Gypsy Rose Blanchard says Mackenzie Shirilla is unlikely to get early parole, and she thinks remorse and the victims’ families will carry the most weight when the case reaches a review board.
Blanchard made the comments in a TMZ podcast that aired Thursday, May 29, after Netflix released The Crash on May 15. She said she does not think the documentary helped Shirilla and added, “I don’t think she’ll get early parole and this is why. The parole board takes into consideration behavior in prison, but most importantly remorse and family.”
Shirilla, 21, was convicted in 2023 on four counts of murder and four additional crimes for a crash that killed Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan. The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor said she received a life sentence with parole eligibility after 15 years, putting any release fight years down the road even as the documentary has put the case back in front of viewers.
In the film, Shirilla maintained the crash was not intentional. She said, “I’m not saying I’m innocent, I was a driver of a tragedy, but I’m not a murderer,” and pointed to postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome as a contributing factor. Blanchard, who received parole in 2023 after her own conviction in the murder of her mother, said that explanation will not be enough if Shirilla cannot show real accountability.
“If the victim’s family writes against her parole, she will automatically be denied,” Blanchard said, adding that she has seen it happen “time and time again” with women she knew in prison. She said Shirilla “needs to grow up and take accountability” and will need “a lot of extensive therapy” before the full weight of the crash sinks in, a process Blanchard said could take 20 years.
That leaves the families of Russo and Flanagan as a central force in the case if Shirilla ever becomes eligible for release. Her parole window does not open for years, but Blanchard’s remarks show how prison conduct, remorse and family opposition can shape the outcome long before a board hears the case.
