Mackenzie Shirilla shared a new photo featuring her eyebrow slit in a snapshot taken inside of prison as her support team shared a new update amid her attempts to appeal.
Shirilla’s team took to her Instagram account on Monday, July 6, to share a selfie that she took behind bars. Shirilla, 21, donned a serious expression as she looked at the camera. She wore her hair straight with styled baby hair, filled-in arched brows with one featuring a slit, rosy cheeks and overlined full lips with a nude gloss.
Additionally, Shirilla wore a navy long sleeve top and tiny hoop earrings.
Alongside the photo, Shirilla’s team shared an update about how she is doing in prison after the Ohio Supreme Court denied her lawyers’ latest attempt to have them reconsider her latest appeal.
“Mackenzie is trying to do better every day and holding on to hope. Her post conviction relief was denied due to a deadline technicality. The decision has nothing to do with the contents of it, it was unable to even be reviewed,” the caption read. “Her appellate lawyer missed a deadline by filing it one day late due to a leap year, which also makes HIM ineffective assistance of [counsel].”
The team added that Shirilla, her family and supporters “will respectfully continue to do everything they can so that the merits of the brief can be heard, just as anyone else would do in their position.”
“Keep sharing everything you can and Please sign and share this petition for a fair re-trial. We ALL deserve fair representation and once you review her case you’ll agree she did not get that,” the caption concluded. “Please click, sign, and share the petition in her bio.”
The caption was signed off by the “Mackenzie Shirilla’s Support Team” and included the hashtags “free Mackenzie,” “Mackenzie Shirilla,” “wrongfully convicted” and “the crash.”
After the Ohio Supreme Court denied the request on June 23, Shirilla’s lawyers filed a new motion asking the court to reconsider its appeal on Tuesday, July 7. The legal team argued that they made the mistake of filing too late due to confusing deadlines, according to court documents viewed by WOIO. The Ohio Supreme Court has not yet responded to the request.
Shirilla’s case regained national attention after it was featured in Netflix’s May documentary The Crash.
In August 2023, Shirilla was found guilty of multiple charges including four counts of murder in connection to the 2022 deaths of her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and their friend Davion Flanagan. Russo, 20, and Flanagan, 19, died after Shirilla drove her car into a brick wall while going 100mph.
After she was found guilty, Shirilla was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 15 years to life in prison. She is not eligible for parole until September 2037.
Despite being found guilty, Shirilla has maintained her innocence and insisted she did not intentionally kill Russo and Flanagan.
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