Ohio Supreme Court Denies Appeal for Convicted Murderer Mackenzie Shirilla
Mackenzie Shirilla, the Ohio woman serving a life sentence for a 2022 double murder, suffered a legal setback when the Ohio Supreme Court denied her attorneys’ request to reconsider its decision not to hear her latest appeal, according to court records. Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy issued the denial, leaving in place lower-court rulings that found Shirilla’s postconviction challenge was filed one day late.
Ohio Supreme Court Rejects Reconsideration Motion
Tuesday’s 5-2 decision by the Ohio Supreme Court marks the third time the state’s highest court has ruled against Shirilla, according to court reports. Justice Jennifer Brunner, the court’s lone Democrat, joined Republican Justice Pat DeWine in dissenting from the majority. The ruling leaves intact a lower-court determination that her postconviction petition was filed outside the statutory window mandated by Ohio law. Shirilla, now 21, is serving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life at the Ohio Reformatory for Women for killing her 20-year-old boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and their 19-year-old friend, Davion Flanagan, in Strongsville, Ohio.
Deadlines and the 2024 Leap Year Dispute
At the center of the recent legal battle is a dispute over filing timelines and calendar math. Under Ohio law, a convicted defendant must generally file a postconviction petition within 365 days after the trial transcript is filed in the court of appeals. According to prosecutors, the relevant transcript was filed on October 24, 2023, setting an October 23, 2024 deadline. Court records show Shirilla’s legal team filed the petition on October 24, 2024, which was the 366th day. Her attorneys, John T. Martin and Steven L. Bradley, argued that the missed deadline stemmed from confusion over the timeline, including a calendar mistake involving the extra day in the 2024 leap year.
In May 2025, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Nancy Margaret Russo sided with prosecutors in dismissing the petition as invalid. The Eighth District Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed that decision on March 12, 2026, finding that the trial court lacked jurisdiction because the filing was untimely. Shirilla’s lawyers subsequently asked the Ohio Supreme Court to review the case, arguing that deadlines are inconsistently enforced across different appellate districts in Ohio. They cited a case from the Second District Court of Appeals where a petitioner was allegedly allowed to file past the 365-day mark. After the state’s high court declined to accept jurisdiction on June 23, the defense filed a motion for reconsideration on July 6, which Chief Justice Kennedy officially denied.
Trial Evidence and Medical Defense Arguments
While recent court decisions have focused strictly on jurisdictional deadlines rather than the merits of the case, Shirilla’s postconviction challenge also raised claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. Her attorneys argued that trial lawyers failed to adequately investigate evidence that Shirilla suffered from Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS. The defense contended that the medical condition could have caused her to lose consciousness before the crash, potentially explaining why she failed to brake. Although the condition was cursorily referenced during her 2023 bench trial, her legal team argued it was never fully explored.
During the 2023 trial, prosecutors presented surveillance video, vehicle black box data, and evidence showing that Shirilla’s Toyota Camry was traveling at nearly 100 mph without braking before it crashed into a brick building in Strongsville. Prosecutors argued she intentionally steered the vehicle into the structure to end a toxic relationship with Russo, with Flanagan serving as an unintended victim. Judge Nancy Margaret Russo convicted Shirilla of four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault, and two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide. Her convictions were previously upheld on direct appeal in 2024, and her first parole hearing is scheduled for 2037.