Gypsy Rose Blanchard is weighing in on one of true crime’s most hotly debated cases — and she isn’t convinced convicted killer Mackenzie Shirilla will be seeing freedom anytime soon.
The 34-year-old, who was released on parole in 2023 after serving time for her role in the killing of her mother, spoke with TMZ about Netflix‘s new documentary The Crash, which debuted on May 15 and revisits the fatal 2022 car crash that left two young men dead.
Shirilla was 17 years old when she crashed her Toyota Camry into a brick wall in Strongsville, Ohio, on July 31, 2022. Prosecutors argued she intentionally drove the vehicle at roughly 100 mph, killing her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and their friend, Davion Flanagan, 19. Shirilla survived the crash and was later convicted on two counts of murder in 2023, receiving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life.
In her first on-camera interview for Netflix, Shirilla expressed regret over the crash, saying, “I have excessive amounts of remorse for Dominic, Davion, both of their families. This was not intentional, and I will do everything I can to prove that to the world and the families, and that’s it.”
Blanchard, however, suggested the documentary may not have helped Shirilla’s cause.
“The time that she’s in prison right now, she needs to grow up and take accountability,” Blanchard told TMZ. “Remorse is something that maybe is not coming natural right now because maybe it’s something she hasn’t dealt with, internally and emotionally. But it’s going to hit her like a train.”
“When that happens, she needs to take those steps to do what she needs to to make amends with the victim’s family,” she continued.
Blanchard, who was granted parole after serving roughly 85% of a 10-year sentence, said she believes parole boards place significant weight on an inmate’s behavior behind bars, demonstrated remorse, and the views of victims’ families when considering release.
She also made it clear she doesn’t expect Shirilla to receive parole early.
“The parole board takes into consideration behavior in prison, but most importantly, remorse and [the victim’s] family,” Blanchard said.
Questions surrounding Shirilla’s level of remorse have surfaced before. Kat Crowder, a former inmate who spent six months incarcerated alongside her, previously told People, “From my observations of her in prison, she never had any behaviors that mirrored that of someone who was remorseful.”
Crowder added that what stood out most was Shirilla’s “nonchalant demeanor.”
During Shirilla’s trial, the judge famously described her as “literal hell on wheels.” Still, Shirilla and her family have consistently maintained that the crash was an accident caused by a medical episode rather than an intentional act.
Addressing that claim in The Crash, Shirilla was asked, “How does a medical emergency account for the control of the car?”
She responded, “I’m unsure because I have no recollection of that morning, but I know nothing about it was intentional because that’s not my character.”
Under her current sentence, Shirilla will become eligible for parole in 2037.