Jail insider says Mackenzie Shirilla not remorseful, wore lots of makeup, had a business behind bars

YouTube · _GguCah7spE

Quick Read

An insider who shared jail time with Mackenzie Shirilla reveals Shirilla's unremorseful demeanor, elaborate daily makeup routine, and a 'prison hustle' involving custom jewelry and clothing, sharply contrasting her public image.
Mackenzie Shirilla showed no remorse in prison, maintaining a cheerful demeanor and elaborate appearance.
She ran a 'prison hustle' customizing items and selling them via her mother's Cash App.
Shirilla's legal appeals are ongoing, with her blaming her lawyer for a missed filing deadline.

Summary

This episode features an interview with Kat Crowder, a former inmate who was incarcerated with Mackenzie Shirilla, convicted of intentionally driving into a brick wall, killing her boyfriend and a friend. Crowder describes Shirilla as unremorseful, consistently wearing a full face of makeup, and maintaining a 'happy-go-lucky' attitude, even running a 'prison hustle' customizing shoes and making jewelry, using her mother's Cash App for transactions. This portrayal starkly contrasts with Shirilla's 'tough girl' persona in the Netflix documentary 'The Crash.' Crowder theorizes the crash was a split-second decision stemming from an argument, not premeditated. The host also provides an update on Shirilla's legal appeals, noting her second appeal was rejected for being filed one day late, leading her to appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court, blaming her lawyer for ineffective assistance.
This episode offers a rare, firsthand account of Mackenzie Shirilla's behavior and character during her incarceration, providing a crucial counter-narrative to her public portrayal in documentaries. This insight is vital for understanding the true nature of her alleged remorse and the ongoing emotional toll on the victims' families, who continue to seek genuine accountability.

Takeaways

  • Mackenzie Shirilla, convicted of murder, was observed by a fellow inmate, Kat Crowder, to be consistently unremorseful during her time in prison.
  • Shirilla maintained a 'put-together' appearance daily, wearing a full face of makeup, styled hair, and altered clothes, seemingly treating prison like a social environment.
  • She operated a 'prison hustle' customizing shoes, making jewelry from art kits, and altering clothes for other inmates, with transactions facilitated through her mother's Cash App.
  • Crowder noted a significant discrepancy between Shirilla's 'girly' and 'happy-go-lucky' prison demeanor and the 'hard-edged, tough' persona she adopted in the Netflix documentary 'The Crash.'
  • Shirilla's first appeal was rejected, and a second appeal was dismissed for being filed one day late, leading her to petition the Ohio Supreme Court, citing ineffective counsel.
  • Kat Crowder believes the crash was a split-second, impulsive decision during an argument, not a premeditated act, and that Shirilla remembers what happened but lives in delusion.
  • In prison, inmates generally avoid asking about others' crimes, but high-profile cases like Shirilla's are widely known through inmate communication and legal databases.

Insights

1Mackenzie Shirilla's Unremorseful Prison Demeanor

Kat Crowder, a former inmate, observed Mackenzie Shirilla daily in prison and noted a complete lack of remorse. Shirilla consistently appeared 'happy-go-lucky,' laughing, smiling, and socializing, never shedding a tear despite her life sentences for murder.

Crowder states, 'I just never saw her shed a tear. She was always very like happy-go-lucky and good spirits, laughing, smiling… She just did not portray somebody who had on her mind that she was serving life sentences for murdering two people.'

2The 'Prison Hustle' and Family Involvement

Shirilla engaged in a 'side business' within prison, customizing shoes, distressing baseball caps, and making jewelry from art kits. Inmates would pay for these services by having their outside contacts Cash App Shirilla's mother, who would then confirm receipt, indicating family involvement in illicit prison activities.

Crowder details, 'She was customizing shoes for people and like distressing baseball caps… she was telling me how she made it. Oh, I'll go make it. You can send it to like send the money to this Cash App. And the Cash App was her mother's Cash App.'

3Contrasting Personas: Prison vs. Netflix Documentary

Shirilla's appearance and demeanor in the Netflix documentary 'The Crash' were drastically different from her behavior in prison. In prison, she was 'bright and girly,' with a 'valley girl' voice. In the documentary, she adopted a 'tough girl act,' appearing 'smug, very dark,' with a different voice, suggesting a calculated public image.

Crowder describes her reaction to the documentary: 'When I saw her I was like, who who is this? This is not anybody that I've ever seen. From the way that she looked to like her demeanor 100% different than the person I was in there with. It almost came off as if she was trying to portray like this tough girl act in the documentary.'

4Ongoing Legal Appeals and Blame on Counsel

Shirilla's first appeal was rejected, and her second appeal was dismissed because it was filed one day late. She is now appealing to the Ohio Supreme Court, arguing that her lawyer provided ineffective assistance by failing to file the appeal on time and adequately present her medical condition and text messages during the trial.

The host explains, 'Her first appeal with the court of appeals was rejected... She then filed a second appeal... and it was rejected because it was filed 1 day late... she's now appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court trying to get them to accept the appeal, saying... her lawyer's fault, obviously.'

Bottom Line

Mackenzie Shirilla's family allegedly enabled her illicit 'prison hustle' by managing her Cash App for inmate transactions, highlighting a potential pattern of enabling behavior that extended beyond her pre-incarceration life.

So What?

This suggests a deeper family dynamic that may have contributed to Shirilla's lack of accountability and detachment from reality, both before and during her imprisonment.

Impact

Further investigation into the extent of family involvement in inmate 'hustles' could reveal systemic vulnerabilities in prison oversight and financial regulations for incarcerated individuals.

Opportunities

Inmate-Crafted Customization Service (Illicit Model)

Leveraging incarcerated individuals' artistic skills (e.g., jewelry making, shoe customization, clothing alteration) to create unique, personalized items. The business model, as observed with Mackenzie Shirilla, involves outside contacts handling financial transactions (e.g., Cash App) for items sold within the prison system.

Source: Mackenzie Shirilla's 'prison hustle' as described by Kat Crowder.

Notable Moments

Kat Crowder's personal journey to prison for a high-speed chase, and her subsequent accountability and transformation, provides a stark contrast to Shirilla's perceived lack of remorse.

This personal narrative establishes Crowder's credibility as an observer of prison behavior and frames her perspective on Shirilla as someone who has experienced and reflected on her own poor choices.

The revelation that women's prisons, contrary to popular belief, often protect inmates who committed child crimes more than other prisoners.

This challenges common assumptions about prison hierarchies and inmate justice, highlighting unexpected dynamics within the correctional system.

Quotes

"

"She just did not portray somebody who had on her mind that she was serving life sentences for murdering two people."

Kat Crowder
"

"It almost came off as if she was trying to portray like this tough girl act in the documentary. Very smug, very dark, almost like just very strange."

Kat Crowder
"

"I think that she 100% remembers what happened that night. I think that she'll continue pushing that until it clicks in her mind like, oh, I'm I'm not going to get out anytime soon."

Kat Crowder

Q&A

Recent Questions

Related Episodes

True-crime cases with recent developments | 48 Hours Full Episodes
48 HoursMar 28, 2026

True-crime cases with recent developments | 48 Hours Full Episodes

"This episode reconstructs four complex true-crime cases, detailing the harrowing searches for missing persons, the challenges of prosecuting murders without bodies, and the enduring quest for justice in cold cases spanning decades."

True CrimeMissing PersonsMurder Investigations+2
5 Most Wicked Murder Cases Caught On Bodycam
Law&Crime On the Case with Chris StewartMar 14, 2026

5 Most Wicked Murder Cases Caught On Bodycam

"Bodycam footage provides an unfiltered, real-time look into five brutal murder investigations, exposing the immediate aftermath of horrific crimes and the initial interactions with suspects and witnesses."

True CrimeDomestic ViolenceConspiracy+2
Mamá me golpeaba, busqué a papá y él me trajo a la cárcel | Yahana #Penitencia 196 #México
Penitencia con Saskia Niño de RiveraMay 26, 2026

Mamá me golpeaba, busqué a papá y él me trajo a la cárcel | Yahana #Penitencia 196 #México

"Yahana recounts her harrowing journey from a childhood marred by domestic violence and parental abandonment to drug addiction and eventual incarceration, directly caused by her father's actions."

Childhood TraumaDomestic ViolenceParental Neglect+2
Hell On Wheels: Mackenzie Shirilla's Double Murder Crash
Law&Crime On the Case with Chris StewartMay 21, 2026

Hell On Wheels: Mackenzie Shirilla's Double Murder Crash

"A seemingly accidental car crash that killed two young men in Strongsville, Ohio, was meticulously uncovered by investigators to be a deliberate act of double murder by the 17-year-old driver, Mackenzie Shirilla, amidst a tumultuous relationship and a shocking lack of remorse."

True CrimeMurder InvestigationDigital Forensics+2