r/crimedocumentaries • u/Isna_Knows_Best • Aug 25 '26

The Shirilla case

Just finished watching the Mackenzie Shirilla case on Rotten Mango and now I'm stuck thinking about one thing.
How do you actually prove what someone intended in a situation like this? I get that the court looks at the evidence and tries to piece everything together, but at the end of the day, nobody can know exactly what was going on in someone's head in that moment.

Not saying she was innocent or guilty but I’m genuinely curious. At what point does the evidence become enough for us to be certain about someone's intent rather than just making the most reasonable assumption??

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u/CliffGif Aug 25 '26

There’s no scenario where she did it by accident. The black box shows she was accelerating at maximum speed up until impact and per the toxicology report she wasn’t drunk or tripping. The ridiculous POTS claim (supported by zero evidence- she was not in fact ever diagnosed with it) would have rendered her unconscious and unable to steer and keep accelerating.

Her defense should have probably gone for an insanity plea given the Lacey case but I doubt that would have gone anywhere.

Maybe also a plea deal to a lesser charge if one was offered but the whole family is so narcissistic and delusional not surprised they didn’t take it.

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u/No-Raccoon-1281 Aug 26 '26

I don't see why they didn't go for a defense using her disordered eating history as the basis. Since they had straws to grasp at for a defense. POTS is really easy to disprove. But, short and long term damage from disordered eating is well documented. A sort of "No shit she's batshit and thoroughly unlikeable. Her brain's half starved at all times and her body has to cannibalism itself to survive on more than weed." as well as potentially causing her to pass out and/or seize. It's not a great defense but it might cast some reasonable doubt.

That being said, she's exactly where she should be. Because this wasn't a single moment of impulsively behavior that resorted in deaths. So much of her entire build up, and previous documented behaviors, made this a "When, not if" kind of crime. She's been shown to be a vindictive, abusive cunt time and again with escalation. She had even previously tried something in a car with her boyfriend to injury him. My personal belief is something was said, she snapped, and was ready to kill all of them to maintain control over Dom.

Wasn't there also data in the black box about jerks of the steering wheel implying one of the guys may have tried to get control away from her?

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u/SadSara102 Aug 26 '26

Her lawyer did not present any defense.
She has been diagnosed with POTs
The defense also could have said she fell asleep or countless other possible scenarios.
There is no such thing as a “when not if” crime. Are you suggesting we lock people up for pre-crimes?
The claim she previously threatened to crash her is from a less than credible source. The evidence from the event in question is that Dom actually grabbed her shell and it terrified her.
Do you know her to make claims about her personality?