Monalisa Perez has been charged with second-degree manslaughter and sentenced to 180 days in jail for killing her late boyfriend Pedro Ruiz.
According to the Star Tribune, Perez pleads guilty and on top of her 180-day sentence she also received a lifetime ban possessing a firearm or receiving payment for telling this story.
Star TribunePerez accidentally shot Ruiz when making a YouTube video in late June 2017. According to BuzzFeed, Perez called 911 to report the incident and she told the police that the stunt gone wrong was Ruiz’s idea. She told them that Ruiz wanted to make a video of Perez shooting a book, while he held it in front of him because he believed the book would be thick enough to stop the bullet.
Even before they filmed the stunt Perez tweeted, “Me and Pedro are probably going to shoot one of the most dangerous videos ever. HIS idea not MINE.”
Me and Pedro are probably going to shoot one of the most dangerous videos ever😳😳 HIS idea not MINE🙈
— Monalisa Perez (@MonalisaPerez5) June 26, 2017
Perez and Ruiz’s channel featured many videos of them pranking each other, doing viral YouTube challenges and life as being teenager/young parents. “Our Vlogs will show you the real life of a young couple who happen to be teen parents,” Their YouTube channel description says. “From highs to lows. Achievements to struggles. Join the fun, Follow our journey!”
According to the criminal complaint, the couple taped the fatal stunt at their home in Halstad, Minnesota. Ruiz set two cameras, a GoPro and another camera higher up on a ladder. Perez told police that Ruiz had to convince her to go through with the stunt and showed her a different book that stopped the bullet.
The two cameras recorded Perez standing about a foot away from Ruiz and firing a .50-caliber Desert Eagle firearm at the book that Ruiz was holding in front of his chest. The bullet passed through, unlike the first book Ruiz showed Perez to convince her to do the stunt.
“We were doing a YouTube video, and it went wrong,” Perez said on the 911 call. “It’s all on recording.”
After she fired the firearm she called the authorities and they attempted to save Ruiz’s life but he died on site. The footage of the shooting has yet to be released.
Ruiz will be able to serve her jail time in 10-day increments because she has custody of the couple’s two kids. She will be on probation for 10 years.
