Remembering Davian and Final Reflections

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Terms applly, see optimum dot com for details It's Jacob Goldstein from Business History In our new series, American Genius, we tell the stories of three great writers who changed the way business works in America. Our first episode is about Benjamin Franklin. Among many other things, was a best selling business rightite Take a listen He's writing this much later in his life consonsciously creating this image of himself I do want to emphasize how unusual this model is at the time, this self made man myth. because you don't want to be self made. It's low class to be self made. You know, this idea that we have today is the opposite, right? And it comes from Franklin. todayoday. there is the derisive term neppo bing. Well, exactly right. And these days, if you are a billionaire, you had better have a Benjamin Franklin story about starting in a garage, coming up with the idea from nothing. And here is Benjamin Franklin inventing it right before our eyes This has been brought to you by Odu To listen to more of our American Gius series, listen to business history New episodes release every Wednesday on the IHart Radio app or wherever you get your podcast Hey everyone. Some of you may have noticed we've changed this episode. That's because we've been taking our audio from our YouTube videos and putting them on the audio platform. And with the latest video, we felt it just didn't translate well to audio. So we pulled one from our Patreon, which we just happened to watch a documentary on last night We're still gonna to post the Brighton Road video on our YouTube, but after that, we've decided to take a short break doing the YouTube videos. It's a ton of work, and we're a pretty small team. But here's the good news. We're still gonna do between the madness episodes, but we're gonna stick to audio for now, and hopefully I can start doing one every week. So sorry for the confusion, and thanks for listening Follow the Minds of Madness on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. too support the show and get access to early release and ad free episodes, go to patreon dot com slash madness pod. You can also hit subscribe and Apple podcasts, videos of our Thursday release episodes between the Madness are available on YouTube and Spotify. We've got all the links in our episode notes The opinions expressed in the following episode do not necessarily reflect those of the Minds of Madness podcast Listener discretion is advised In the early morning hours of july thirty first, twenty twenty two, an Ohio business park was rocked by the thunderous crash of a car slamming into a brick wall Taking the lives of two teenagers Shockingly, the driver, seventeen year old Mackenzie Shherilla, somehow survived. But as word of the wrecks spread like wildfire over social media People couldn't help but wonder if it was really just an accident or whether there'd been something more sinister at play Everyone in the suburb of Strongsville, New MackKenzie and her boyfriend Dominic, were stuck in a toxic teenage romance But theirs wasn't the first of its kind We see examples of it all over pop culture s, movies and TV shows Like thirteen reasons why. Gossip girl in Euphoria Tales we're drawn to because we've either been through some of the wild teenage drama ourselves or seen it played out with friends But how did things get so out of hand in MackKenzie's teenage romance Two boys wound up dead Join me now. As we delve into the story of a seventeen year old called a literal Hell on Wheels, troubled teenage TikToker who threatened her boyfriend just weeks before weaponizing her car and the friend who simply wound up in the wrong place Worst time It's no secret that I seventy one The Instate slicing through Ohio has witnessed its fair share of grim events over the years. from the notorious serial killer Dr. K. preyed on young women at truck stops in the eighties to the tragic Church youth group bus crash of ' eighty eight that claimed the lives of twenty seven passengers. This stretch of road has seen its moments of horror So on july seventeenth, twenty twenty two A couple of teenagers pulled over on I seventy one to hash out an argument petty drama, pained in comparison. to the tragedies that had unfolded on the same asphault over the years. In their short time together, seventeen year old Mackenzie Sharilla and Dominiic Russo had broken up and made up multiple times and they'd made no secret of their fights, with friends and family often taking a front seat to their drama Although this particular fight had started without any spectators Dominic's friend Christopher would become a witness at the end of it after he was called by Dominic to pick him up on the side of the road while arguing Mackenzie had veered off the interstate and onto the shoulder, which is when Dominic called Christopher to give him a ride. This is also when Christopher overheard MackKenzie making a chilling threat to Domink. crash this car right now realalizing he'd better get there before the argument escalated any further Christopher drove out to the location where Mackenzie was parked as fast as he could As he pulled up Christopher watched Mackenzie strike Dominic with both hands once you get in a car with me , you know, you don't have to deal with this. young You know, you have long life to live You know, you don't have to doal with' chck inner attitudes, whatever you're not happy. let her go. You know what I mean to' true love sh be back So we're sitting there having that conversation in a car on the way back home. I wouldn' for That belie even happen a week later just mind on But yeah, we got in the car and he was like, man, I just can't do it she don't want to listen She drives like a magiat I was like, who You don't have to drive here to get your own car You know just better go about her way, takeake your time away from her G to get yourself together In the weeks that followed Dominiic recorded MackKenzie on his phone on multiple occasions threatening him grading him Damaging his property In one video, Mcenzie can be heard banging on Dominiic's door, threatening to key his car and break off the door handle while warning him You know it that's exactly what I mean. It doesn't you know exactly what I mean. You're gonna to come open this door right now orr there's going to be a serious fucking problem That argument off the interstate wouldouldn't be the last time Dominic and MackKenzie had a fight in her car together before the month was over They'd have their last. Ohio's Strongsville businessus park isn't exactly the go to hangout spot for teenagers on a Sunday morning. Especially not at the crack of dawn But for Mackenzie, Dominic, and their friend Devon, the night had seamlessly bled into the morning hours. Their aimless drive had started after leaving a late night party. And now they found themselves cruising along the desolate stretch of an industrial parkway. But what the teenagers hadn't realized is that when they were cruising along the parkway, multiple security cameras in the business park were capturing their movements Mackenzie, driving at a reasonable speed, stopping at a red light, and using her blinker responsibly. What the cameras couldn't capture, however was what was going on inside the car Much less inside MackKenzie's mind insside the car Kenzie's pink Lpper which perfectly matched the pink fuzzy cover on her steering wheel. press down on the accelerator pedal All the way until it reached one hundred miles per hour. And her car only stopped after she'd driven it directly into the side of a brick building. A passing motorcyclist who happened to be riding by at the time, called nine hundred and eleven to report the crash top off of cash Are you familiar where prorogress coincides with Albi and Rodad there in Strong Zone? Yeah, just across the street from Progress the building. There's a car that smashed up against the building. I didn't go up to it because I was on my motorcycle I don't know if I get stuck, but they ran the curb. I can see the they smashed the sign and hit the building. the car crashed Mackenzie Shherilla was born in two thousand four to Stepven and Natalie Shherilla of Strongsville, Ohio Bright eyed and spirited as a child. Mackenzie loved to dress up and entertain people and enjoyed being a part of a large supportive family Although Mcenzie was a good student and popular at school acccording to peers She seemed to develop a stereotypical mean girl persona as she became a teenager pranks and making hurtful comments. at thirteen MackKenzie was diagnosed with pastoral orthostatic tachycardia syndrome Also known as Pots The condition her parents only discovered after Mackenzie suddenly collapsed in the kitchen one day. Kenzie would later describe sensing an episode coming on with a woozy and dizzy feeling To alleviate the symptoms and stabilize her system, her doctor advised her to eat something salty and take salt tablets coming years, despite facing other instances of passing out Menzie managed to get her driver's license without disclosing her condition to the DMV As a gift Mcenzie's parents bought a twenty thousand dollars Toyota camry which she not only used to get around in But it also doubled as the perfect backdrop for social media posts and TikTok videos Despite MackKenzie's portrayal of living a carefree life of leisure on social media family was struggling financially and declared bankruptcy in May of twenty twenty two precursor to the devastation. that would follow two months later. Born in two thousand two, Dominic Russo grew up with six siblings and was known for his politeness, kind ways, and cheeky sense of humor In grade three, his teacher fondly recalled a young Dominic shouting out Booya at the end of class one day which would turn out to become their end of the day cheer for the rest of the school year. During his teens Dominic was all about basketball and soaking up knowledge from stacks of books pouring his heart into music He also had a flare for fashion and was looking into starting his own clothing line. Above all these. Dominic, prioritized family Eespecially his nieces and nephews. coming from a financially secure home Dom as he was known to friends and family often felt obligated to share his family's good fortune. He'd invite friends to stay at his home and often extended gestures of generosity But when that generosity was misplaced, She'd soon find out That no good deed goes unpunished Pride Month is important for us so we can allow students to understand that your' space in this The world is important. They have to feel the freedom who they are. Everyone needs a voice that they are comfortable My wish for all my students is to have a positive journey. It is my job. to empower them. It is okay to be exactly how you are. It's okay to be different. You are going be respected. You are going be loved unconditionally Sve more on what you need to get the job done right. rightight now, at Lowe's. Get fifteen percent off, select custom entry and interterior doors. Plus, save eighty dollars on the Walp twenty Volt Max two tool combo kit, now just one hundred sixty nine dollars. And at the Lowe's Pro desk, bring us your materials list and get a quote in minutes. Handwritten, a photo or even a sticky note is all you need Keep your jobs moving faster and on budget at lows. valid through sevenenty eight while supplies last. Selection varies by location. Dominiic and McKenzie's relationship started out fast and furious In fact They were inseparable With Mackenzie moving into Dominic's family's home by the beginning of twenty twenty two Initially The new arrangements seemed to work Dominic siblings and parents, welcoming Mackenzie into their home with open arms But as time went on Itzing Mackenzie was causing some friction in the household didn't really w her around and stuff. and It caused kind of a insue. And he blew up on me one day saying that Kenzie drives down. recipe is horrible And you like her and you'll accept her, but you don't like ike and and even say that Adown's problems were because of her out. be upset And I' realized that she wasn't as sweet and innocent as I She was. But the girl H no problems sitting with me, look me in the eye. One of these girls can't look me in the eye. that right there bothers me. You can't look at me, you can't talk to me. I feel that there's something more Kenie was always okay with that, you know, o what had no problems walking by a house and it was You know what I mean? and I just, u That means you're going to like her ' was always great She came over for holidays and they'd, you know, they'd include me and things like that, you know. And And I just feel maybe she just needs to grow up. She's young. I mean, you know what I'm saying? You know. think that it's got cop to that Dominic's family often saw the couple having heated arguments, with Mackenzie's treatment of Dominic coming across as excessively harsh behavior that seemed partially excused because of the stress McKenzie's own family was going through. Grappling with bankruptcy by May of twenty twenty two reggardless of the reason for her behavior Dominic decided to start documenting her outbursts on his phone. Here's just one of those recordings with Mackenzie tryrying to force her way into the Russo home know it. That's exactly what I You can't keep making all these sts. I can't over keep kicking out me out of a place that you say' my home. ' I didn't kick you out. You took all your s bit so we were done we are done. tell defense. I don't know. The why activvent. give you one last second, I'm going to have to ke your c Why? Wh? Why would you bother that ever be like an option? I' have broken up if you don't let me in the house aking I will break with you. I'm going to break up with you. You now open this f door. You took all your shit and laugh. I thought you didn't want to be here Okay, I'm gonna break into your hous Oh know what the I look up I just broke here from che thing. so That's o Following the crash at the business park responders rushed to the scene to find Mackenzie, Dominic and Davian All unconscious and trapped inside the wreckage Tgically. Firefighters work to extract them out of their mango car became evident Dominic and Davian. died from their injuries Dominic, seated in the front seat and was wearing a seatbt assisting catastrophic blunt force trauma to his head along with rib fractures broken bones and a severe lung injury Daviian seeated in the back seat without a seat belelt suffered fatal blunt force trauma injuries to his head Trunk in extremities Kenzie The only survivor of the crash was airlift to Metro Health Hospital where she was admitted to the ICU for surgery Treat serious injuries Although psychedelic mushrooms were discovered in the wreckage of the car The only drug found in any of the three was THC As MackKenzie recovered in the hospital, Strongsville police quietly conducted an investigation tryrying to determine the baffling nature of the crash This is when they started noticing some strange behavior from Mackenzie while still in the hospital M Kenzie had asked a detective If her driver's license could be suspended for ten years as a punishment of a strange peopleeople had died as passengers in her car and it appeared Kenzy was more concerned about her ability to drive Shortly after the crash, McKenzie had also texted Dominic's older sister, claiming she didn't remember the accident. only turning onto the street before vision faded to black She then texted Dominiic's older brother Sing she was so sorry and that she didn't know what to say She said she felt so bad about what had happened and hoped they could forgive her and on Dominiic's online obituary Mackenzie seemed to be prolific A message marked with her name shared sentiments like I miss you, Ng still feel like you're just going to walk in the door any second I miss your laugh and perfect smile I feel your energy around me every day I just wish it was physical God, you are the last person to deserve this You had such a perfect life ahead of you I wish I had told you all this more Wait for me On August eighth twenty twenty two Day of Domink's funeral Another post from MackKenzie read I love you, Nug I will never stop thinking about you. At the same time, Dives were also taking note of some correspondence between Mackenzie and an LA based modeling agency over Instagram. She appeared to be courting. from her hospital bed Kenzie Ghed I would love to work with you guys I've been emailing you guys a lot Such a great opportunity. Kenzie's mom also chimed in. Posting the comment thank you for this amazing opportunity Hello, this is her mother She would love it if you would use that She's actually been trying to contact you guys for PR email It was a tragic accident and she did not mean to purposely put an end to her close friends's lives This is just as painful as it is for her It is for everybody else. Or maybe it is even a little bit more painful. Menzie's actions only continued to raise eyebrows when she was released from the hospital just twelve weeks after the crash. Kenzie stunned everyone when she decided to dress up as a corpse for Halloween proudly showing off her costume on TikTok, dancing to music about smoking weed Four days later Mackenzie was arrested. For the murder of Davian Flanagan and Dominic Russo Although at the time of the crash, McKenzie was just days away from turning eighteen courts decided to try her as an adult Given the choice between a jury and a judge to decide her fate Mackenzie opted for a bench trial with a judge trial MackKenzie's defense pointed out that Toyota Camaries had previously been involved in lawsuits for rapid acceleration causing accidents The only problem was MackKenzie's twenty eighteen Black Toyota Camry. seem to have been exempt from the affected group In fact, The investigation confirmed The car appeared to be in good working order prior to the crash and had no indication of mechanical failure or brake problems It was also disclosed at trial that MackKenzie's car contained an electronic data recorder commonly referred to as a black box. Data from the Back box showed that the last four point six seconds recorded on the Toyota showed one hundred percent acceleration throughout the final five seconds, and the brake wasn't deployed throughout any of that time At trial, the judge watched the surveillance footage that had captured Mackenzie's car, speeding through the park and hitting the wall And although it was difficult to see the impact of the crash in the video, the sound of the collision could be heard clearly. haveave one point during the trial. Mackenzie's defense tried suggesting that her potT's condition might have had something to do with the accident Considering it can cause any number of symptoms that could impair a driver's ability Symptoms including increased heart rate, dizziness, fatigue, fainting or near fainting, feeling nervous or anxious, shakiness, chest pain, and headaches The prosecution pointed out that Mcenzie's condition wasn't a closost on her driver's license And even when she renewed her driver's license after the crash MKenzy had denied having any medical conditions Menzie's social media was also scrutinized With a detective presenting a ninety three page report on her social media use including one hundred and thirty six incidents that exhibited reckless and distracted driving There were also at least four witnesses who testified, two instances where MackKenzie drove recklessly Save more on what you need to get the job done right. rightight now, at Lowe's. Get fifteen percent off, select custom entry and interterior doors. Plus, save eighty dollars on the DeWalt twenty Volt Max two tool combo kit, now just one hundred sixty nine dollars. And at the Lowe's Pro desesk, bring us your materials list and get a quote in minutes. Handwritten, a photo, or even a sticky note is all you need. Keep your jobs moving faster and on budget At lows. Valid through seven eight while supplies l. seelection erors by location When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there is no room for slowdowns. With Granger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts, and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place, so nothing gets in the way of getting the job done Call one eight hundred Ganger, click ranger. com or just stop by Ranger for the ones who get it done In the end It was the black box data from the Toyota Camry and the surveillance footage from the crash That would serve as the smoking gun the prosecution needed MackKenzie Sareilla thought she'd move on with her life after the crash and start a modeling career was found guilty on twelve counts. includluding murder Felonious assault and aggravated vehicular homicide After serving two concurrent fifteen to life sentences, She'll be eligible for parole when she's in her early thirties in a verdict The judge said McKenzie was literal hell on wheels. and that she'd intentionally driven at that time of day When there wouldn't be very many witnesses on a path she didn't routinely use, but had visited days prior The judge implied, Mackenzie had scoped out the scene of the crime days in advance As her GPS data indicated, she'd been down that road at least seven times including three days before the crash There could be no doubt in would happen this time There can be no doubt of the absolute terror of the two people in that car The defendant controlled all the events. She chose the day Specifically, she chose a date just before her eighteenth birthday She chose to drive the car. The time to drive the car She chose an obscure previously scouted route through an industrial parkway She chose the target to hit and the victims She chose the means and the method to follow through And she planned and purposefully executed the events of july thirty first, twenty twenty two. The review of the evidence supports the factual findings The forensic testimony, the testimony of the first responders The testimony of the emergency room doctors who treated the defendant The testimony of the coroner's medical examiner testimony of those who knew the victims and the defendant and the testimony of the BMV official who provided evidence that not only did the defendant deny any medical condition when applying for her license which your mother c signed and attested to But also that just after the accident, McackKenzie renewed her driver's license and again denied any medical condition beforefore sentencing. prosecution played a series of MackKenzie's TikTok videos. including one that stated I'm not even cool. just one of those girls that can do a lot of drugs and not die att McKenzie's sentencing Her mother, Natalie, delivered a tone deaf statement much like the one she posted on Instagram after the crash this time She was begging for leniency for her daughter Okay, I'm asking you for leniency because this was a tragic accion that she does not remember And Davian, we don't He's a new friend. I'm so sorry. does that mean his life is worthless? No, no, no. no No God no, not at all They all they all loved each other. They all spent every day together You know what I mean? I don't I don't know this is problem. Sorry. Isn't that part of the problem that they all trusted each other Isn' that part of It's not a problem at all. a problem how they all ended up in the car together until one ended up dead. I understand. I understand what it looks like. I'm saying that it was a tragic accident. She would never we're going to have to disagree on. I understand. R. And I respect your position. that you disagree with me. I understand. You would have a moment. All you would need is five minutes of a conversation to have with her to learn who she is that you would just need five minutes to learn who she is and what she's capable of not doing and doing, and you would see for yourself that's all. I'm so sorry guys. Thank you. I'm sorry Mcenzie herself also read a short statement to the court The famies You see, I would never let this happen or do on purpose. I wish I could remember what happened. I'm just so sorry, I'm heartbroken. I love D and Damia. We were all friends and down was my soul name. I wish I could take all your pain away and I'm so sorry. And to my family, thank you for the support and all the love you guys give. Thank you for inviting me. I love you all so much When all was said and done, the intense focus on Mcenzie and Dominic's toxic relationship overshadowed the life of their third passenger Davv and Flann again who was tragically referred to as cargo during the trial But the start of Davian's life had a remarkable beginning After being removed from the care of his biological parents due to drug addiction, and after being bounced around between foster homes for two and a half years, Davian and his two younger sisters were adopted in twenty eleven by Scott and Jamie Flanagan Growing into his teens, Davian became a talented athlete, playing football at Strongsville High, where he was the starting running back and also worked as a swim coach Though Davian was well liked among his peers His father, Scott Flanagan recalls that his son never let popularity get to his head Daviian