A 19-year old pregnant woman from Minnesota fatally shot her boyfriend Monday when a “prank” she intended to post to her YouTube channel went wrong, police say.
Monalisa Perez was arrested and charged with manslaughter after she allegedly shot boyfriend Pedro Ruiz III, 22, in his chest from close range with a .50 caliber Desert Eagle pistol. The stunt was to be recorded and posted to their YouTube channel, which features many pranks and videos centering around internet trends.
On the day of the incident, Perez tweeted out that she and Ruiz were “probably going to shoot one of the most dangerous videos ever,” and Ruiz’s aunt, Claudia Ruiz, told Valley News Live that her nephew had spoken about performing the stunt for a long while.
According to the criminal complaint obtained by Heavy, Ruiz was supposed to hold a thick book on his chest as Perez shot it with the pistol. Perez told police that Ruiz had previously shown her a book that he shot with the gun where the bullet didn’t go all the way through, so the plan was to replicate that with the book on his chest.
Instead, the stunt went awry and Ruiz suffered a critical gunshot wound outside of their home. Emergency responders arrived on scene to try and save Ruiz, and a helicopter was called in to transport him to a hospital. But he was pronounced dead on scene before it arrived.
Perez has been charged with second-degree manslaughter and faces 10 years in prison if convicted, the Star Tribune reported.
The couples’ YouTube channel, which has over 500 subscribers, features dozens of videos ranging from pranks to performing trending internet challenges. To see all of Perez and Ruiz’s videos posted to the channel, click here.
Here are some of the most notable videos posted to the couples’ YouTube account:
The Last Video Posted to the Channel Was on the Day When She Allegedly Shot Him
Perez opens the video, which was recorded June 22, by saying that her and Ruiz were in a fight.
“Today is not really a good day, me and Pedro are fighting,” she said. “I hate that we fight. We’re fighting because last night Aleah swore at him and now we’re fighting about that, which sucks. But what do you do, he’s literally ignoring me guys. He’s acting like a little girl.”
The video, which lasts just over 11 minutes, features the couple and their daughter performing “scary stunts” at a local fair.
Another Video Takes Them on a Tour of Her Family’s Home
The video posted June 20 shows Perez at her family’s home where she’s gifted clothes from her mother for her pregnancy. Soon enough, the family arrives at a store to go shopping.
Ruiz is in a shopping cart at the store being pushed by one of Perez’s family members. At the end of it, Ruiz flies a drone around Perez’s mother’s home to take aerial shots of it.
A Video Posted June 19 Shows the Young Family Going on a Hike
The video, posted June 19, shows Perez, Ruiz and family members going on a nature walk and exploring the area around their home.
They head into a forest where they discover some water and pipes.
“It was a fun little park time, and now we’re going to go back to my mom’s and relax for a little bit,” Perez ends the video by saying.
Perez & Ruiz Perform ‘the Whisper Challenge’
In another video posted to their YouTube channel, the couple perform “The Whisper Challenge.” The task involves one person putting on headphones with loud music while the other person whispers a phrase. The person with the headphones on has to try and guess what the foreign phrase is and is awarded a point if they guess correctly
The couple agreed upon a prize for the winner, which involved Perez waxing Ruiz’s armpit if she won. Ruiz lost, which meant Perez was tasked with waxing her boyfriend’s armpit.
‘The World’s Hottest Pepper Prank’
In a video posted June 1, Perez said she was going to perform another challenge, this one is titled the “World’s Hottest Pepper Prank.” She said that she received a package in the mail with Perez’s name on the front. Inside of it was two of the “world’s hottest pepper.” She assumed that her boyfriend was going to try and “prank” her with the pepper, so she takes matters into her own hands.
Perez turns the tide on Ruiz and puts one of the two peppers inside of a sandwich that she made for him. He ends up taking it well to begin with, but it ends up being too much, as he becomes nauseous.
A May Video Shows the Couple Talking About an Array of Topics
In a video posted May 30, Perez calls it the “laziest vlog ever,” and the couple talk about an array of topics. It ends with Ruiz washing the dishes and shooting Perez with the water hose from the sink in the face.
To read more about the charges and the case, click below.
