Mackenzie Shirilla's 'High School Drama' Prison Life Exposed

It's not all sunshine and rainbows. It. takes a very mentally tough person. >> [music]. >> to be able to get through something like. that. >> What is it really like inside the Ohio. Women's Prison [music] where convicted. double murderer Mackenzie Shirilla is. going to spend at least the next 10. years of her life, maybe even more? We. are getting inside information from a. former [music] inmate on everything from. the rules Shirilla has reportedly been. caught breaking to [music] the. privileges she may be getting behind. bars. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by. Law & Crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

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So, we've been talking about Mackenzie. Shirilla a lot lately. She's been in the. headlines after Netflix dropped the. crash documentary, brought all this. renewed interest, attention into the. deadly crash that Shirilla was convicted. of intentionally causing. July 2022, the. then 17-year-old slammed her car into. the side of a brick building in. Strongsville, Ohio, destroying the. vehicle, killing the two passengers, her. boyfriend, 20-year-old Dominic Russo, and their friend, 19-year-old Davion.

Flanagan. Shrilla survived, incredibly, told investigators that she must have. blacked out because she had no memory of. what happened. To this day, she says she. doesn't know what happened. The scene. left responding officers nearly. speechless. >> Radio, we got at least two occupants in. here. >> Recording. Mounted. White mic connected. >> Oh my god. That's three, guys.

>> Radio three. >> Yeah, three occupants. >> No one's. >> No one's conscious. >> No one's breathing. No one's breathing. >> Hey, Captain. Bust that window out. >> Oh my god, dude.

>> Who can hear my voice? >> Who's in here? >> Driver's conscious. >> Radio Radio, driver's. >> breathing Breathing, unconscious. >> Hey, Captain. >> Radio, we're going to need four traction. but all three. >> Come here.

>> Go ahead and pull them. >> You need a knife? >> Hey, Captain. >> You need a knife? >> Here. >> This is bad, guys. >> Here's Here's a knife. >> she's alive. We got to get her out. somehow. >> All right. >> And Shrilla has maintained her. innocence, maintained her innocence at a. bench trial in front of a judge. This is. where prosecutors laid out a timeline of. her toxic relationship with Dom, her. apparent pre-planning of the crash. bolstered by a visit to the site in the.

days before, what seemed like a complete. lack of remorse in text messages and on. social media in the time after the. wreck, the physical evidence about the. accelerator in the car and how there was. no malfunction, and how her foot never. hit the brake. An Ohio judge ultimately. found her guilty on a whole litany of. charges including murder. And at. sentencing, the judge explained her. reasoning for the punishment that she. handed down. >> There's a very good likelihood, Mackenzie, that you will spend the rest. of your life in prison.

That won't be up to me. That will be up to the parole board. And that will be up to you to a great. extent. I understand that the pain in this room. wants me to impose the harshest. sentence. But I don't believe that would be the. appropriate sentence. Because I do believe that Mackenzie will. not be out in 15 years. So, she's sentenced on count two, the. murder of Davion Flanagan, 15 years to life.

She's sentenced on count one, the murder. of Dominic Russo, 15 years to life, to. be served concurrent to each other. with credit for time served. >> So, what happened? Sherri Villa was. shipped off to the Ohio Reformatory for. Women, Marysville, Ohio. It's a prison. that first opened more than 100 years. ago, can house 2,000 inmates, and that. is where Sherri Villa was when she sat. down for her first on-camera interview. with the Netflix documentary film. And. on her life behind bars, she said, "It's.

really hard every day in here. I try to. wake up and be the best person I can be. every day, stay out of trouble. There's. not a moment that doesn't pass where I. don't think about Dom and Davion.". But, her short time in Marysville so far. hasn't been without controversy because. we got a hold of her prison record which. gives us. some insight into the apparent trouble. she has been accused of causing. See, in. May of 2024, Chrilla apparently got in. trouble for apparently being in the. wrong place at the wrong time.

Corrections officer wrote, "On the above. date and approximate time of 11:40 p.m., inmate Chrilla, W111780, was seen in the second floor dayroom. talking to her tablet. This is the. second incident that has occurred where. inmate Chrilla has been found in the. dayroom after wreck has been closed. Inmate Chrilla is being charged with 5.6. being out of place." In a follow-up. report, Chrilla said she quote, "Just. didn't know." She apparently admitted. this. The hearing officer found her.

guilty. She got a verbal warning. Just a. few months later, another conduct report. was filed. Quote, "On the above date and. approximate time, I, Officer Bryce, was. conducting my random bed searches. During my search on inmate Chrilla, I. found two pair of altered state pants, a. fan with the name and number crossed out. and Chrilla written on the same side, and four nude magazine pictures. For. this, I will be charging her with a 12.3. possession of another inmate's property.

and a 12.7. possession of contraband." And according. to the prison doc, Chrilla told the. staff, quote, "I did have the fan and. pants was turned into quartermaster and. I was charged." So, apparently Chrilla. lost commissary access for 30 days for. that one. She was cited multiple times. for apparently wearing clothing that had. been altered or was being worn. incorrectly. You have this report from. April 2025. It stood out because it. says, quote, "I approached IP Chrilla. while she was in case manager Jones's.

office to take her to the restroom to. see if she was properly dressed. IP. Chrilla was previously in Mr. Reems's. office and he had asked her for her. hoodie as it was altered and considered. contraband. IP stated that he couldn't. have it because she wasn't dressed. properly under her hoodie. When I told. her I was taking her in the restroom to. make sure she was dressed properly so I. could take her hoodie, she stated, "If. he got a" and then here is slang word. for erection, "from the way I'm dressed, that's his fault.". As she got to the door of Ms. Jones'.

office, she told Ms. Jones to come with. us to the restroom because she didn't. feel comfortable. When we got into the. IP restroom, IP Shrilla unzipped her. hoodie and her state shirt was. completely unbuttoned with just a sports. bra on. She was instructed to button her. shirt and give me her altered hoodie. The whole time we were in the restroom, she was very disrespectful and talked. with a loud tone asking. if this was all we were worried about. was her altered jacket. This IP has had. several conduct reports for contraband.

clothing. She has been given new state. uniforms in exchange for the altered. clothes. Her hoodie was clearly taken in. on the sides and was very form-fitting. on this IP. And then you have this, August 2025, there was another incident. This one. involving claims of sexual activity. A. conduct report states IP had her hands. in IP Shrilla's pants in her buttocks. region. Now, Shrilla denied this. happened, reportedly saying, "I did not. allow her to touch me and I have never. had a sex ticket and this is not me. I.

don't do that kind of stuff.". By the way, you can check out all of. Shrilla's apparent misconduct reports. right now on the Law&Crime Plus app. We. have a whole case file on Mackenzie. Shrilla. We have everything in there. from the police body cam, the evidence. photos, the incident reports, the jail. phone calls. You can check it out there. Now, we wanted to know what life is. really like in this facility, in prison. for Mackenzie Shrilla. So, I had the. chance to speak with a former inmate of. the Ohio Reformatory for women, Jess. Denison. And her videos have gone viral.

since the crash premiered on Netflix. because she's revealing. behind-the-scenes details about life at. this women's prison. And I will tell you. Jess's story is unique. She told us that. she was an advanced science and. chemistry student in high school. She. ended up using her skills to support her. drug habit. She was sentenced to spend 3. years at the Marysville prison at just. the age of 19 for illegal manufacture of. drugs. She was granted early release. She relapsed. She went back. And Jess. told us that she was the first woman to.

earn an actual high school diploma. instead of a GED at this prison. Was. given a graduation ceremony. She says. she's now been clean and sober for 8. years. It's a remarkable accomplishment. And since Shirilla's case has been back. in the headlines, Jess has posted videos. to social media talking about her time. behind bars and answering everyone's. questions they may have. So, we got a. chance to speak to her. Take a look. All right, time to bring in Jess. Dennison. Talk more about this. Jess, thank you so much for taking the time.

Really appreciate it. Just so everybody. knows, um you were at Ohio Reformatory. For how. long were you there for? >> About 7 and 1/2 years across three trips. as a very young adult. >> And you, to be also clear, you had no. interaction with Mackenzie Shirilla. This was after you. >> No. No, I was there. before she even hit middle school. >> Okay. Okay. I I I really want to get. your perspective to see, you know, what. it's like there, what her life is like.

Just generally speaking, what should we. know about this facility that we're not. understanding from just reading about. it? >> Yeah, so there's a lot that goes into. the mentality of a women's prison. It's. a lot different than a men's prison. Um. it's not nearly as violent. You get a. lot more of the high school drama there. So, while she's not dealing so much with. the consequences of her actions on a. violent uh playing field like the men. would, um as being confronted for her actually. hurting a couple of kids, whereas in the.

men's prison she would face a lot more. accountability for that. Instead, she is. a very popular girl right now. Unfortunately. >> And that and that's interesting because. you would imagine popularity, celebrity. status. I have to imagine she's like the. most well-known inmate right there. In. other facilities, that might be a. danger. Here, not so much? >> Correct. That's right. So, unfortunately, in the women's prison, especially in Ohio Reformatory for. women, this brings a lot of notoriety to. you. Her popularity has shot up.

significantly because everyone on the. compound is calling home to their family. and their family is giving them. information on this crash documentary. So, everyone wants to know who she is, talk to her, and be able to say I was in. prison with her. >> Was it strange for you to see them. filming a documentary at the Ohio. Reformatory? I mean, have you ever seen. anything like that before? >> Yes. So, a couple of times. There's a. few times Kim Kardashian came in and. worked with some of the girls to get. early releases. So, documentaries aren't.

strange there, but what is strange is. them filming them and then leaving the. person in the documentary just out in. general population for everyone to go. hang out with after. That is that is. different. >> Explain to me why that's an issue. >> So, what it's going to bring is everyone. around her. And while her personality is. a lot in there, it's going to bring a. lot more towards her, which amplifies. the situation. It's kind of like in. there, you only have so many distractions and. you don't want the women distracted on. each other. And that is the goal of a.

lot of the things to distract the women. in there like the tablets and the music. You don't want them focused on each. other. This is going to make all of the. women focus on her. >> Mhm. What is life like there? Let What's. the You wake up, you go to sleep. What. does the full day look like? >> So, the prison that everyone thinks that. it is is actually what admissions is. So, when you first get there, every. single female in the state of Ohio goes. through MCC, which is an admissions. dorm. And inside of that, you spend 30. to 60 days total lockdown, no movement.

in an open dorm with all the women who. are coming in until you do all your. medical passes, you get um. given your level, which comes in three. different levels in Ohio. The most. non-violent and youngest get level ones, whereas if you have a violent charge or. you have recidivism rates where you've. come back a few times, you're a level. two. And if you do the most heinous. crimes, you're a level three. Mackenzie. Shurilla falls into that level two. So, once she gets out of the admissions. dorm, she's going to go out into the. general population and have everything.

Full access to everything. So, what. everyone thinks she should be living. through is what she only went through in. the first 30 days. Now, she has full access to. uh two food boxes a year and one sundry. box a year, which is where the prison. gives you magazines where you can shop. out of them like you're online. She can. get clothes, she can get sweat suits, hair straighteners, blow dryers, curling. irons, makeup, and most of that is to. make the women feel a little bit more. normal in there, but you're going to see.

the prison programs versus the. consumerism making its way into pri-. private prison contracts, which is what. those boxes are. They're. Outside companies are pushing as much as. the prison will let them sell in there. And it's only a a small amount of. things, but for an inmate, it's a lot. So, she has access to a ton of things. >> You know, normally you would think if. she's getting nice things, um. that might put a target on her back, right? Oh, you have all access to this, you're getting money, you're getting. donations. Not the case?

>> Not the case. Not the case, unfortunately. That just ups her. popularity because in there, your status is off of what you have, not. who you are, what you did, or where. you're from. Um so, as long as you have. all the nice things, and you're going to. have friends around you. So, that just. up ups her popularity and makes people. want to meet her even more. >> What about iPads? >> Yeah, so the tablets are fun. They're. interesting. And again, it comes back to. that perspective of you don't want these.

women focusing on each other. So, and there's private tablets that you can. order from JPay where you can download. music, pay for music, and download it on. your tablet tablet personally. That was. the first thing we upped from a FM AM. radio. And then once they realized that. worked, um the GTL tablets, which is the phone. company through Ohio prisons, they. created their own tablet that is given. to all inmates. You don't have to buy. it, and you can make phone calls from. your bed. You can send like 5 or 10.

second text messages that you can text. from your bed as well. So, they have expanded that quite a bit. If. you get that, you can also buy streaming. services where you can stream movies or. TV, um millions of songs like YouTube. It's really crazy. >> Is she required to have a job, or can. she sit back and just watch movies all. day? >> So, every inmate is required to have a. job. Now, you get to choose which way. you want to program, which way you want. to work in there. So, when you go in, everyone is initially given a first-time.

job, which is usually CFS, the chow. hall. Um and that's and that's terrible. You're working in the worst food in a. dish pit for 8 to 12 hours a day just. like a normal job. Whereas, you could. get assigned a lucky job like I did, which is a reclaimer, and you take one. garbage can of trash to a compactor once. a day, and that's your entire state job. But, everyone does have to work. >> Hm. Let me ask you this. Uh we were talking. a little bit before. Um. you're going back there. You're going.

back there uh as part of an alumni. program. Is there a scenario where you. could speak to, talk to, converse with McKenzie Shrilla, provide her advice? >> Only if she decides to program for the. betterment of herself. So, like I said, every inmate has the [clears throat]. opportunity to set their own programming. schedule. You can decide if you want to. go into college, if you want to go into. the tapestry program like I did, which. is the highest. Excuse me, the highest recovery rate in.

the entire state of Ohio with 27%. And so, she has hundreds and hundreds of. programs that she could get into. If she. went into tapestry next year for alumni. day, I absolutely could go in and mentor. her. Um but, that's a personal choice. She could choose to not do any. programming and go run the yard, sleep. all day, skip out on her state-assigned. job, and not do anything. And And it's a. choice. >> That would hurt her at parole, right? >> It's She's already hurt herself at. parole, unfortunately. So, the parole. board.

gives people a bit of a self-confidence. that I think hurts them in the long run. When some of the inmates have longer. time, they fill themselves with delusion. that that appeal is going to get them. out early. Unfortunately, with her. conduct reports, it doesn't seem as if. she's carrying herself in a way that. that matters to her right now. Um these parole boards and this parole. hearing, they flop you, is what we call. it in there. You get flopped for 5 years. every time. So, they rarely, for any. infraction that has a life sentence tag. on the end of it,

give the first parole hearing or give. the first at the first parole meeting. give parole. You will get flopped at. least two times if you have any conduct. reports on your record whatsoever. She. has many already. So, in 10, 15 years, she's going to have to answer for what. she was doing when she first got there. So, she's going to get pretty. disappointed, and she's going to get. pretty humbled pretty quickly after she. watches years worth of people come in. and leave and never contact her again. >> Was there something about in the. documentary itself that. you makes you believe that as well that.

she might have difficulty for early. release? >> Yes. Yes, just this. the fact that she has just never said. what happened that night. She claims the. fact that she can't remember. The parole board will not accept that. That's that's not acceptable. That. you're in there to rehabilitate, to. program, to make yourself better, and to. take accountability for what you did, and she is not doing any of that right. now. And the first 5 years are the most. important to the parole board. >> Mhm. When um. if you have an opportunity to eventually. speak to her, like if she does take this.

chance to uh you know, like you said, better herself and meet with you, what. would you say to her? >> I think I would ask her. what she would say to herself. when she gets to the age of release. Like what she would ask to herself when. she was younger when she went in. Is. that how you want to be remembered? Do. you want to be the girl who couldn't. take accountability and couldn't be. remorseful and tell the truth about what. happened to give closure, or are you. just going to remain in your addiction.

and your addictive personality? She. needs work. She needs rehab. She needs. cognitive behavioral therapy, and that. doesn't start until she realizes that. she single-handedly is responsible for. this. >> And this facility provides the help if. you want it? >> Oh, hundreds and hundreds of incredible. programs. You get to set your own. programming. You can sign up for. whatever you want or don't want. I got. seven state certifications, um two. college degrees, and I was the first.

female in the state of Ohio to get my. high school diploma instead of my GED. She has every opportunity to come out. with no student debt, be completely on top of her education, and flip her life around at 30 if she. comes out on an early parole. >> Wouldn't it be tough though, considering. her notoriety, considering what she was. convicted of? Wouldn't it be very tough. for her to. I don't know what that life would look. like on the other side. >> Well, I think she has an opportunity. I. think that with the programs that they. have in there, they the second chances.

are endless. Even for her with her. notoriety and her case and what she did, the difference is going to be whether. people receive it because she actually. takes accountability. >> Mhm. Um so when you're looking at this and. you're thinking about. her case and what she's going through. and the amount of attention that's being. brought here, what is. how difficult is life there? I mean, we talk about some of the advantages, we. talk about some of the benefits, but. day-to-day how demoralizing is it? How.

depressing is it? How is it tough to be. motivated? Again, we go back to what. it's like inside there. What are we not. seeing? >> Yeah, the mental torture. It is a lot. So the things that you. think people are in there arguing over, they're not. You spend most of your time. in there listening to for perspective. It is 300 women in an open dorm. Just. 150 bunk beds thrown in a warehouse and. there's eight to 10 of them on the whole.

compound. So. you're listening to. women screaming at the top of their. lungs over nothing. You're fighting over. phone lines because people are calling. next from across the dorm at count time. You are waiting in a 300-person line for. microwave. So you could have all these. luxuries. You can go shopping at Walmart. essentially and have a whole grocery bag. under your bed, but if you can't get in. the one microwave for 300 women, it. doesn't matter. So all of these things you don't have. your freedom. You you can go out the.

door when you want, but they still tell. you when you can and cannot shower. They. tell you when you can and cannot get up. and go to bed and it's. demoralizing in that way. It's. exhausting and if you don't have the. mentality to live around 3,000 criminal. women and the behaviors that come with. that, you won't survive it. >> Is there are there episodes of violence? >> There are. There are. I've seen few, but it's usually over something. personal. It's never over principle like.

it is with men. It's usually personal. The only time I. ever saw any serious violence in there. is because someone hung up somebody's. phone call and they were calling home. for a family emergency. So, that's the. type of things that would get women to. actually get violent. >> Jess, I want to go back to you. Talk to. me about the work that you do right now. and how you're helping people. >> Yeah, so I use my story, my sobriety, and I share it on social media all of. the time. It helps a ton of people. We. work with nonprofits across the multiple.

different states to get ex-inmates or. people who are on the streets and are. struggling into rehabilitation, into. sober living facilities. And I'm going. to take all of that motivation back into. the prison for Tapestry Alumni Day. And. then we get to motivate the inmates to. show them that there is something else. on the other side of this. And. regardless of what you did, where you. come from, there's a comeback. >> And by the way, you have a. significant social media like we That's. actually one of the things that we were. seeing is the videos that you were. making about this place and also about. the McKenzie Shirilla case.

That's a That's an interesting. way to communicate it to the world. >> Yeah. Yeah, it's fun. It's a great. opportunity for sure. I think one thing. I want to share a lot of that my. followers seem to be very very excited. about to hear in the inside is a lot of. the opportunities that they get for. being able to have normal food like I. care packages. You can buy online and. send food to somebody once a week and. it's gourmet meals. Like it looks like. it came straight out of a restaurant. But on the other side of those programs.

are inmates who are learning how to cook. in a restaurant, in an industrial. kitchen, by order per unit. So, sure some inmates are getting a. cheeseburger or chicken and waffles and. that doesn't quite make sense, but. there's somebody on the other side of. that who is learning how to be an actual. industrial chef in the restaurant. industry and can take that anywhere with. them. Same with the hair salons and the. nail salons. McKenzie Shirilla can go get her hair. done and create a hair appointment and. just pay for it out of her commissary. But there's an inmate on the other side. of that learning how to do hair to go.

into the hair industry. So there's a. balancing act for sure. >> Yeah. Listen, you're doing great work. I. I really appreciate you coming on and. give us a little perspective about. what this facility is like, what. Mackenzie Shirilla may be going through. And you know, again, keep up the good. work. You're it's really really. important. But Jess Dennison, thank you. for coming here on Sidebar. >> Of course. Thanks for having me. >> And that'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. >> [music]. >> You can also check us out on NBC's. Peacock as well. If you want to follow. me, X, Instagram, my NewsNation show, Jesse Weber LIVE, [music] Monday through. Friday, 11:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll see you. next time, everybody.