New details are emerging about convicted killer Mackenzie Shirilla after her former prison girlfriend opened up about their relationship behind bars — including a disturbing nickname that still haunts her.
Shyann Topping told PEOPLE that she met Mackenzie Shirilla in 2023 while both women were incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. At the time, Shirilla had recently arrived at the prison after being convicted in the deadly 2022 crash that killed her boyfriend Dominic Russo and their friend Davion Flanagan.
Prosecutors argued during trial that Shirilla intentionally drove her car into a brick building at more than 100 mph following a toxic relationship with Russo. She was later sentenced to two life sentences with parole eligibility after 15 years.
According to Topping, the two quickly became romantically involved while in prison. She says one early conversation left her unsettled after Shirilla casually laughed about inmates calling her “Shirilla the Killa.”
Topping explained that she initially defended Shirilla because she only knew the version of events Mackenzie shared with her inside prison walls.
“She would talk about Dom and Davey lovingly,” Topping recalled, saying she originally believed Shirilla may have been misunderstood or unfairly portrayed in the media.
But after Topping was released from prison and began researching the case herself, her perspective reportedly changed dramatically.
She said reviewing evidence from the trial made her question everything Shirilla had told her during their relationship.
“At first I thought maybe she wasn’t guilty,” Topping explained. “Then when I saw all the evidence, I realized maybe she wasn’t the person I thought she was.”
Topping now says she believes Shirilla knew how to present herself differently depending on who she was around, describing her ex as someone who could appear “sweet” one moment and completely cold the next.
The revelations come as renewed attention surrounds the case following Netflix’s documentary The Crash, which revisits the fatal incident and the legal battle that followed.
