Minnesota woman sentenced for fatally shooting boyfriend in failed YouTube stunt

By TU-UYEN TRAN | Forum News Service
March 14, 2018 at 11:01 pm

-snip-

Perez, 20, previously pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in exchange for a 180-day jail sentence. The victim, 22-year-old Pedro Ruiz III, was her boyfriend and the father of her two children.

The stunt that killed him June 26 involved Perez shooting a powerful handgun at a thick, hardcover book that he held to his chest in the mistaken belief that it would be enough to stop the .50-caliber bullet. Ruiz’s family blamed Perez for pulling the trigger, and some even suggested she knew it would kill him. But the prosecutor, Norman County Attorney James Brue, made it clear the idea for the “foolish stunt” came from Ruiz; that was the reason for the relatively short sentence.

Judge Jeffrey Remick accepted the plea deal and allowed Perez to serve her sentence in 10-day increments in South Dakota, where she now lives.

-snip-

YouTube prankster jailed for shooting boyfriend dead

15 March 2018

A US woman has been sentenced to six months in jail for shooting dead her boyfriend in a botched stunt they hoped would go viral on YouTube.

Monalisa Perez, now 20, was asked by Pedro Ruiz, 22, to fire a gun from a foot (30 cm) away, believing a thick book he held in front of his chest would shield him.

The bullet pierced the 1.5in book, fatally wounding Ruiz last June.

Perez, a mother of two, later pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter.

-snip-