Former Inmate Says Mackenzie Shirilla Was ‘Mean Girl’ of Prison

Netflix’s The Crash shows Mackenzie Shirilla behind bars — voice low, eyes downcast, insisting she’s “not a monster.” But two women who actually served time with her at the Ohio Reformatory for Women are telling a very different story.

Mary Katherine Crowder, 27, spent over six months incarcerated alongside Shirilla in 2024 and has gone viral on TikTok with a detailed account of what she says she witnessed. One clip alone has racked up nearly 20 million views. Her version of the 21-year-old convicted killer is almost unrecognizable from the subdued, haunted figure on screen.

“When she walked out in the documentary, my jaw literally dropped, because her demeanor and the way that she looked was nothing like the person I was in there with,” Crowder told the New York Post. “This character in the documentary is nothing like who I saw in there at all, and it was shocking.”

The ‘Regina George of Prison’

According to Crowder, Shirilla arrived at the Ohio women’s prison in late 2023 and had already established herself as a celebrity of sorts by the time Crowder was booked in April 2024 on outstanding misdemeanor warrants from Tennessee.

“Everyone knew why she was there, and she walked around like she was this famous person within prison,” Crowder said. “She definitely carried herself like she was the Regina George of prison — she was very much like an ‘It girl.’”

The picture she paints is one of a girl who treated incarceration like a high school popularity contest — full glam every day, clothes altered to fit her body, hair done, socializing with a tight clique of younger inmates. “She was always laughing, always smiling and happy — like it was never on her mind that she was serving two concurrent 15-to-life sentences because she killed two people,” Crowder said.

She also claimed Shirilla would sell customized jewelry and shoes to fellow inmates and spent her days “basically skipping” around the prison yard.

“Never one time did I see Mackenzie cry,” Crowder said in one of her now-viral TikTok videos. “She walked around like she thinks she’s gonna get out.”

@boujeebehindbars

My take on The Crash from someone that was inside with Mackenzie Shirilla. #fyp #prison #netflix #mackenzieshirilla #truecrime

♬ original sound – Kat Crowder

The voice shift between the documentary and the Shirilla Crowder knew was also striking to her. “She talked like a Valley girl when I was in there with her. Her voice was very happy-go-lucky and high-pitched, but now she has an edge to her voice,” she said. “Even the way she talks is completely different.”

Multiple Relationships and a Lifestyle Funded From the Outside

Crowder didn’t stop at personality. She claimed Shirilla cycled through multiple romantic relationships with female inmates during her time there — and wasn’t exactly subtle about it.

“Yes, Mackenzie has had multiple girlfriends… she was walking around with hickies on her neck,” Crowder alleged. “She’s gone to ‘the hole’ for being intimate with girls in prison. If she was grieving or remorseful, she would not have gone to prison and jumped into prison relationships over the next six months.”

As for how she maintained the lifestyle, Crowder pointed to both Shirilla’s parents and, she claimed, men she met through a prison pen pal-style site. “Mackenzie has makeup and jewelry in prison because her mom is ordering it for her… she was funding her prison lifestyle and making it as comfortable as possible,” she said. “Also, Mackenzie is on the prison sugar daddy website, so there’s sugar daddies supplying her needs.”

Crowder even shared photos she says show Shirilla posing in a custom-made outfit, pursing her lips for the camera on a prison-issued tablet — images she described as “tone-deaf.”

A Second Voice From Inside

Crowder isn’t alone. A TikTok creator named Kat, who goes by @boujeebehindbars, also served time at the Ohio Reformatory for Women and has been sharing her own account of Shirilla behind bars.

“The Mackenzie that came on Netflix was not the same Mackenzie that I witnessed in prison,” Kat said. She echoed much of what Crowder described — the clique, the makeup obsession, the apparent indifference to the weight of her sentence.

“She thrived on fame, even while I was in prison with her,” Kat said. “She thought she was going to be the princess of the prison.”

Kat also offered a theory about why Shirilla agreed to participate in the documentary at all: “She also went on there thinking that it was going to help her with another appeal.” She believes that appeal will be denied.

“Mackenzie Shirilla did not walk around that prison yard with an ounce of remorse,” Kat said flatly.

What the Documentary Claims — and What Crowder Disputes

In The Crash, Shirilla not only expresses remorse but raises a medical defense, suggesting that her diagnosed condition — postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) — may have contributed to the 2022 crash. Crowder dismantled that claim point by point.

“Never one time did I ever see Mackenzie Shirilla go for a blood pressure check, take any type of medication or go to sick call, ever experience dizziness,” Crowder said. “In fact, Mackenzie Shirilla would go out in 100-degree heatwaves with baby oil on her and sit in the prison yard and tan… the girl does not have any medical issues.”

She also alleged that the story Shirilla told her prison friends diverged significantly from what prosecutors presented at trial. “Mackenzie’s story when I was in prison with her was that she was high on shrooms when this accident occurred,” Crowder claimed. Blood test results from the night of the crash showed only THC in Shirilla’s system, according to prosecutors.

Shirilla’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment.

The Father’s Fallout

The controversy hasn’t stayed contained to Shirilla herself. Her father, Steve Shirilla, appeared in the documentary as her most vocal defender — maintaining her innocence and making comments about her marijuana use and her relationship with Dominic Russo that drew significant backlash. He has since told TMZ the remarks were taken out of context.

But the damage appears to have already reached his professional life. Steve Shirilla has been placed on administrative leave from Mary Queen of Peace School, a private Catholic school in the Cleveland area, where he works as a teacher. The school sent an email to parents stating: “We are investigating allegations made on social media that one of our teachers has demonstrated poor judgement. The investigation is ongoing.”

Shirilla was convicted in August 2023 of 12 felony charges — including murder, felonious assault, and aggravated vehicular homicide — for intentionally driving her car at nearly 100 mph into a brick building in Strongsville, Ohio in July 2022. The crash killed her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and their friend, Davion Flanagan. She survived. She is currently serving two concurrent life sentences and won’t be eligible for parole until 2037.

The Crash hit No. 1 on Netflix within days of its May 15 premiere — and if the reaction online is any indication, the documentary hasn’t softened public opinion toward Shirilla so much as it’s given people a new reason to talk about her. Crowder put it simply: “The Netflix documentary is trying to portray her as this innocent, well-behaved suburban girl. That’s not what she’s ever been or who she’s ever been.”