Steve Shirilla, father of Mackenzie Shirilla, is on leave from Mary Queen of Peace School as officials investigate allegations of “poor judgment.”
CLEVELAND — Steve Shirilla, the father of convicted killer Mackenzie Shirilla, has been placed on administrative leave by the Cleveland Catholic school where he works as a teacher, a family member confirmed to 3News.
The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland released a statement to 3News Monday afternoon, saying administrators at Mary Queen of Peace School “are investigating allegations made on social media that one of its teachers has demonstrated poor judgement. Upon learning of the allegation, the school acted immediately and placed the teacher on administrative leave. The investigation is ongoing.”
Though the diocese did not name the teacher in its statement, the family member confirmed Monday night that Steve Shirilla was placed on leave.
“The health and wellbeing of its students are among the highest priorities for Mary Queen of Peace School, and its leadership team takes all allegations of poor judgment very seriously,” the diocese said.
According to Mary Queen of Peace School’s website, Steve Shirilla is listed as a teacher of art and digital media.
The news comes days after the release of “The Crash,” a Netflix documentary that explores the case in which Mackenzie Shirilla was ultimately found guilty of murder and sentenced to 15 years to life behind bars for killing 20-year-old Dominic Russo and 19-year-old Davion Flanagan in a July 2022 crash in Strongsville. The documentary, which includes an interview with Mackenzie Shirilla filmed from prison, explores the Strongsville incident and the events that unfolded afterward.
Shirilla, who was 17 years old at the time of the crash, was found guilty of all counts in a bench trial, including four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault and two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide. While announcing the verdict, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Nancy Margaret Russo said Shirilla had “a mission” and “executed it with precision.”
In March of 2025, the Eighth District Court of Appeals upheld a previous ruling that denied Shirilla’s request for a new trial. Her parents have maintained that their daughter is innocent and that the justice system failed their family.
“Show me one piece of evidence — one — that says she did this on purpose. Show it to me,” Steve Shirilla said in an exclusive May 2025 interview with 3News. “Then she’s right where she belongs and she’s guilty of it. But there isn’t any. There’s no evidence [of] what was going on in that car other than information they gleamed from the black box information.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Steve Shirilla is a former WKYC Studios employee who did not work in the news department during his tenure with the station.
3News’ Lynna Lai contributed to this report.