Key Insights
How did the crash investigation lead to Mackenzie Shirilla being charged with murder?
During crash reconstruction, Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Elliot Rawson calculated that the car was averaging 97.8 miles per hour as it approached the intersection where it hit the building.
Troup stated that toxicology tests revealed THC, the active chemical in marijuana, in Mackenzie’s blood, but no traces of alcohol or psilocybin were found.
A forensic auto investigator determined that “the braking, the steering, the tires, the acceleration were working properly,” according to Troup, indicating that the car “didn’t malfunction.”
Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Ryan Fox noted in the document that the Camry’s electronic data recorder showed that the accelerator pedal was “completely pressed all the way down” in the five seconds leading up to the crash.
“Most people would want to slow the vehicle or stop to avoid that type of impact,” Fox remarked. “In this case, there was no braking.”
The data indicated that three seconds before impact, he continued, the steering wheel turned right, then left, then hard right, and the car shifted from drive to neutral and back into drive.
“I think the boys were trying to save their lives,” Troup expressed. “I believe Dom and Davion were yanking on the wheel and grabbing at the gearshift, but it was just too late.”
