Mackenzie Shirilla’s aunt tried to defend her niece in her murder case ... telling the judge Mackenzie was in "very much in love" with her boyfriend before the fatal car crash ... TMZ has learned.
TMZ obtained court docs filed as part of Mackenzie’s appeal of her sentence. She made the case that prosecutors failed to prove she had a real motive to kill her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and his friend, Davion Flanagan.
Prosecutors used forensic evidence to show Mackenzie was driving a car that was going 100 mph and didn't apply the brakes before it slammed into a wall, killing Dominic and Davion, on July 31, 2022.
Mackenzie Shirillais "literal hell on wheels" -- at least that's how the judge felt about her role in the fatal car crash that killed Dominic Russoand Davion Flanagan in 2022 -- but who is she, exactly?
Whether you've been following Mackenzie's case for years or are just now hearing the hype over Netflix's new documentary, "The Crash," we've rounded up everything you need to know.
Mackenzie was charged with murdering Dominic and Davion
Mackenzie was driving her then-boyfriend Dominic, and her friend Davion home around 5 AM on July 31, 2022 when she crashed her car into the brick wall of a building in Strongsville, Ohio.
Mackenzie Shirilla wanted to testify in her murder trial, and she planned to tell the jury she was the third victim in a car crash that killed her then-boyfriend and their pal ... at least that's what she told her mom in a phone call from jail.
In undated audio PEOPLE obtained from a jail conversation between Mackenzie and her mother, Natalie, the teenager questions her defense team's decision to keep her off the stand.
Mackenzie tells her mom ... "I was asking him if I could just testify to show them that like, I have nothing to hide, and he was like 'I don't know if that's a good idea at this point.'"
She goes on to say ... "If they see the truth, then they'll know that this was nothing but a car accident. They'll just see that there's a third victim, and it's me, and I lost the love of my life and a good friend, and now I have to deal with this grief the rest of my life."
Mackenzie Shirilla can kiss her dreams of having kids goodbye ... at least that's what she told her mom from behind bars.
In undated audio PEOPLE obtained from a phone call -- recorded while she was held at the Cuyahoga County Jail -- with her mom, Natalie, you can hear Mackenzie complain about being locked up ... saying she's going to be too old to have children if she ever gets released.
She told her mom ... "I'm thinking about like how I'm just gonna be like old when I get out of jail and like, I don't know, like I'm not gonna be able to have kids or like a family and s*** like that."
Newly resurfaced body cam footage shows the tense moments after the infamous crash involving Mackenzie Shirilla -- capturing police officers arriving at the scene and trying to piece together what happened.
The video begins with officers pulling up to the deadly crash site in Strongsville, Ohio ... where the heavily damaged vehicle is seen destroyed near a building.
Watch the clip ... officers quickly move toward the wreckage while surveying debris scattered across the area. As police secure the scene, officers can be heard communicating with dispatch and coordinating with other first responders arriving moments later.
Netflix viewers met a remorseful Mackenzie Shirilla in Netflix's "The Crash" ... but a former inmate says the real person -- behind bars -- is far different.
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Mary Katherine Crowder -- who spent over six months locked up with Shirilla at the Ohio Reformatory for Women -- has been blowing up TikTok with claims that the convicted killer acted more like the "queen bee" of prison than someone haunted by the deadly 2022 crash that killed her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and friend, Davion Flanagan.
Crowder told the NY Post that Mackenzie walked around prison like she was famous ... always glammed up and treating the facility "like a high school popularity contest."
Steve Shirillais pushing back on the firestorm surrounding Netflix's documentary about his daughter ... insisting his comments about marijuana were twisted and people have misunderstood what he was trying to say.
Check it out ... Steve joined us on “TMZ Live” after being placed on paid leave from his Ohio Catholic school teaching job following backlash over "The Crash" ... centered around his daughter, MackenzieShirilla, who was convicted of murder in the 2022 crash that killed her boyfriend Dominic Russoand friend Davion Flanagan.
A major point of controversy has been Steve's remarks in the doc about Mackenzie smoking marijuana as a teenager ... but he says that interpretation is off base ... telling us the filmmakers condensed days of interviews into a few short sound bites and left out important context.
