“This was not reckless driving. This was murder,” the judge said before she read out Mackenzie Shirilla’s verdict Monday afternoon.

  • Flying Squid
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    31811 months ago

    The reason why they say this was murder:

    Two weeks before the crash, she allegedly threatened to crash her vehicle when she was driving with Russo because she was upset over a disagreement they had. Russo called his mother and asked to be picked up, and a friend ended up retrieving him. In a phone call with Russo, the friend allegedly overheard Shirilla say, “I will crash this car right now,” prosecutors said in court documents.

    This isn’t a drunk driver, or a thrillseeker, this is someone with murderous intent.

      • The dogspaw
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        411 months ago

        I agree 100 percent this is a child with some kind of inability to understand the consequences of her actions she should be placed in a care facility until she demonstrates the ability to make proper decision making ability

      • Heresy_generator
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        11 months ago

        In most US jurisdictions if you’re “just” trying to commit a felony, like purposely crashing your car at 100+ MPH (160+ KPH) to cause grievous bodily harm to others, and someone dies as a result that’s automatically elevated to murder.

      • @[email protected]
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        11 months ago

        It’ll depend on the jurisdiction. But ‘intent’ for murder does not mean “pre-planned”. Heat of the moment intention to do serious harm is enough for a murder conviction in the UK (and, I believe, the US).

        In this case, the prosecution accused her of pre-planning as well as intent, and the jury agreed with one or both arguments.

        Russo, the judge, delivered a scalding description of the case before she read out the verdict, saying Shirilla had a “mission” she executed with “precision” that fateful day — and “the mission was death.”

        “The [crash] video clearly shows the purpose and intent of the defendant. She chose a course of death and destruction that day,” Russo said.

        “She morphs from a responsible driver to literal hell on wheels as she makes her way down the street,” Russo said, saying Shirilla made a calculated decision to drive that morning, when not many people would be around, on an obscure route she did not routinely take.

        Prosecutor Michael O’Malley told NBC affiliate WKYC of Cleveland that the crash video was damning, saying, “The intent was obvious upon seeing that video that there was only one goal.”

        • @[email protected]
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          211 months ago

          I recently read that a 70mph accident is considered “unsurvivable.” Regrettably I don’t recall the source. Because people survive accidents that happen on 70mph speed limit highways all the time, I assume two things. 1. That the accident has to happen AT 70mph. And that 2, most people are able to slow down or perhaps the vehicle hits something first, glancing blow, that sort of thing, which brings the speed down, making it more survivable. So yeah, I think that makes 100mph suicide/murder.

          • Dem Bosain
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            211 months ago

            crash testing is done between 35 and 40 mph. At those speeds the car is usually undrivable after the test. Over that speed you risk damage to very expensive test equipment.

      • @ZodiacSF1969
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        411 months ago

        Murder laws can vary by country.

        She murdered two people with the intent to at least cause significant harm. That’s enough on the state she was in, thank God. She deserves life in prison.

        • @funkless_eck
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          1011 months ago

          Not a lawyer, but even if they consent isn’t it murder?

          • Chaotic Entropy
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            11 months ago

            You can’t consent to murder, the best you could do is indemnify someone/an organisation against accidental death.

            • @CaptainEffort
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              611 months ago

              You can’t consent to murder

              Genuine question - why not? If someone wants to be murdered, for whatever reason, would that not be them consenting?

          • @[email protected]
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            11 months ago

            There are cases of mutual murderer/suicide pacts where there’s shared responsibility and actions taken by each party but that wouldn’t have been possible when she was the only one in control of the car. Even if the boyfriend was suicidal, and there’s no reason to think he was from this article, the other passenger clearly wasn’t. IANAL either but I think that’s what the above comment was trying to get at.

      • @[email protected]
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        4011 months ago

        It sounds much more like an abusive relationship. She was trying to punish him, regardless of the risk to herself.

        • @[email protected]
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          -4411 months ago

          …no, no, no… only WOMEN can be in abusive relationships.

          At least that is the utter bullshit you would believe if you listened to the feminist/white knight rhetoric out there.

      • @[email protected]
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        2511 months ago

        If you attempt to kill yourself and take other people with you, it’s commonly called murder/suicide. Killing people with intent is usually murder.

      • El Barto
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        2311 months ago

        A woman kills family then kills self. Is it murder!!! Oh. No, just self-harm.

        • AggressivelyPassive
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          -2011 months ago

          That’s not exactly what has happened here and derailing it using emotional hyperbole won’t help either.

          • @[email protected]
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            2511 months ago

            Honestly, it’s very very similar. AFAICT she was trying to punish him. It has all the hallmarks of an abusive relationship. And an all too common outcome.

      • @[email protected]
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        1111 months ago

        If you’re trying to kill others along with you, it’s not just suicide, it’s also murder.

      • @ryathal
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        -2811 months ago

        This is why suicidal people are dangerous, it’s a relatively small change from killing yourself, to killing others.

        • @zaph
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          2611 months ago

          This is why pastry chefs are dangerous, it’s a relatively small change from baking your bread, to baking others.

          • Yepthatsme
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            711 months ago

            This is why being baked while baking with a baker is dangerous. You get too baked and you might get baked by the baker for making bad cakes.

          • @[email protected]
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            211 months ago

            Baking bread and stuff is easier. Have you seen hot fat people have gotten? No way I am getting an adult into my oven.

        • girlfreddy
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          11 months ago

          @ryathal @agressivelyPassive

          Having suicidal ideation is in no way, shape or form the same as being the perpetrator of a murder-suicide. Neither is being suicidal a lead-in to becoming a murderer.

          • @ryathal
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            -911 months ago

            Driving a car at 100mph into a building is more than ideation. That’s attempted suicide.

          • @ryathal
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            -1611 months ago

            As such, it is clear that suicides tend to have high levels of aggressive–destructive impulsive behaviours, generally referred to as impulsive–aggressive behaviours. These have been operationally defined in suicide studies as a tendency to react with animosity or overt hostility without consideration to possible consequences, when piqued or under stress.

            https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1277022/

            • Chaotic Entropy
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              11 months ago

              Did you read anything else in that paper…? The words around that statement? Even the abstract?

              Or did you google what you wanted to see and post the result, because that paper is not about people harming others whilst attempting suicide. It is barely tangentially about that.

              (it’s about the impact of aggressive-impulsive tendencies on the suicide…r themselves)

        • @[email protected]
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          911 months ago

          No there may be a small chance of collateral damage, such as this case. But suicidal thinking does not make you think of killing others. You’re clearly lucky enough to have never had suicidal ideation, but it never comes near the kind of thoughts that want to kill others

          • @ryathal
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            -1411 months ago

            It changes when it comes to acting. If you have the gun to your head, shooting someone telling you to stop is also highly likely.

            • @[email protected]
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              311 months ago

              Let’s see some stats on that one because being an abusive murder is a lot different than suicidality.

              There is no correlation between her wanting to kill people and her potential suicidality. They just coincidentally line up in this case.

        • @[email protected]
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          311 months ago

          I have a relative who was recently given a DUI.

          They went to the store, sober, and bought a handle of vodka (1.75 liters) consumed the vast majority, and drove around.

          He wanted to die in a head on collision. Selfish fuck.

          I don’t have a problem with people having the freedom to decide enough is enough, but don’t harm others in the process, at least more so than the death would cause. Especially innocent unrelated people.