The father of convicted “Hell on Wheels” killer Mackenzie Shirilla is once again defending his daughter, insisting she never intended to kill her longtime boyfriend and arguing that the tragic 2022 crash that claimed two young lives was not a calculated act of murder.

Speaking during a recent appearance on the true-crime podcast “True Crime This Week,” Steve Shirilla rejected the prosecution’s narrative that his daughter deliberately drove her Toyota Camry into a brick wall at nearly 100 mph in order to kill her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and their friend, Davion Flanagan.

Instead, Steve argued that the devastating collision was a terrible accident and pointed to what he considers a major flaw in the theory that his daughter intentionally wanted Dominic dead.

“If she was going to kill him, there were guns all over that kid’s house,” Steve said during the interview. “If she was going to do something like that, that would make more sense to me.”

The comments come as renewed public attention surrounds the case following the release of the Netflix documentary “The Crash,” which has reignited debate about whether Mackenzie intentionally caused the fatal wreck or whether some other explanation could account for what happened in the final moments before impact.

Mackenzie, now 21, is currently serving two concurrent prison sentences of 15 years to life after being convicted in connection with the deaths of Dominic Russo, 20, and Davion Flanagan, 19.

The crash occurred during the early morning hours of July 31, 2022, after the three young people left a gathering at a friend’s house in Strongsville, Ohio.

Investigators later determined that Mackenzie accelerated her vehicle to nearly 100 mph before crashing into a commercial building. Data recovered from the vehicle showed that the accelerator pedal remained fully depressed in the seconds before impact and that there was no evidence of braking.

Those findings became a central part of the prosecution’s case.

Prosecutors argued that Mackenzie intentionally drove the vehicle into the wall following growing tensions in her relationship with Dominic.

The state presented evidence suggesting that Dominic had been attempting to distance himself from Mackenzie in the weeks leading up to the crash.

Among the most disturbing pieces of evidence were text messages exchanged between the couple.

Messages introduced during court proceedings revealed emotional turmoil and intense frustration from Mackenzie during the final month of the relationship.

In one exchange, she allegedly wrote, “I’m gonna kill someone.”

In another message, she reportedly stated, “I just want to bang my head on the wall till I’m dead.”

Additional texts described emotional breakdowns and feelings of self-hatred as the relationship appeared to be deteriorating.

Prosecutors argued that the messages demonstrated a mindset consistent with someone experiencing extreme emotional distress and provided insight into a possible motive.

The defense, however, maintained that the texts reflected the emotional volatility often seen in teenage relationships and did not prove an intent to commit murder.

Steve Shirilla continues to firmly support that position.

“She was 17. She’s a dumb kid. She didn’t do it on purpose,” he said during the podcast.

According to Steve, Mackenzie repeatedly denied intentionally causing the crash whenever he discussed the incident with her.

“I’ve asked her, ‘Did you do this on purpose?’ and she says, ‘No,’” he explained.

He also questioned why Davion Flanagan would have been in the vehicle if his daughter’s sole intention had been to kill Dominic.

“If she was that mad at Dom, why would Davion be in the car?” Steve asked. “That makes no sense.”

The deaths of both young men devastated multiple families and transformed a tragic crash into one of Ohio’s most closely followed criminal cases.

Judge Nancy Margaret Russo ultimately agreed with prosecutors’ interpretation of the evidence.

During sentencing, the judge delivered remarks that drew national attention.

“This was not reckless driving. This was murder,” she stated.

“She had a mission, and she executed it with precision. The decision was death.”

Those words have continued to define public perception of the case.

Yet Mackenzie’s parents have never accepted that conclusion.

Both Steve and Natalie Shirilla have publicly argued that their daughter did not receive a fair evaluation of potential medical issues that may have contributed to the crash.

Recent legal filings submitted by Mackenzie’s attorneys have referenced claims that she suffered from a pre-existing medical condition that could have caused her to lose consciousness while driving.

The issue has become a major component of ongoing appeals seeking to overturn her conviction.

Her legal team argues that trial attorneys failed to adequately investigate medical evidence that may have supported an alternative explanation for the crash.

So far, however, courts have rejected those efforts.

The renewed attention generated by “The Crash” has also led to the release of several recorded jail conversations involving Mackenzie and her family.

Some recordings have generated controversy after revealing discussions about media attention surrounding the case.

In one conversation, Mackenzie and her mother reportedly discussed the growing public interest in her story and speculated about future opportunities that might arise from the attention.

Critics have cited those recordings as evidence that Mackenzie lacks remorse.

Her supporters strongly disagree.

Steve insists that his daughter continues to suffer emotionally from the deaths of Dominic and Davion.

He described the profound grief she experienced after learning that Dominic had died.

“She had a shrine to him in her room,” Steve said.

“She cried herself to sleep every night.”

He also recalled the moment she received the news of Dominic’s death.

“If you would have heard her when she found out that Dom died, if you would have heard the sound that came out of her, it would have crushed you,” he said.

For Steve, those memories stand in direct contrast to the image of a cold-blooded killer portrayed during trial.

He believes the public has misunderstood his daughter and that the legal system incorrectly transformed a tragic accident into a murder case.

“Something happened in that car,” he said.

“No one’s ever going to know.”

He added that he believes the charges should have reflected a traffic-related offense rather than intentional homicide.

“She’s innocent of the charges they put upon her,” he argued.

The case continues to generate intense debate online, particularly following the documentary’s release.

Supporters of the conviction point to the vehicle data, surveillance footage, and text messages as compelling evidence that Mackenzie deliberately accelerated into the building.

Others continue to question whether all possible medical explanations were fully explored.

Meanwhile, the families of Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan continue to live with the consequences of a tragedy that claimed two young lives in an instant.

As appeals continue and public scrutiny intensifies, the divide between those who see Mackenzie Shirilla as a calculating killer and those who view her as a troubled teenager involved in a catastrophic accident shows little sign of narrowing.

For now, she remains behind bars, serving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life while her attorneys continue searching for a legal path that could eventually lead to another review of the case that has captivated audiences across the country.