Minnesota Woman Shoots And Kills Boyfriend In Bizarre YouTube Stunt Gone Wrong
Pregnant Minnesota teen, Monalisa Perez, shot and killed her boyfriend when a YouTube stunt they thought would go viral and make them instant internet celebrities, went horribly wrong, police say.
Monalisa Perez, 19, had been dating Pedro Ruiz III, 22, for five years before she shot him in the chest with a 0.50-caliber Desert Eagle handgun. The couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Aaliyah, watched as her daddy held a book in front of his chest to stop the bullet fired from the pistol held by her mommy.
The pregnant teen ran out of the house screaming after realizing a book would not stop a 0.50-caliber round, relatives said during an interview with the Star Tribune.
“Me and Pedro are probably going to shoot one of the most dangerous videos ever. HIS idea not MINE,” Monalisa Perez tweeted before the fatal YouTube video stunt.
The Minnesota couple used a hardcover book from an encyclopedia set in their YouTube video. They planned for Perez to fire the gun into the book Ruiz held in front of his chest while standing outside their home on Highway 75 — and show a book could stop the high-caliber round.
https://youtu.be/hr8VlTZMNn0
According to police report details shared by the Daily Mail, Monalisa Perez was standing only one foot away from the father of her daughter and unborn baby, when she squeezed the trigger of the gun aimed directly at his chest.
Monalisa Perez & Pedro Ruiz: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know https://t.co/YVFc8undn1 pic.twitter.com/T3RpiOuJvu
— jonas (@2006_jonas) June 28, 2017
When being interviewed by law enforcement investigators Perez maintained the viral video stunt was entirely her boyfriend’s idea. Perez also claimed Ruiz had shown her another book which a bullet had been fired into safely.
“He had told me about that idea and I said, ‘Don’t do it. Don’t do it,'” Ruiz’s aunt, Claudia Ruiz, said. “Why are you going to use a gun? Why?”‘
Pedro Ruiz reportedly replied, “Because we want more viewers. We want to get famous.”
https://youtu.be/M9LjdWYmQz0
“They were in love. It was just a prank gone wrong. It shouldn’t have happened like this. It shouldn’t have happened at all,” Claudia Ruiz said when speaking with the West Central Tribune. “I wish they wouldn’t have done it. I wish he would’ve just done another prank.”
YouTube star Pedro Ruiz III shot by girlfriend Mona Lisa Perez in prank gone wrong https://t.co/Iq5zZD5DW0
— Australian World (@eraap1q27) June 28, 2017
Monalisa Perez called 911 for help, and first responders quickly arrived on the scene and began chest compressions on Perez. Their valiant efforts were not able to save the young father’s life.
The Minnesota woman has now been charged with second-degree manslaughter. If convicted, Perez could spend up to a decade in prison and receive a fine of up to $20,000, CNN reports. Monalisa Perez has been released on bail. While awaiting trial she cannot possess firearms and has to wear a GPS monitor.
The YouTube channel created by the couple features them engaging in a series of pranks, such as Monalisa feeding Pedro donuts covered in baby powder. Typically, the videos published on the channel received between 400 and 900 views.
The final video posted to YouTube by Monalisa Perez and Pedro Ruiz showed the young family enjoying a trip to a fair. In the video, Perez says, “Imagine when we have 300,000 subscribers.”
Ruiz added that when they get a bigger audience, he will start throwing parties. On Wednesday, the day of the fatal YouTube video prank, the couple had exactly 218 subscribers to their channel.
[Featured Image by Militarist/Shutterstock]
