A haunting text message sent by Dominic Russo to his girlfriend Mackenzie Shirilla four weeks before his death has been revealed, offering a glimpse into their troubled relationship and his premonitions about mortality.
According to a Tuesday, May 26, report by TMZ, Russo, who died at the age of 20 in a high-speed crash caused by Shirilla, 21, sent the convicted killer a text that read, "Kenzie you know I love you but I don't think we should be together at this point, there isn't very much time on earth," before his death.
The message, reportedly sent on July 2, 2022, detailed the volatile nature of their romance and Russo's desire to end the relationship. "I'd like to think we could stop fighting but it's a breakup fight every week neither of us deserve," the text continued. "I don't wanna fight all the time [and I know] you don't either. Anyone who's around anyone every day of the week is bound to fight. If we can't separate for a little then we are only going to fight more."
The text concluded with a somber acknowledgment: "I don't want you to think I'm abandoning you, I wish it could work, but I don't think it's going to at this point especially with the threats. We should just break up so we can both find happiness somewhere else."
Less than a month later, in the early morning of July 31, 2022, the fatal car crash occurred. Russo and another passenger, Davion Flanagan, both lost their lives in the incident.
The Legal Proceedings and Conviction
Shirilla, who is the subject of Netflix's The Crash documentary and currently serving two concurrent life sentences behind bars as a result of the incident, has maintained that the July 2022 crash was the result of blacking out behind the wheel due to postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). According to the Cleveland Clinic, POTS is described as a condition that affects transitioning from "lying down to standing up, such as a fast heart rate, dizziness and fatigue."
Shirilla went to trial in 2023 and was convicted of 12 felony charges including four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault, two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and one count each of drug possession and possessing criminal tools. Prosecutors argued that the incident was a botched murder-suicide attempt, pointing to the vehicle's speed of 100 mph and the absence of braking before the vehicle slammed into a brick wall.
In the Netflix documentary, Shirilla was filmed from behind bars. She expressed remorse for the deaths of Russo and Flanagan while stating that her POTS diagnosis caused the crash.
Additional Revelations
People reported on Tuesday that Shirilla texted Russo's brother in the wake of his death to ask that the family place photos of the former couple within his grave "so he can be with me forever."
The outlet also reported on Tuesday that Shirilla reached out to Russo's mother to tell her she was considering hypnosis in an attempt to recover memories from the incident.
Shirilla is eligible for parole in 2037.
The newly revealed text messages provide critical context to understanding the relationship dynamics that existed before the fatal crash, raising questions about what warnings may have gone unheeded in the weeks leading up to the tragedy that claimed two young lives.
