“When I was in [prison], I honestly believed maybe she’s not guilty because of the limited information I had,” Topping told PEOPLE.

Mackenzie Shirilla’s ex-girlfriend speaks out about split, says anonymous threatening texts made her fear for her safety

"When I was in [prison], I honestly believed maybe she's not guilty because of the limited information I had," Topping told PEOPLE.

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on Entertainment Tonight and Popsugar.

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May 26, 2026 6:19 p.m. ET

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Mackenzie Shirilla in 'The Crash'. Credit:

- Mackenzie Shirilla's alleged ex-girlfriend, Shyann Topping, speaks out about her relationship with *The Crash *subject and shares why they split.

- Topping's relationship with Shirilla "fizzled" after she did some research into the details of the fatal crash that killed Shirilla's boyfriend and their friend, she told PEOPLE.

- "It was crazy because after I found out [the details] of her case, and we stopped talking to each other and it fizzled out, people started texting me and saying crazy stuff to me," Topping alleges.

Another fellow inmate of Mackenzie Shirilla is speaking out about her relationship with the subject of the Netflix documentary *The Crash*, but this one claims she was much closer to Shirilla.

*The Crash* focused on the July 2022 car crash that killed Shirilla's boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and their friend, Davion Flanagan, and the journey to the August 2023 conviction that led to Shirilla currently serving two concurrent life prison sentences with the possibility of parole after 15 years.

Former inmate Shyann Topping claimed to PEOPLE in an interview published Tuesday that she and the Shirilla began dating shortly after the latter began serving her sentence at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, sharing that the pair first met on the outdoor track at the facility.

"When it started off we were good," Topping said to the outlet. We were just walking the track, she was smiling, because in prison —two weeks in prison feels like two months. All you're doing is seeing the same people every single day, 24 hours a day."

Topping claimed that it was around by the "second or third day" of their relationship that Shirilla's attitude took a turn. Topping said that Shirilla would tell her: "Why aren't you touching me? I want you to be all over me. I want you to be out here for everyone in the yard to see me."

Shyann Topping.

Despite any misgivings, Topping said she continued her relationship with Shirilla after she was released from prison, but that things hit a road bump when Topping dug into the details of the incident resulting in Russo and Flanagan's deaths.

"When I was in [prison], I honestly believed maybe she's not guilty because of the limited information I had," Topping told the outlet, saying that she didn't know about the crash prior to meeting Mackenzie because she was already behind bars. "When I first got out [of prison] I was like, 'Oh, they don't know what this girl's been through.'"

While Topping said she left prison ready to "fight for [Mackenzie's] release" and "be an advocate" for her case, she claimed that fell through once she learned more about the crash.

"And then I started going through everything and seeing the evidence and I started thinking about her and I realized, 'Oh my God, maybe she's not a good person,'" she added.

Topping tried to talk to Shirilla about her questions, but she provided unsatisfactory answers, the former inmate said. Then, in August 2025, Topping decided to post a series of videos to her TikTok account detailing their relationship and, according to her, effectively ended their relationship.

6 shocking details about the Mackenzie Shirilla case missing from 'The Crash'

Where is Mackenzie Shirilla now — and what does she think really happened during 'The Crash'?

Shortly after that first video went live on Aug. 12, she began to receive anonymous threats that made her fear for her safety, Topping told PEOPLE.

"It was crazy because after I found out [the details] of her case and we stopped talking to each other and it fizzled out, people started texting me and saying crazy stuff to me," Topping said, alleging that some of the texts were just her mother's name or her home address.

Topping told the outlet that she believes the texts came from inmates who were locked up with Mackenzie at the time. Regardless of where they came from, Topping said that the texts were enough to stop her from posting after her initial three posts. She didn't post to TikTok again until May 17, following the release of *The Crash*. The latest videos are continuations of Topping's telling of their relationship.

** contacted the Office of Public Defender of Cuyahoga County, where Shirilla's public defender practices, and did not receive an immediate response.

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Since *The Crash*'s debut on May 15, both true crime obsessives and curious onlookers have dissected the doc, which revisits the devastating case and its aftermath. *The Crash* also includes the first on-camera interview with Shirilla, who will be eligible for parole in 2037.

"It's really hard every day in here," Shirilla says in *The Crash*. "I try to wake up and be the best person I can be every day, stay out of trouble. There's not a moment that doesn't pass where I don't think about [Russo and Flanagan]."

*The Crash* is available to stream on Netflix.

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