104 Shocking Mackenzie Shirilla Texts with Boyfriend Before His Murder

"I just want to bang my head on the wall. till I'm dead. I think we need some time. apart. Okay, Mr. gaslighter, I don't. need you to tell me what's small or. big." Those are some of the messages. between Kenzie Shirilla and Dominic. Russo, the young man her on-again, off-again boyfriend [music]. that she murdered alongside their friend. when she drove a car into a wall at 100. miles per hour. We're going to read you. some of the [music] more revealing. messages involving Dom and Shirilla.

because understanding what was going on. with the couple [music] can help us. maybe understand what on earth happened. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law &. Crime. [music]. I'm Jesse Weber. All right, before we jump into this, I. got to tell you about this sponsor, this. partner of ours, cuz they have this app. that I think you're going to love. It is. called Upside. Upside gets you cash. back, extra cash back on everyday. purchases like gas, groceries, takeout. So, here's what you do. You download. Upside for free. You claim an offer at.

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first tank of gas. We're turning now to something that we. haven't yet tackled on our coverage of. the Kenzie Shirilla case. The text. messages between Dominic Russo and this. convicted murderer. And I'm going to. read you a bunch of these. communications, and it's important. It's. important because understanding that. dynamic, understanding this. relationship, is key to trying to make. sense of what happened here. To try to make sense of Shirilla's. arguments that she didn't do this on.

purpose. And I want to put this into. context with what I'm talking about. because Mackenzie Shirilla was found. guilty by a judge in a bench trial, meaning that a judge decided her guilt. or not guilty. She was found guilty by a. judge in a bench trial of four counts of. murder, four counts of felonious. assault, two counts of aggravated. vehicular homicide, one count of drug. possession, and one count of possessing. criminal tools, all in connection with. the July 31st, 2022 car crash that.

killed her boyfriend Dominic Russo and. their friend Davion Flanagan. The. 17-year-old mashed down the accelerator, never tried to brake, this is according. to investigative reports, selling over a. curb, through a business sign, and into. a brick wall. And Shirilla has insisted. ever since that she had no memory. whatsoever of the crash or even the time. the minutes leading up to it. She and. her family have suggested that she has a. diagnosis of POTS, this medical.

condition that can cause dizziness, fainting. They claim Shirilla must have. blacked out, which is why she drove off. the road. I will be clear about this, at. trial there was no official medical. diagnosis of POTS, wasn't presented. There was no evidence of a car. malfunction. There was no presentation. of her being severely intoxicated. And after her 2023 trial, she was. sentenced to life in prison with the. possibility of parole starting in 2037. But now she's back in the news a lot, a.

lot, because of the Netflix documentary, The Crash, where she goes on camera, she. does this interview from behind bars, and she says she's not a monster, that. there was no intent, that she loved Dom. But there is evidence of her driving. recklessly in the past. There was an. account, a narrative that she would get. into fights while driving. There was. evidence that she didn't seem remorseful. after what she did. So, prosecutors. essentially made the argument that she.

intentionally crashed the car, especially considering there was. evidence that Dom was trying to break up. with her just weeks before. But, there were also messages from. Sherilla to Dom where she claimed she. was the victim of Dom. For example, there were messages from Sherilla to one. of Dom's family members in the past. I'm. going to read you some of them and then. we'll get to the communications between. Dom and Sherilla. But, for example, there's this one where McKenzie writes. this family member, quote, "Can you come get Dom? He just grabbed. my steering wheel on the highway trying.

to spin out my car and hurt me.". TBH, I can't calm down when he just. tried to end my life. He tried to end my life today and told. me, "Do you want to die?" So, I want to. get into these messages between Dominic. Russo and McKenzie Sherilla pre-crash, okay? And this is from years before, too. And, you know, relatively shortly. before this event took place and what. these messages might tell us. You know, there was a Cellebrite cell. phone extraction compiled by.

investigators that revealed all of these. text messages between the couple going. back years, all the way back to January. 2020. Thousands upon thousands of. messages between the couple who, again, appeared to have this very toxic. on-again, off-again relationship. And I. do want to highlight just some part of. the conversations that the pair had. We. can't go through everything, but you can. check out, by the way, if you're. interested, if you're interested in. looking at the full conversations, all. the texts. I think there's nearly 32,000. pages of them. Right now, all of that is.

available on the Law & Crime Plus app. We have a McKenzie Sherilla case file. You can check it all there if you're. interested. But, right now I want to. highlight some of the text messages. And. by the way, these are just text. messages, even though the couple seem to. have also communicated on social media. apps like Instagram and Snapchat. And by. the way, I should tell you these. messages were entered into evidence. during her actual trial. Reportedly, over 93,000. text messages were entered into. evidence. Welcome to the digital age. Welcome to a young relationship, right?

So, Sherilla's text messages, they show. up as green, Dom's are in blue. We're. going to put them up there as I go. through them. And toward the top of the. file in January of 2020, Sherilla sends. these messages. And it already starts to. give you an idea of the dynamic of the. relationship at the time. Quote, "No. Why aren't you saying, 'Oh, you look so. good, Kenzie.' Why are you being like. that?". Quote, "Don't drag me down. Hype me up.". Now, a lot of the couple's texts during.

this time period, they center around. Sherilla seemingly wanting to spend all. of her time, all of her free time with. Dom. And she seemingly texts him over. and over about when they can hang out, when she could come to his house, when. they could go to get food. But in these. exchanges, Dom, I think an argument. could be made, seems to be wanting a. little more space. And that is what led. to conflict. That is what leads to a. blowout. For example, this is from. January 14th, 2020. Quote, "Let me come.

in." Sad face. Quote, "No. From now on, you just got to go home after school, my. B." Another one, "And probably can't. come before school." Sherilla replies in. all caps, "What? You can do this to me." Then corrects. herself, "Can't. You can't." Dom. replies, "If I asked you to go home, you. would have threw a fit anyway.". Then there's a series of messages in all. caps from Sherilla, "You're mean. You.

treat me like S. And I treat you like a bleeping god. And. you do this." Dom goes on to say that it. feels like she's smothering him, to. which Sherilla responds, "I just want to. bang my head on the wall till I'm dead.". Dom replies, "To be honest, this S has. happened so many times, I just don't. care anymore.". And despite, by the way, still being in. high school, Sherri does eventually move. in with Dom in a home that his mother. owns next to her own. And during a. conversation at the end of January, it.

seems that Dom and Sherri are both at. his house, but possibly, you know, in. different rooms texting each other. because Sherri begs him to give her, {quote} "dabs", which by all accounts. seems to be a concentrated form of. cannabis. {quote} "I swear if you don't. leave, I'm a flip S.". "I'm leaving. I just need dabs, babe.". And the response in all caps, "I don't. have any.". Now, something this compilation of. conversations reveals is just how on.

again, off again the two were over the. years. They would break up constantly, then they would get back together just. as quickly. And remember, both are very. young. They're teens when they met. You. know, Sherri was 17, had just graduated. high school when the crash happened. And. on the other hand, it's understandable. why emotions would be running high, but. at times, it just appears from the messages alone, and I don't, you know, have personal. knowledge of their relationship, but. just looking at the messages, and. sometimes messages can be quite. revealing, it seems like things were out.

of control at points. You know, I. mentioned the conversations before where. Sherri is messaging a family member, but. look at this. For example, here's a. conversation between the pair from March. 2020. Dom says, "I don't like dealing. with all this, babe." Sherri responds, "All I ask is for like three things. No. girls, hang with me, and affection. None. of them are hard to do. If you can drive. around all day on random Sherri's time, then you can find a way to see me. You. do so many harder things in your life.".

Dom replies, "I think we need some time. apart.". And then she appears to go off on a rant. saying, "Dom, stop right now. Answer the. phone. We're not doing that again. We're. not going on a break. Text back like. you're not going to do this to me. Get. off do not disturb. We're not going on a. bleeping break, Dom. I do so much so. much for you and you say that." Now, the. very next day, Shirilla sends another. long string of messages. "Hey, babe.

What you doing now? Dom, answer, Dom. Wow. I'm mad. Answer right now. I'm so. mad." Dom sends this response, "Low. battery.". So, now I want to jump ahead in time a. little bit. Summer 2021. So, about a. year before Shirilla drove her car into. the side of that brick building killing. her boyfriend, killing their friend, Mr. Flanagan. Shirilla and Dom are in the. middle of another fight in these. messages where Shirilla says,

"Like, I'm seriously done. I do not want. to see you. If you're done over that small. inconvenience, then okay, fine. So be. it. Okay, Mr. gaslighter. I don't need. you to tell me what's small or big." She. continues, "You can figure out your own. way to the graduation party tonight. Like, I'm seriously done. Why are you done? Cuz I didn't give you. free weed?" And this is another example. of Dom apparently being, you know, Shirilla's connection to get. marijuana. She, by the way, had cannabis.

in her system or THC in her system at. the time of the crash. And she would. often, you know, post videos and photos. online of herself appearing to smoke. weed, use bongs. There was even an. allegation that she was doing it while. driving. Now, later in that same conversation, Shirilla writes, "Why would I want to go on vacation with. someone that can't even give me 1 g free. weed?" I want to fast forward. This time. I want to go to January of 2022. So, by. this point, at least in our opinion, the. dynamic between Mackenzie Shirilla and.

Dominic Russo seems to have changed. because I think there could be an. argument that at this point McKenzie. Shirilla seems very aggressive, dismissive, and I think you can make the. argument mean. I'm going to give you an. example. Shirilla writes, "Dom, I would. start texting right now unless you want. problems because you're acting weird as. F. I would start typing." Dom responds, "I'm not." She writes, "Like right now.". He says, "You're also acting heated as.

F." But Shirilla steamrolls ahead. "I. would start explaining right now. I. ain't going to try to talk to you when. you're mad because you are not telling. me after I asked 780 times. You have 5. minutes.". And there are multiple times during this. argument or their arguments that. Shirilla says she's setting a timer on. her phone to some arbitrary number and. if Dom doesn't respond or hasn't done. what she wanted by the time it went off, they were done. And there are also times that Dom brings. up Shirilla's social media presence.

because she posted on Instagram and Tik. Tok quite frequently, often in these. seductive outfits and these poses. The. two had this conversation in January of. 2022. Quote, "Like I just want to. understand why you post like that. Like. I know look cute but I feel like you can. still look cute without posting as. provocative. Like I for real want to. understand. Every other dude would be. coming at you aggressive as F too. For. real, I'm being cool and you're being. immature by just hanging up on me.". Later on in the conversation, McKenzie.

Shirilla wrote, "If you can't handle the. bad B, then bleeping leave. I don't care. like what the bleep. Don't try to make. me insecure because you are." She also. said at one point, "You were doing so. good this morning too. Like what the. bleep." And this is important, too. There are instances where the two talk. about Shirilla allegedly driving drunk. cuz you have one back and forth. She. says she's scared. Quote, "I'm driving. home to you." Dom says, "Oh, you drunk? Why you scared?" She responds, "In the.

hood and I'm a little drunk." This is. his advice, "Drive patient, but get to. where you need to go and you'll be fine. Don't look at no one and don't draw. attention. No one is going to do. anything.". Pretty scary to think about it. Teenage. driver with little experience driving. while drunk and. also texting. Um, I want to talk about this. July 2022. So, by the end of the month, Dom would. be dead. Davion would be dead. Sherilla would be. in the hospital. And she would have. serious injuries claiming she couldn't.

remember anything about the crash or. what happened beforehand. Again, the. insistence that she must have blacked. out. So, here's a long string of. messages from McKenzie Sherilla from. July 2nd. Again, this is just weeks. before what happened. Quote, "You're a. liar and will always be one." Smiley. face. "Can't keep a single promise you. make. You don't take relationships. seriously. You think this is some game. You're messing your life up and you're. going to be real embarrassed when you. see. So, yes, I will be back tonight.

I'm the only one keeping this. relationship together. If you want any. chance of this relationship working, you. will start giving effort and. well-thought-out responses fast." Dom. responds, "Kenzie, I'm not arguing with. you. It's a waste of life.". A few minutes later, she sends him a. photo, although it's kind of hard to. tell what it's a picture of. He voices. his frustration that she seems to want. to end things, but then starts talking. to him again like things are normal. And. during that same conversation, just 4. weeks before Dom's death, he wrote these.

chilling words, "There isn't very much. time on Earth." In fact, this is the. message I want to focus on, okay? The. breakup communication. "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, you know? I'd like to think we. could stop fighting, but it's a breakup. fight every week. Neither of us deserve. that. I don't want to fight all the. time. 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're only. going to fight more. 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. And that text was apparently followed up. by another just a few hours later asking. Shrilla if she wants to. try to work things out. And what was it. just 2 weeks later? There was another. important incident that happens. According to witnesses, Dom was on the.

phone with McKenzie when McKenzie. threatened to crash the car they were. in. According to Shrilla, Dom was the. one who grabbed the steering wheel and. said that he would cause a wreck. They. fought over what happened in a follow-up. text conversation. And it's really. shocking given what we know happens just. several days later. Quote, "If you can't. see what's broken and what needs to be. fixed, then there's no point of this. being a relationship. Yesterday, you. almost ended my life or could have ended. my life and all your mom cared about was. you not going to jail. Like I'm. literally never going to talk to your.

mom again unless she apologizes." By the. way, we did a whole sidebar episode on. this after the death of Dom and Daveion. Uh McKenzie writes Dom's mom a lot. There is a lot of communication back and. forth. You can check out that sidebar. episode up on our YouTube page. But. again, responding to this conversation, Dom says, "I didn't try to do anything.". To which she responds, "One more reply. that is not trying to fix this, I'm. blocking you.". "Give me one more bleeping reply that. doesn't reply to anything and see what.

happens.". "I'm just saying I didn't try to kill. us. I was def not trying to do that.". And they go around in circles for a. while with Shrilla saying, "If you're. incapable of fixing anything that you. caused yesterday and you can't. apologize, I know what you did wrong and. how to prevent this ever happening. again, then I'm not going to be with. you. I'm not going to be with an. abuser." And Dom says, "I did. apologize." He reiterates, "I wasn't. trying to end anyone's life. You should. believe that." Sharelle says,

"Why would I believe it when you did it? How can I believe that you're never. going to do that again? I can't because I don't know your limit. Somebody who loves me would never do. that. Never. I couldn't even do it if you told me to. But I guess that's different for you.". Dom later says, "You can pull out a knife, say you're. going to stab me. I'd stay with you." But Sharelle. replies, "I'm not going to keep wasting. my time with somebody who thinks my life. is disposable. I never thought you would. ever do something like that to me. I.

thought you would always protect me, but. we learn new things about each other. every day.". Dom responds, "I would never try to kill. you. LOL." And the final text messages. in the report are from Sharelle to Dom. on July 30th around 1:30 a.m. telling. him to turn something down or off. because it was {quote} annoying and. loud. So, in the end, look, this is just. interesting perspective, a sad. perspective on what was maybe going on.

behind the scenes. that may have caused, may have. contributed in some way to Kenzie. Sharelle's decision to deliberately. crash that car. And remember, you can. check out all of the text messages for. yourself on the Long Crime Plus app. It's all we have for you right now here. on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much. for joining us. And as always, please. subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. You can also check us out on NBC's. Peacock as well. [music] If you want to. follow me, X, Instagram, my NewsNation.

show Jesse Weber Live, Monday through. Friday, 11:00 p.m. Eastern. >> [music]. >> I'll see you next time, everybody.