Mackenzie Shirilla, who was convicted of murder for a deadly car crash in Ohio, has filed a federal habeas corpus petition seeking to overturn her conviction and obtain a new trial.
Shirilla was 17 when the crash occurred in July 2022, killing two friends: Dominic Russo, 19, and Davion Flanagan, 20.
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She is currently serving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life.
Her new legal team argues that her original attorneys provided ineffective assistance and failed to disclose critical medical records.
These records reportedly indicate a condition that could cause sudden loss of consciousness.
The petition also claims the case was improperly transferred from juvenile to adult court without sufficient evidence of intent to kill.
Additionally, attorneys allege police pressured the coroner to classify the deaths as homicides.
They further argue that Shirilla's Sixth Amendment rights were violated because a deputy medical examiner testified instead of the pathologists who performed the autopsies.
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Background of the Case
In August 2023, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Nancy Margaret Russo convicted Shirilla of murder, describing the crash as "the culmination of decisions made by one person" who "chose a course of death and destruction."
Shirilla maintains she has no memory of the crash and denies any intent to harm. "I'm not saying I'm innocent," she said in a prison interview.
"I was a driver of a tragedy, but I'm not a murderer."
Prosecutor Tim Troup disagrees, stating, "We were left with no reasonable alternative than that she did it on purpose because that's what the evidence indicated."
The Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear Shirilla's appeal twice, leading to the current federal petition, which is now assigned to U.
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S. District Judge John Adams.
