• Texts exchanged between Mackenzie Shirilla and Dominic Russo days before the fatal crash show a relationship in serious turmoil
• TMZ obtained messages showing what they describe as “so much hate” between the couple
• A prison ex-girlfriend, Shyann Topping, says she received threatening texts after ending her relationship with Shirilla behind bars
• Shirilla reportedly boasted about her prison nickname “Shirilla the Killa” given to her by bunkmates
• Shirilla, now 21, is serving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life after being convicted of murder

New details are emerging about Mackenzie Shirilla — and none of them are reassuring.

TMZ obtained text messages sent between Shirilla and her boyfriend Dominic Russo in the days before the 2022 crash that killed him and his friend Davion Flanagan. The messages show a relationship that had soured badly, with exchanges the outlet described as filled with “so much hate.” Shirilla was ultimately convicted of intentionally driving her car at 100 mph into a brick wall in Strongsville, Ohio — a verdict that made national headlines.

The Prison Chapter

Now serving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, Shirilla has apparently continued making headlines from inside. Her former prison girlfriend, Shyann Topping, came forward exclusively to People magazine with a new account: after ending things with Shirilla, Topping says she began receiving threatening texts and became fearful enough to stop speaking publicly about her.

“We started talking and she told me her nickname was ‘Shirilla the Killa’ — that’s what her bunkmates called her,” Topping told the NY Post. She described Shirilla as someone who seemed to take pride in the notoriety.

After the Crash

Earlier reporting also surfaced what Shirilla texted Russo’s mother in the immediate aftermath of surviving the crash — and what she told police about wanting to be “hypnotized” to remember what happened. Prosecutors argued throughout the trial that the crash was deliberate. The jury agreed.

Shirilla will be eligible for parole in her mid-30s. Until then, the details keep coming out.

The post Mackenzie Shirilla’s Texts Before the Crash Revealed — And They’re Disturbing appeared first on Cream.

• Former inmate Mary Katherine Crowder says Shirilla acted like the “queen bee” of prison, not the remorseful figure shown in Netflix’s The Crash
• Crowder claims Shirilla wore full makeup daily, had multiple romantic relationships behind bars, and was frequently seen with hickeys
• A second former inmate, known as Kat on TikTok, independently corroborated many of Crowder’s claims
• Shirilla’s father, Steve Shirilla, has been placed on administrative leave from his teaching job at a Cleveland-area Catholic school following controversy over his comments in the documentary
• The Crash hit No. 1 on Netflix after premiering May 15, reigniting intense public interest in the 2022 case

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.”

The post Former Inmate Says Mackenzie Shirilla Was ‘Mean Girl’ of Prison appeared first on Cream.

• TikTok influencer Gabbie Gonzalez was arrested in Humboldt County, CA and is being held without bail on conspiracy to commit murder charges
• Her alleged target: Why Don’t We singer Jack Avery, the father of her 7-year-old daughter Lavender
• Her father, Francisco Gonzalez, was also arrested in Florida in connection with the same alleged plot
• The alleged scheme dates back to 2021 and involved coded messages, $10,000 in payments, and plans to use the dark web and Bitcoin
• Gabbie’s estranged husband and former nanny are both key witnesses who helped crack the case open

TikTok influencer Gabbie Gonzalez — known to her more than a million followers for lifestyle content and motherhood posts — has been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder in an alleged plot to kill Jack Avery, the Why Don’t We singer who is the father of her 7-year-old daughter, Lavender. Her father, Francisco Gonzalez, has been arrested in Florida on the same charge. And the details coming out of court documents are nothing short of jaw-dropping.

Gabbie was taken into custody last week in Humboldt County, California, as she was attempting to board a flight — reportedly while traveling with Lavender. She was transferred Monday to Los Angeles County, where she’s currently jailed without bail. Her arraignment took place Tuesday in L.A. County court. Francisco was arrested Monday in Florida and has not yet been extradited to California.

How the Alleged Plot Unfolded

According to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, the alleged scheme stretches back to 2021 and was rooted in a bitter custody battle between Gabbie and Jack over their daughter. Francisco allegedly got deeply involved in that fight — and, according to a witness, made a chilling remark that it would simply be cheaper if Jack were dead.

Cops say Francisco’s original plan involved tracking and photographing Jack in Hawaii, where the singer lives, to capture footage of him smoking, drinking, or doing anything that could damage him in custody proceedings. But the alleged plan escalated far beyond surveillance.

In one alleged communication between family members, Francisco wrote: “Call Barca … never too early.” Authorities believe “Barca” refers to a man named Dustin Barca. Investigators say Gabbie and her friend Kai Cordrey later allegedly tried to recruit Barca to threaten Jack directly.

It didn’t stop there. According to an affidavit obtained by People, witnesses told investigators that Gabbie repeatedly said she wanted Jack dead and discussed hiring a hitman to make it happen. She and Cordrey allegedly talked about using the dark web and Bitcoin to arrange the murder — and even discussed staging it to look like a car accident.

Then came the money. A witness told police that Francisco electronically paid Kai $10,000 on April 26, 2021, described as “web-development payments.” Kai later told cops that was a cover story — no web services were ever performed. Armed with that information, a federal agent posed as the hitman and got Francisco on the phone. During that call, investigators say, Francisco made it clear he had made the payments, discussed the target, and used coded language — including the term “bullrun” — while also talking about prior Bitcoin payments and arranging “payment/accountability after completion.”

The Witnesses Who Blew It Open

Two people close to Gabbie’s inner circle ultimately helped bring the case to law enforcement: her former live-in nanny, McKenzie Ferry, and her estranged husband, Cody Clayburn.

McKenzie was the first to alert authorities — back in 2021, according to a source with direct knowledge of the case. Her report is what triggered an FBI raid on the Hawaii home Gabbie shared with Cody after their 2022 marriage (described as a ceremony, though not a legally recognized one). During that raid, agents confiscated electronics and interviewed Gabbie. But at the time, federal investigators felt they didn’t have enough evidence to move forward.

A frustrated lead investigator eventually handed the case over to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department last year. That agency re-interviewed witnesses — including both McKenzie and Cody — and determined there was enough to make arrests. Cops had originally planned to take Gabbie into custody during a child custody exchange this June, but when she stopped communicating with Jack, the timeline was accelerated.

Cody, for his part, didn’t stay quiet once the news broke. Shortly after TMZ published the story, he shared it on Instagram with a single word: “Karma.”

Jack Avery Had Already Been Warned — Sort Of

Jack Avery, who rose to fame as a member of Why Don’t We, has known something was wrong for a while. Last year, he revealed in an interview on the Zach Sang Show that FBI agents had shown up at his mom’s house and told him someone had been trying to have him killed. He said he knew the names of the alleged conspirators but wasn’t able to share them publicly.

When asked why someone would want him dead, Jack’s answer was painfully simple: “To get stress out of their life.” Asked what stress he could possibly be causing anyone, he said: “None.”

He also opened up about the toll the situation took on him — saying he was traumatized by the news and that he turned to alcohol during that period as his mental state deteriorated.

What makes the interview even more striking in hindsight: in that same conversation, Jack spoke warmly about Gabbie, calling her a “great” and “incredible mom” to Lavender. He apparently had no idea at the time that she was allegedly the one behind the plot.

Jack has not yet spoken publicly about the arrests. Francisco remains behind bars in Florida, awaiting extradition. And Gabbie — the influencer who built her following documenting motherhood, travel, and daily life — sits in an L.A. County jail without bail, facing a charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

The post Influencer Gabbie Gonzalez Accused in Murder-for-Hire Plot Against Jack Avery appeared first on Cream.