Mackenzie Shirilla’s father placed on administrative leave after Netflix documentary release

STRONGSVILLE, Ohio (WOIO) – Mackenzie Shirilla’s father has been placed on administrative leave following the release of the new Netflix documentary, “The Crash.”

Mackenzie Shirilla crashed her vehicle on July 31, 2022 in Strongsville.

She was traveling 100 mph and slammed into a brick wall, killing her boyfriend Dominic Russo and their friend Davion Flanagan.

In 2023, a Cuyahoga County judge found Mackenzie Shirilla guilty of multiple charges, including murder and aggravated vehicular homicide. Shirilla was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole after 15 years served.

The new Netflix documentary puts her back into the spotlight after the tragic wreck.

Her father, Steve Shirilla, has now been placed on administrative leave from his position at Mary Queen of Peace School in Cleveland since its release regarding comments he made.

According to the school’s website, he is the art and digital media teacher.

19 News has reached out to the school for more information.

The following email was sent to parents regarding the leave:

Dear Mary Queen of Peace School Parents, Families, and Guardians,

We are investigating allegations made on social media that one of our teachers has demonstrated poor judgement. Upon learning of the allegation the school acted immediately and placed the teacher on administrative leave. The investigation is ongoing. We want every parent and family to know that the safety, wellbeing, and trust of our students remain among our highest priorities. We take all student concerns seriously and are committed to responding promptly and responsibly whenever concerns are brought forward.

While we are limited in what we can share during an active personnel investigation, please know that we are reviewing the matter and will provide additional communication as appropriate.

We appreciate your continued support of the Mary Queen of Peace School community.

A parent, who asked to remain anonymous, told 19 News that the students did love and respect Mr. Shirilla as a teacher.

As a parent I can understand the want to support and protect your daughter, however, I do think the way a lot of this was handled by the parents wasn’t tasteful and some of the light that Mr. Shirilla has been in due to this case and the documentary draws a negative light to our school and is drawing a scary amount of attention to our kids. The administrative leave he was placed on was not for actions he has done at the school itself and was as a result of the backlash of the community.

Our school and the Catholic Diocese do their background checks and due diligence while hiring teachers. At the time that Mr. Shirilla was hired, it was approximately 2 1/2 years before the crash happened, so nobody foreseen that coming at that point in time.

How they parented, and what happened behind closed doors, nobody could know about. No amount of background searches would tell you what’s happening in somebody’s home, so the school shouldn’t receive backlash and threats because of the actions of a teacher’s child.

No amount of background checks on Mr. Shirilla will show something that his daughter will do two years after he is hired. As a parent of a student who an attends there, it is not fair for our school, staff, children or families to receive hate and threats because of third hand actions. Our school ranges from ages 5 to 14 years old so please, leave the children out of this situation. There is no reason to be threatening an elementary school.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families involved in the incident that took place that night in Strongsville. While we know life will never be the same and nobody can simply recover from a tragedy like that, we hope that everyone finds the peace that the need to be able to keep going daily.

Steve Shirilla confirmed with 19 News that he was placed on administrative leave, and that the school is doing an investigation and that’s all he knows. He spoke off camera with 19 News.

He says he’s upset with the documentary and how the editing of it came out, saying there was more that he said that wasn’t edited in.

He also told 19 News he believes his daughter is innocent and that there is more to the story.

PREVIOUS: New Netflix film spotlights Shirilla case; Dominic Russo’s sister speaks on film

The documentary, “The Crash,” is now streaming on Netflix.