Monalisa Perez and Pedro Ruiz III were just like many other young people, they were searching for internet fame on YouTube only something went terribly wrong.
They began posting harmless prank videos a few weeks ago but on Monday evening they took it way too far when Perez, 19, shot at a book Ruiz, 22, was holding in front of his chest. They were under the mistaken impression that the book would stop the bullet.
Unfortunately for all involved, including the baby Perez is carrying and their previous daughter, the bullet traveled through the book and entered Ruiz chest. He died at the scene.
“I really have no idea what they were thinking,” Sheriff Jeremy Thornton of Norman County said Wednesday. “I just don’t understand the younger generation on trying to get their 15 minutes of fame.”
In the couple’s last video which was posted on Monday, Perez and Ruiz wondered what it would be like “when we have 300,000 subscribers.”
“The bigger we get, I’ll be throwing parties,” Ruiz stated. “Why not?”
— Boy hangs himself after girlfriend fakes suicide in social media prank —
That is not what happened, instead just hours later Perez was arrested on suspicion of reckless discharge of a firearm. Then on Wednesday, she was charged with second-degree manslaughter. The charge could land her 10 years in jail and a fine of up to $20,000.
Perez has been released on $7,000 bail and is now home with her other child.
She told detectives that she shot her boyfriend from about a foot away while he held a 1.5 inch book in front of his chest.
She said that Ruiz had been “trying to get her” to fire the weapon “for awhile.”
Ruiz, in attempting to get her to participate in the stunt, showed her a book he had previously shot himself. The bullet did not travel all the way through so they felt the stunt was safe.
