Shayla's death is a necessary, albeit tragic, plot point to push Elliot "over the edge" and accelerate his psychological spiral.
A look at the performed in this episode? 6. eps1.5_br4ve-trave1er.asf
It deconstructs the idea of the "white hat" hacker, showing that Elliot’s vigilante hacking has severe real-world consequences. Shayla's death is a necessary, albeit tragic, plot