'Hell on wheels': Teen convicted of crashing car at 100 mph, killing boyfriend and friend
nbcnews.com
“This was not reckless driving. This was murder,” the judge said before she read out Mackenzie Shirilla's verdict Monday afternoon.
“This was not reckless driving. This was murder,” the judge said before she read out Mackenzie Shirilla's verdict Monday afternoon.
The reason why they say this was murder:
This isn't a drunk driver, or a thrillseeker, this is someone with murderous intent.
Considering she was unconscious as well, sounds like it was a murder/suicide attempt.
Sounds more like a mental health issue tbh...
I agree 100 percent this is a child with some kind of inability to understand the consequences of her actions she should be placed in a care facility until she demonstrates the ability to make proper decision making ability
Sounds more like a suicide/self harm thing to me.
When you include an unconsenting person in the attempt, it is also murder.
Not a lawyer, but even if they consent isn't it murder?
You can't consent to murder, the best you could do is indemnify someone/an organisation against accidental death.
Genuine question - why not? If someone wants to be murdered, for whatever reason, would that not be them consenting?
You could try to argue some suicide/euthanasia case, but "murder" by definition is intentional death without the consent of the victim.
There are cases of mutual murderer/suicide pacts where there's shared responsibility and actions taken by each party but that wouldn't have been possible when she was the only one in control of the car. Even if the boyfriend was suicidal, and there's no reason to think he was from this article, the other passenger clearly wasn't. IANAL either but I think that's what the above comment was trying to get at.
It sounds much more like an abusive relationship. She was trying to punish him, regardless of the risk to herself.
...no, no, no... only WOMEN can be in abusive relationships.
At least that is the utter bullshit you would believe if you listened to the feminist/white knight rhetoric out there.
This would have been better if you left it untyped.
Clearly you don't want to hear the truth of the general bias of the internet and society as a whole.
A good feminist supports male victims.
We don't have good feminists. The ones we have left don't want equality, they want favoritism. There is a massive difference between the two.
If you attempt to kill yourself and take other people with you, it's commonly called murder/suicide. Killing people with intent is usually murder.
A woman kills family then kills self. Is it murder?!!!! Oh. No, just self-harm.
That's not exactly what has happened here and derailing it using emotional hyperbole won't help either.
Honestly, it's very very similar. AFAICT she was trying to punish him. It has all the hallmarks of an abusive relationship. And an all too common outcome.
If you're trying to kill others along with you, it's not just suicide, it's also murder.
This is why suicidal people are dangerous, it's a relatively small change from killing yourself, to killing others.
This is why pastry chefs are dangerous, it's a relatively small change from baking your bread, to baking others.
This is why being baked while baking with a baker is dangerous. You get too baked and you might get baked by the baker for making bad cakes.
Baking bread and stuff is easier. Have you seen hot fat people have gotten? No way I am getting an adult into my oven.
@ryathal @agressivelyPassive
Have suicidal ideation is in no way, shape or form the same as being the perpetrator of a murder-suicide. Neither is being suicidal a lead-in to becoming a murderer.
Driving a car at 100mph into a building is more than ideation. That's attempted suicide.
No there may be a small chance of collateral damage, such as this case. But suicidal thinking does not make you think of killing others. You're clearly lucky enough to have never had suicidal ideation, but it never comes near the kind of thoughts that want to kill others
It changes when it comes to acting. If you have the gun to your head, shooting someone telling you to stop is also highly likely.
Let's see some stats on that one because being an abusive murder is a lot different than suicidality.
There is no correlation between her wanting to kill people and her potential suicidality. They just coincidentally line up in this case.
What a ridiculous take.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1277022/
Did you read anything else in that paper...? The words around that statement? Even the abstract?
Or did you google what you wanted to see and post the result, because that paper is not about people harming others whilst attempting suicide. It is barely tangentially about that.
(it's about the impact of aggressive-impulsive tendencies on the suicide...r themselves)
I have a relative who was recently given a DUI.
They went to the store, sober, and bought a handle of vodka (1.75 liters) consumed the vast majority, and drove around.
He wanted to die in a head on collision. Selfish fuck.
I don't have a problem with people having the freedom to decide enough is enough, but don't harm others in the process, at least more so than the death would cause. Especially innocent unrelated people.
Fucking hell that is horrible. And of course she's the only one to survive. 100mph into a brick building has probably left her pretty physically fucked up and in constant pain. Hope she enjoys feeling that way in prison for the rest of her life.
She'll spend 8 months in prison and appeal for a reduced sentence and get out on "good behavior" before she's even served a quarter of her term. Don't you know how the American legal system works?
Murder is a felony, so I believe you have to serve 80% of a sentence before being able to be eligible for parole
The bullshit sentences are the ones we mainly hear about, and many people have a bit of a confirmation bias because of it. But, you don't have to look further than your own community to see that slaps on the wrist are not typical.
US citizens are the most incarcerated people on Earth, by an uncomfortable margin.
I can't hear you over the sound of the affluenza defense being used.
Murder with a car is often toned down to, "vehicular manslaughter". It's often times charged as a misdemeanor. I agree with you that it should always be a felony because it's murder, but that's not how the courts treat it.
Here's an example of a New Jersey man who murdered someone with their car and did not face any jail time at all.
You forgot the white woman modifier, you take a man's sentence and divide by 4.
It'd likely the families of those she killed will be at every single parole hearing kicking up a fuss.
I am truly sorry for the passengers. Lost life because of teenage perceived hardship is tragic.
From a different perspective, it seems incredibly impressive that anyone survived a deliberate head on collision with a brick wall (that appears to have barely buckled) at 100 MPH / 161 KMH.
Thanks for the Christianization of the speed units, God bless you
Survived and still standing on her feet...
Not just survived, but with everything intact. No missing limbs or massive head trauma. She's wildly lucky in that reguard.
Something tells me the judge will make her feel a bit less lucky within a few days.
I'd be surprised if she gets out within 20 years
Or wildly unlucky, depending on how one looks at it.
Lucky or a very impressive feat of engineering in modern cars? 😱
More of this. Also let's start holding rich people accountable of crimes also.
Remind me why we allow teenagers to drive 3-ton vehicles again?
"Gotta get them teens to work. And no public transit options please, they make my money pile smaller."
-CEO's everywhere
Why do we allow most people to drive 3 ton vehicles
Remind the rest of us why anycunt needs a 3 ton personal vehicle again?
At risk of angering the vast majority of the fuck cars community, it's generally because I live 30 minutes from my job by highway, and can't afford to live within walking distance. And they won't let us telework. I really really want to actually live close enough to bike.
So we have a large reoccurring expense that forces us to always have a job and stay productive in a modern society where this really isn't necessary?
I'll stick with my 1.2l, 50mpg shitbox thanks
Uh, I think society is pretty darn dependent on everyone working to sustain it.
The profit margins of the wealthy are dependent on everyone working 24/7 to sustain. Society can carry on just fine.
Because the vast majority of them don't use the 3ton vehicle to commit murder.
You do know that adults use vehicles as murder weapons also, yeah?
I am sure they don't.
Waukesha Christmas parade attack and the Nice, France attack?
The comment was on knowledge not events
The same reason we all have a personal 3 ton vehicle: to ensure we remain bound to a culture of sprawling roads and fossil fuel consumption.
So they can be exploited for cheep labor.
When I think back to how immature and reckless I was as a teenager I can't believe I was legally allowed to drive and considered a full grown adult at the age of 18.
Remind me why we allow banks to control our economy again?
tbp the camry she drove was closer to 1.5 tons
Freedums!
Awesome. Judge all teenagers because of a deranged one.
What's your stance on 27 year olds with driver's licenses?
Yeah buddy i'm going to judge all drivers, because i kinda sorta vaguely don't want me or others to die!
Are you against gun control too?
I'm not, but it seems like you are, correct?
Why would i be against gun control? I also enjoy not randomly having my brains blown out.
A Camry weighs half of that, and regardless, she could have done this in any vehicle
So they can be exploited for cheap labor.
You're not wrong. Being able to drive by 16 so that you can start working is the capitalist way.
She was 18. That's an adult.
She was 17. But I understand your point.
Legally sure, still immature and not someone who should be piloting a heavy vehicle capable of going 100 mph.
Most people aren't, frankly.
You're right and car rental companies agree with you as most of them won't rent to anyone under 25.
Prosecutor: What gear were you in at the moment of impact?
Defendant: Gucci sweats and Reebok Classics.
There are a lot of people in this post spouting their opinion on an article they very clearly did not read.
The mum of one of the dead put it well - justice was served but nobody won today.
Winning was not the goal anyway? Its not a game
Winning the trial was the goal. She was saying it's a hollow victory nonetheless.
Justice absolutely is gamified in this shit society.
Winning is always the goal. The definition does not just apply to games.
Jesus, I sympathize, this is awful...i was t-boned by a teen going 85 mph, I wish my attorneys had the same teeth this judge does
I'm sorry that happened... but that's not why she said it. This girl accelerated full speed, without attempting to slow down at all, straight into a brick wall. Those teens probably weren't trying to hit you, this girl very very very likely was trying to hit that wall and kill everyone in the car.
That's my bad, I did a no-no and commented before I'd finished reading the whole article
All good; just leaving a comment so you know what really happened :)
Wow the way she's crying is disgusting, she's just sorry for herself not for the deaths she caused. No remorse, only regret for getting sentenced
How do you know that? I don’t know about you but I’ve done things in anger that I felt genuine remorse for later.
Never killed anyone though, I suppose.
Those look like Rittenhouse tears to me.
You mean legitimate tears from someone who had trauma from successfully defending himself against attackers? Did you watch any of the trial?
Boo hoo I murdered two people boo hoo. Can I get medal now? Boo hoo boo hoo.
There, that is what I think of your bestie. Go Rittenhouse about it to your family and "friends".
Have a look: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12417047/Mackenzie-Shirilla-TikTok-doing-drugs-not-dying-jailed-murdering-boyfriend-friend-drugged-100mph-crash.html
It’s been two years since she made that video, regardless of whether it was made before or after the crash.
I’m not trying to say that she is remorseful, only that we cannot say that she isn’t based solely on her actions two years ago.
Looks like a narcissist to me.
Sure seems like she had a lot of issues at 17, that’s for sure. Most 17-year-olds don’t murder their friends and boyfriends.
I find her family’s attitude toward the whole thing troubling. I know my family, if I were in this situation and they had the same evidence, would be telling me to plead guilty and take responsibility. I have a feeling that concept was never big in her upbringing or her family’s.
It’s tragic all the way down.
Again it's tragic for the victims, not for her. Saying it's tragic all the way down, is a false equivalence.
I don’t want to be argumentative, but there is no false equivalence in my position. I never tried to apply any equivalence. Things can be tragic without being equivalently tragic, and one thing being tragic does not take away the tragedy of something else.
I think one could argue that you’re falling prey to the fallacy of relative privation. “X is worse than Y, so we shouldn’t care about Y.”
Tragedy is not a zero sum game. It is absolutely tragic that those young men were murdered. It is tragic that their families lost their loved ones. It is also tragic that this young woman thought the proper solution to her problems was to attempt murder-suicide. It is tragic that she threw away any promise her own life held along with theirs. It is perhaps not tragic, but certainly sad and troubling, that her family seems to think she did nothing wrong.
Yes, it’s more tragic for the victims, but it her story is still a tragedy.
It is important to note that I am in no way trying to excuse her actions or argue for leniency. She murdered two people in a horrible and reckless action. There are consequences for that action beyond the direct ones.
But empathy is important even for those we may hate.
Just wanted to say that I love this comment, and it’s a shame that so few people share this sentiment. Thank you for this.
I was actually just having an argument with my brother about this less than a month ago. Not this exact story, but a similar one where I was sad for everyone involved. He also fell into the “x is worse than y, so we shouldn’t care about y” mindset.
I didn’t realize there was a name for that, so thank you for that too!
Because of her intent and crimes- she had genuine murderous intent as the judgement said. She seemed very cruel and unhinged according to the article and presented evidence and the video showed her crying due to the judgement.
It’s been two years since she murdered those people. She could easily feel true remorse now.
I’m in no way trying to excuse her actions, I just think it’s worth trying to do some level of empathizing for people. Not that what she did was in any way justified, but I can’t imagine trying to live with myself if I got angry enough to murder someone.
It's all speculation and assumptions anyway ! We can see different things. I feel disgust and see regret and you may see someone possibly showing remorse. We just don't know for sure either way.
Have a good day fellow fediperson
You as well!
Crying when the sentence was read doesn't say anything one way or the other about her feeling or not remorse because that specific moment is about what's going to happen to her, not about others, so she's crying for herself.
She almost certainly feels regret (which is entirelly about the consequences for herself), but it's unclear that she feels remorse (which is about the consequences for others of her actions).
It's something that people often forget (because they aren't like that themselves and have normal human reactions) is that narcisists, sociopaths, psychopaths and people with similar psychological disfunctions that make them act in "cold hearted" ways do feel.
However they feel only for themselves, never for others.
This is a bit unfair, though I didn't watch the trial in full. We have no idea if she cried for the other lives or not.
It's unfair of me, but it is my perception and my opinion which is only based in observation yup.
Anyone with a legal background able to help me understand how two deaths resulted in 4 murder convictions and 2 vehicular homicide convictions?
I can say she was convicted of two counts of both R.C. 2903.02(A) & (B)—basically "normal" murder and felony murder. Clearly they thought she did it on purpose and because she was committing another felony. I can't say why those don't merge together under Ohio law or if they are supposed to. Ohio is a fairly statutory state, so maybe they overwrite that common law rule?
Okay, felony murder makes sense as the other charges would be felonies. I don't care much for felony murder laws because I feel like they deincentivize careful action in law enforcement, but I definitely understand where if that law is in place she caught murder for the actual murder then felony murder subsequent to the assaults.
Still feels weird that two dead people produced 6 homicide convictions though. Like, you killed them, that's 2 crimes. You killed them with a car, that's two more crimes. In the process of killing them with a car, which is a felony, you killed them. That's two more crimes.
Not a lawyer but I believe the charges can be sub cats of murder and homicide.
I would have to double check.
How did she survive unscathed, while her 2 passengers both died?
Edit: I found another article, she was not unscathed: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12417047/Mackenzie-Shirilla-TikTok-doing-drugs-not-dying-jailed-murdering-boyfriend-friend-drugged-100mph-crash.html
@Buffalox @MicroWave
Often the driver does survive catastrophic accidents vs front passengers.
https://emj.bmj.com/content/21/2/197
Thank you, but that's a lot of reading for a simple question.
Oh yes it's all clear to me now.
I know it used to be like that before air bags and safety belts, because the steering wheel takes some of the blow in frontal collisions. But such dramatic difference I suspected she might have made the collision worse for the passengers on purpose.
PS She is probably a narcissist: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12417047/Mackenzie-Shirilla-TikTok-doing-drugs-not-dying-jailed-murdering-boyfriend-friend-drugged-100mph-crash.html
PPS: The article I found describes that her survival was miraculous, and she had surgery.
The p value is effectively the % chance something happened by coincidence, and not because of a real effect. Like flipping a coin and getting the same side several times in a row. P value is an assessment of that likelihood. Less than .05 means a less than 5% chance of that. I don't know what the other bit is, except it was likely a method of statistical analysis.
It's a way of saying that the results they found were very unlikely to be due to chance.
Thanks. :)
@Buffalox
tl:dr version is always the conclusions ...
Conclusions: Front seat passengers are at increased risk of injury relative to drivers in actual road traffic accidents as recorded in the STAG database. This contradicts crash test data, which suggest drivers are less well protected than front seat passengers in laboratory conditions.
Yes but that could for instance be due to traffic coming from the passenger side that the driver is less likely to see in time. That would be irrelevant to this case.
This is an unbelievable tragedy, for all of them. She just turned 18, I wonder what her sentence will be like. I assume that in the US - unlike the situation over here in Europe - there is no special "juvenile justice" for young adults, so she might face multiple lifetimes in prison after being convicted for murder. If I remember correctly you can get separate sentences for each victim, which will sum up to your total sentence.
It's a tragedy for the victims and their families, but I'm sorry, I can't feel sorry for her. Seems she planned to harm them for petty reasons because she feels entitled. Probably a narcissist:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12417047/Mackenzie-Shirilla-TikTok-doing-drugs-not-dying-jailed-murdering-boyfriend-friend-drugged-100mph-crash.html
In the US, juvenile justice is what trying children as adults is called. As young as 13 you can be tried as an adult in crimes
No, the "juvenile justice" system in the US is... the American juvenile justice system
It has its own judges, facilities, probation offices, and everything.
Gotta keep those prisons stuffed. Glad to see absolutely zero consequences of a for profit system.
There's remarkably few prisons owned privately
When adult justice is applied, then there’s nothing “juvenile” in that. I guess the thinking behind that (over here) is that you are not yet a fully developed adult when you are 18 and that you might get another chance in life than when committing crimes at older ages.
I believe the point is that there's a process for deciding whether a juvenile should be charged as a juvenile or as an adult. It means a juvenile who is mature enough to be making cold, calculated decisions (like, "hey, I'm a juvenile, I can get away with more") can still be tried as an adult.
Confused by the article. Is there a video from inside the car right before the crash?
there was video from CCTV and they also checked onboard computers and saw there were no attempts to slow down before collision
That'll do it.
I wonder of she cried this much too for the two kids she killed. I think she needs a psychiatric institution instead of jail
If she insane she should and would have. She wasn't so reality just hit her.
Just read up on her case. She deserves it. Fucking loon. Just die. Bye
She should be in a psychiatric facility. She attempted suicide and murdered two people in the process.
There sure are a lot of young women named 'Mackenzie'.
Lots of fathers, born in the late 70s/early 80s, wanted a lifetime of "The Mac Dad 'ill make ya" jokes.
I think it is a nice name.
Sounds like a sheep dog from new zealand
Sounds like a girl's name. I know several girls named that.
Misread. 18 at time of arrest. Did this happen a month before her birthday?
This is an unbelievable tragedy, for all of them. She just turned 18, I wonder what her sentence will be like. I assume that in the US - unlike the situation over here in Europe - there is no special "juvenile justice" for young adults, so she might face multiple lifetimes in prison after being convicted for murder. If I remember correctly you can get separate sentences for each victim, which will sum up to your total sentence.
Guys, she's 18. Her brain isn't even fully developed yet. She's not even capable of fully rationalizing the consequences of her actions yet. I know she did something awful but I don't think there are any winners here.
You don't need a fully developed brain to understand that intentionally driving into a brick wall at 100 mph will have severe consequences.
Literally the risk averse part of the brain is the one still in development.
Not being fully developed ≠ nonexistent
We shouldn't remove all consequences for your actions until you turn 25. Young people are a little dumber, but they're not infants. They should still be able to think for themselves.
That's not really implied by simply acknowledging that their brain isn't developed yet, not sure why you are defensive about it like giving them keys to a death machine when they also clearly have had mental issues and haven't gotten far along in their prefrontal cortex is a necessary rite of passage. There are a lot of possible angles to look at situations like this to consider how to fix them and blaming the people involved might be the easy answer but actual justice for society becomes more complicated. Nobody wants to deal with this story, and that's the bottom line.
How much of that do you need to assess whether driving into a brick wall at 100 mph is a bad idea. How did this person even stay alive until 18?
The gravity of mortality though probably didn't even exist in her brain based on this story. Yeah no shit driving into a brick wall can kill you, she threatened that specifically. I guarantee the discourse here has prevented zero additional death-by-intentionally-driving-into-a-brick-wall murder stories. Nobody is becoming less dumb by pointing out how stupid this girl is, preventing another idiot from intentionally driving into a wall in order to control her codependent relationship. It's not endemic and pointing out how brains develop and where this girl was at is not going to make it so. You aren't preventing more death-by-driving-into-a-brick-wall copycat crimes of passion. Raising awareness about mental issues (including developmental stages) can help people prepare for and prevent their own tragedies better. Congrats though, thanks to you I will definitely not drive into a brick wall.
I'm sure she did understand, she probably didn't think she'd survive, though, so any consequences of that possibility probably didn't occur to her at all.
According to Western societies, 18 is when the "fully developed" switch flips from OFF to ON, not a minute earlier or a minute later.
Let's see what kind of slap-on-the-wrist punishment she's going to get on Monday.
100% guaranteed that if the roles were reversed and an 18 year old boyfriend did this and ended up killing his girlfriend and friend, they would throw the book at him. Our society puts pussy on a pedestal and as such I expect her to get the lightest punishment possible.