driving 100 MPH when she crashed into a brick wall in Ohio. The collision killed Dominic Russo and their friend Davion Flanagan. What Dominic feared—that the relationship had run its course—ended in tragedy prosecutors said was no accident. They argued the crash was intentional, resulting in Mackenzie’s conviction for murder.

Mackenzie has consistently maintained that the crash was a tragic accident, claiming she experienced a medical emergency behind the wheel. She’s currently incarcerated and eligible for parole in 2037. The text message, however, paints a portrait of a relationship fracturing under the weight of ongoing conflict, just days before everything ended. It stands as a sobering artifact of a final conversation between a man expressing doubt about the future and a woman prosecutors say deliberately ended his life.