Dominic Russo‘s sister, Christine Russo, shared her thoughts on the loss of her brother on the fourth anniversary of the tragic car accident involving Mackenzie Shirilla.
On Friday, July 31, Christine posted a video on Instagram, showcasing various photos and videos of Dominic, who passed away at 20, alongside family memories over the years.
“Four years. I want to sleep through today. I f***ing hate today. Four years since my world shattered into pieces that will never fit back together,” Christine expressed in her caption. “On July 31, 2022, I lost my baby brother, Dominic. There isn’t a single day that has passed where I haven’t thought about you. Not one day where I haven’t wished with everything in me that I could go back, change something, or somehow bring you home.”
Christine shared her realization that “grief doesn’t heal,” but becomes “something you learn to carry.” She added, “Some days it’s lighter. Other days it crushes me so completely that I can barely breathe. The pain of losing you is woven into every part of who I am.”
“I miss your laugh more than words can ever explain. I miss hearing your voice, your jokes, your smile, your presence,” Christine wrote. “I miss the little moments that seemed so ordinary then but would mean everything now.”
She mentioned that Dominic’s “nieces and nephews miss their uncle more than you could ever imagine” and “they still talk about you.”
“They still love you. They deserved to grow up with your guidance, your laughter, and your love. You should have been here to watch them grow, to cheer them on, to tease them, to make memories with them,” Christine wrote about Dominic’s younger family members. “They were robbed of an incredible uncle, and our family was robbed of so many years we should have had together.”
Christine remarked that there are “no winners in this story” and “there is no closure.”
“There is no moving on. There is only learning to live in a world that is missing one of the people we loved most,” she wrote.
“I hope you know how immensely you are loved. I hope somehow you know that I will spend the rest of my life speaking your name, protecting your memory, and making sure the world knows who you truly were,” Christine said. “Death may have taken your life, but it will never take your place in our family or in my heart.”
She expressed her love for Dominic “more than words could ever say” and “more than this lifetime could ever hold,” and promised to carry him with her “in every heartbeat.”
“Forever loved. Forever missed. Forever 20,” Christine concluded.
Dominic died on July 11, 2022, as a passenger in the car that Shirilla, 21, was driving when she crashed at 100 mph into a brick wall. Their friend, Davion Flanagan, was also in the car and died at the age of 19.
Milania Giudice and her family are mourning the loss of her childhood friend Victoria Zardoya after a fatal accident. “There are no words for this kind of pain,” Joe Giudice wrote via Instagram on Sunday, July 26, sharing a photo of himself with Milania, 20, and her friends. “Victoria, you were like a daughter to […]
Shirilla, who was dating Dominic at the time, was found guilty of 12 felony charges in a 2023 bench trial, including murder. She was sentenced to two concurrent terms of 15 years to life in prison.
Despite the verdict, Shirilla maintains her innocence, and her legal team has suggested that the crash might have been the result of a medical incident.
Just two days before the crash’s anniversary, Us confirmed that Shirilla formally appealed her 2023 murder convictions, filing a writ of habeas corpus in federal court. Her lawyers argued that her rights were violated during the trial because key defense evidence was allegedly excluded.
