Mackenzie Shirilla parents’ latest response to Netflix doc criticism

Mackenzie Shirilla’s case is subject of a number one film on Netflix The father of Mackenzie Shirilla has spoken out after reports about his career.

Netflix fans are still hooked over latest true crime documentary The Crash. Released just last week it is still listed as the number one film among subscribers in the UK.

Viewers have been gripped by the extraordinary case detailed in the feature length title. It shows the aftermath of the scene when a car slammed into a wall at 100mph.

Tragically, passengers Dominic Russo, 20 and Davion Flanagan 19, were declared dead at the scene. The driver, and Dominic’s girlfriend Mackenzie Shirilla, who was 17 at the time, was left seriously injured.

However, as she recovered in hospital, police began investigating what they believed to be a tragic accident. It soon developed into a murder investigation, culminating in the arrest of Mackenzie.

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Mackenzie’s father has responded to criticism(Image: Netflix)

During a bench trial in August 2023, prosecutors argued she intentionally crashed the car. The judge agreed and found her guilty on all charges. She was sentenced to two 15-to-life sentences with the possibility of parole.

Details of the case and the trial are examined in detail during Netflix’s documentary. It includes interviews with friends and family of Dominic, Davion and Mackenzie. As well as those responsible for investigating and prosecuting the case.

Key contributors appearing in the film include Mackenzie’s parents Steve and Natalie Shirilla. So much so that they received some backlash for their comments.

Now, Steve has spoken out against some of these criticisms. In The Crash, when talking about his daughter’s use of marijuana, he told the cameras: “I don’t have a problem with her smoking dope. If you’re going to smoke a drug, that’s the one I believe you should take.”

In an interview with TMZ, he has clarified these comments and explained: “In the documentary, that is part of a longer answer. That was one part and I can’t remember what the question was, the documentary people had interviewed us for two days straight and then came back and did more.

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Steve said he has been placed on admin leave from his job since the film released(Image: Netflix)

“My answer wasn’t in support of marijuana or wasn’t saying I’m smoking marijuana. What I was saying is that who am I to say who can smoke and who can’t smoke? Now, I never allowed my daughter to smoke marijuana. How was I stopping her? You know, I couldn’t lock her up in her room. I’m not quite sure why there’s a problem with what I said. It was never, ‘Hey, everybody go smoke marijuana.’

“I don’t know why the documentary felt the need to put that in there. I don’t know what the relevance was.” He also admitted that he “had no idea she was smoking in the cars like that.”

Steve went on to confirm that since the Netflix documentary release, he has been put on administrative leave from his job as a teacher at a school. He said: “My understanding is that it came from the diocese. They got inundated with phone calls from concerned parents so they decided to put me on administrative paid leave until they did an investigation. That’s what I was told, supposedly they’re doing an investigation and that’s all I know.”

He goes on to accuse the prosecutor in the case as ‘lazy’ and repeated that he believes that there was not enough evidence to find his daughter guilty of murder. Steve also commented at his surprise that the ‘internet went crazy’ after Netflix released the documentary.

The Crash is streaming on Netflix.