Mackenzie Shirilla’s lawyers asked the Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday to reconsider its refusal to hear her appeals, extending a post-conviction fight tied to her 2023 murder conviction. The filing follows the court’s June 23 decision and leaves her challenge unresolved for now.
Shirilla was convicted in 2023 of murder in the deaths of Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan and received a life sentence with parole eligibility after 15 years. Prosecutors said the crash was intentional, citing surveillance video, vehicle black box data and evidence that the car was traveling nearly 100 miles per hour without braking.
Ohio Supreme Court June 23
The Ohio Supreme Court declined to review Shirilla’s post-conviction appeals on June 23 and later affirmed that the trial court correctly determined it was without jurisdiction to consider the petition. That ruling turned on timing: under Ohio law, convicted defendants generally have 365 days after their trial transcripts are filed to challenge a conviction.
Prosecutors said that clock started on Oct. 23, 2023, and that her attorneys filed late on Oct. 24, 2024. The difference was one day.
R. Patrick DeWine
Justice R. Patrick DeWine dissented. Shirilla’s lawyers said in court documents that the missed deadline came from a calendar mistake tied to 2024 being a leap year, while the court said the petition arrived after the filing deadline and the lower court could not excuse the delay.
Her new attorneys filed another appeal with the Ohio Supreme Court on April 27, 2026. They argue the filing clock should have started later because a separate transcript was filed weeks after the main trial record, and they also argue that Shirilla would have been acquitted if she had received effective assistance of counsel.
Shirilla’s first parole hearing is scheduled for 2037, so the reconsideration request keeps open a challenge that could affect the sentence while the court decides whether to revisit its June ruling.
