UNVEILED: The Chilling Texts Mackenzie Shirilla Sent Boyfriend Before Fatal ‘Hell on Wheels’ Crash—What Did She Really Mean? Over the course of four years, Mackenzie Shirilla and Dominic Russo had a tumultuous relationship. The couple began dating when Shirilla was a freshman in high school, and she moved in with him after graduating. While the two appeared to be inseparable on social media, they were dealing with a multitude of issues behind closed doors. In text messages obtained by PEOPLE from the Strongsville Police Department in May 2026, Shirilla and Russo got into several heated arguments and made shocking accusations against each other — including allegations of cheating, blackmail, reckless driving and anger issues. The messages obtained were sent from January 2020 to July 30, 2022. On July 31, 2022, Shirilla ultimately killed Russo and their friend, Davion Flanagan, when she slammed her car into a brick wall at approximately 100 mph. By November of that year, Shirilla was arrested in connection with their deaths. She was eventually convicted of two counts of murder, plus additional counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, drug possession and possessing criminal tools. Shirilla is currently serving two concurrent terms of 15 years to life in prison and was interviewed for the first time in a Netflix documentary about the incident, The Crash, which hit the streamer on May 15. Here, read the most shocking messages sent between Mackenzie Shirilla and Dominic Russo from January 2020 to July 2022.

Shirilla told Russo she was “gonna 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 someone” in January 2020

On the morning of Jan. 14, 2020, Shirilla became upset after Russo said that he couldn’t give her a ride. Around five minutes after Russo told her that he couldn’t pick her up, she texted him, “I’m so f—ing mad.”

“I’m so mad,” she reiterated to him, and added in two separate messages, “I’m gonna 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 someone” and “I’m mad as f— rn [right now].”

Later that same day, the two got into an explosive argument after Shirilla didn’t get a ride home from school from Russo.

“I F—ING HATE MYSELF IM UGLY AND YOU J[UST] ADD ON TO IT AND MAKE ME FEEL EVEN UGLYER,” she said in one message and added in another, “YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE IM WORTHLESS I DO SO MUCH S— FOR YOU.”

When Russo replied that she would not “have to do anything for me and id probably be happy,” she responded, “Now I’m at your f—ing house breaking down on your floor. Like you cause pain to me for no reason and then you wonder why I’m so stressed. I’m trying so hard to please you but it’s never enough.”

The two continued going back and forth, including one message where Shirilla told him, “I j[ust] want to bang my head on the wall till I’m dead.”

Shirilla added in another message that he should “treat the girl who would die for you a little better.”

Both of them accused each other of “𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔” to break up with the other several times

Over the span of the two years of messages, both Shirilla and Russo threatened to break up with the other.

“Kenzie i think we should take a break again itll be good for both of us,” he messaged her in March 2020, to which she replied, “No NO NO.”

He added in separate texts, “We havent been getting along and u need to make some friends” and “I think it will be good for both of us.”

Two months later, Russo tried to tell her they were “on break,” but she told him, “F— YOU WE NOT ON A BREAK.”

The two continued down a similar pattern for the following two years. In September 2021, Shirilla initiated the conversation and admitted that they were “very toxic.”

“Like I did break up with you but then you bought me a purse and yes it did fix the problems for a couple days but they just came back worse,” she wrote.

In January 2022, Russo texted her, “U cant go a day without 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 to breakup w me.”

The following month, he texted her, “[You] should apologize for 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 to break up w me every week especially when my mom in the hospital.”

Russo accused Shirilla of 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 to “stab” him in the eye in a heated argument in August 2021

Dom Russo and Mackenzie Shirilla in The Crash.

Courtesy of Netflix

On the morning of Aug. 13, 2021, Shirilla got mad at Russo for interrupting her and saying a joke she didn’t like.

“Thsts my bad but u did threaten to stab me in the eye,” he alleged, to which she responded, “Yeah idc [I don’t care].”

He doubled down with the allegation in a message a few minutes later and wrote that Shirilla had “threaten[ed] to stab my eye or pour water on me.”

“Maybe if u just had my back u wouldn’t be threatened,” she wrote.

He wrote in two other messages, “Kenzie i made a joke and u threatened to stab me” and “U threatened to stab me in yhe [the] eye.”

Russo eventually said it was his “bad” for making a “bad joke,” but there was still “no need to threaten to stab me.”

“Just dont threaten to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 me then I’ll probably dip to palm bay,” he wrote.

Russo alleged that Shirilla “hit me” and “tried to throw a rock at me” in March 2022

During another heated argument on March 11, 2022, Russo accused Shirilla of getting physically violent toward him.

“[You] didnt let me out the car and then hit me and pulled the s— out of my hair then tried to throw a rock at me and threaten to call the cops on me and key my car,” he texted her.

Later that same day, Shirilla asked Russo to stop texting her, to which he replied that he could not do that “unless u show me that cops will never be involved, u wont try to ruin my life, key my car, or f— up my house or somethin Or throw a rock at me.”

Shirilla alleged that she only threw the rock his “way,” because he was taking videos of her “freaking out.”

“If you didn’t take a video or a photo of me freaking out I would not have thrown the rock or anything. I pulled your hair because you were trying to open my mothers car door and make it hit a f—ing stop sign,” she claimed.

Russo alleged that Shirilla was “driving like a maniac” in March 2022

Dominic Russo; Davion Flanagan.

Courtesy of Netflix; Jardine Funeral Home

Around five months before Shirilla crashed her car into a brick wall and killed him and Flanagan, Russo warned her that she was “driving like a maniac.”

“And kenzie u drive like a maniac everyday,” he texted her on Feb. 28, 2022.

During another argument in March 2022, Russo claimed that he started filming her after she “started speeding whipping turns like a maniac.”

“I told u to stop the car and i tried to get out and u started driving like a maniac i thiught [thought] if i opened it u stop the car,” he said.

Shirilla also wrote that Russo was “driving like a psychopath” in December 2021.

Shirilla called Russo a “pathological manipulator,” and she admitted to “anger issues” in the midst of one of their breakups in March 2022

Among Russo and Shirilla’s other problems in their relationship, the messages revealed that they also struggled with trust and infidelity. Shirilla often accused Russo of 𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 on her and lying.

“You can’t even prove to me that you’re not a cheater because you know deep down that it’s still in you and always will be,” she wrote to him on March 14, 2022.

Russo apologized for past behavior but said that he was “changing.”

“You are not sorry you are trying to manipulate me and lie to my face you know you do not care,” she wrote, while later adding, “Anything that comes out of your mouth is a guarantee lie” and “Like you are a straight liar a pathological manipulator.”

In the midst of their arguments, both Shirilla and Russo accused the other of having a “temper” and “anger issues.”

“If im being totally honest its your temper thats the main problem u cant act on me hotheaded and then expect me not to react like if u controlled your temper we wouldnt be in any of this,” he wrote to her on March 11, 2022.

Shirilla replied, “Obviously I have anger issues I’ve been working on in my whole entire life I need somebody that’s going to be there for me and D escalate my situation‘s when I’m going through a manic episode and you never do that you choose to escalate the situation all the time.”

Russo told Shirilla he “felt unappreciated” while trying to break up with her in July 2022

Dominic Russo and MacKenzie Shirilla.

Mackenzie Shirilla/Facebook

Just a few weeks before his death, Russo tried to break up with Shirilla and told her he didn’t “think we are gonna be able to work this out.”

“Kenzie u said mean things to me and i felt unappreciated and mad,” he wrote to her on July 2, 2022.

Meanwhile, Shirilla wrote to him in return, “You say mean things to me all the time you never give me love you never give empathy you never make me feel cared for or loved You just let me feel alone all day and you make me feel ugly.”

Shirilla told Russo that she could “blackmail you 30 times harder”

Starting in March 2022, Shirilla and Russo both brought up “blackmailing” the other over various videos and 𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝑔𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓸𝓃𝓈.

“Keep trying to blackmail me you know I can blackmail you 30 times harder,” she wrote to him on July 17, 2022.

He later replied to her, “U blackmail me every week.”

In February 2022, he wrote to her, “Kenzie u are 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 to ruin my life like your trying to extort me like wtf.”

Shirilla accused Russo of “trying to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁” her less than two weeks before his death

Mackenzie Shirilla; Crash scene.

Strongsville Police Department; Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office

On July 17, 2022, Shirilla alleged that Russo tried to “𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁” her by driving her “off of the highway.”

“The fact that my boyfriend of four years just tried to end my life by steering me off of the highway that’s how I know you’re not in love and you never were somebody who loves me would never do this to me,” she wrote.

Russo denied the allegation and said he “rly didnt.”

“The only reason it went this far is because you tried to end my life,” she doubled down, to which he wrote again, “Kenzie i didnt.”

She added, “I’m already nervous driving in the rain as it is and the fact that you would even try to steer me off of the road and make my car spin out” and “I absolutely cannot believe you just tried to end my life.”

Shirilla threatened to “file a police report” but didn’t appear to. He responded with “if u do im telling your mom your a prostitute … cuz u are.”

Shirilla said she’d “break s—” if Russo didn’t let her into his house 10 days before the crash

Mackenzie in The Crash.

Netflix

Shirilla became upset with Russo on July 21, 2022, after he wouldn’t let her inside his house.

“So you can be mature let your girlfriend in the house have a normal conversation with her that should only take a minute or two or you could just be done,” she told him.

However, Russo said that he didn’t want to let her inside his house, because she previously “threatened to break a bunch if s—” if he did.

“I’m only going to break s— if you don’t let me in,” she replied.