Monalisa Perez, 19, was arrested in Halstad, Minnesota, and booked into the Norman County jail on Monday night after shooting her 22-year-old boyfriend Pedro Ruiz III in the chest and fatally wounding him. The shooting occurred in front of the couple’s three-year-old daughter and around 30 onlookers, outside their Minnesota home, while being filmed for a YouTube video.
While making the video, Ruiz reportedly held a book, described as being a hardcover encyclopedia, in front of his chest, as he believed this would stop the bullet. This didn’t work and he died at the scene of the shooting incident.
As reported by the Star-Tribune, County Attorney James Brue described the gun as being a .50-caliber Desert Eagle pistol.
Daredevils make YouTube videos to increase social media following
According to Ruiz’s aunt Claudia, they made the YouTube video to increase their social media followers and to "get famous." She said her nephew had told her about their plans and she had told him in clear terms not to do it. Ruiz added that the couple was in love and that the incident was a video prank gone wrong. Ruiz was described by the other aunt, Lisa Primeau, as being a daredevil, always involved in pranks. According to Primeau, the couple had been together for the last six years, with Perez becoming pregnant with their daughter at the age of 15.
Police seize cameras from a house in Minnesota
Police seized two cameras from the house which is believed to have recorded the shooting incident. Onlookers stated that a single gunshot had been fired from around one foot away from Ruiz, while neighbors were gathering outside their houses to watch. As reported by WDAY-TV, a neighbor, Wayne Cameron, said that everyone surrounding them was crying while he was standing behind a tree and claimed he couldn’t handle the situation and went home.
According to Perez, who is currently pregnant with the couple’s second child, it was her boyfriend’s idea, saying he convinced her to do it. She had earlier sent a tweet speaking of her reservations about the idea.
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
Couple starts a YouTube channel to show their real life
Ruiz and Perez started a channel on YouTube back in March, through which they aimed to show the "real life" of two teenage parents.
Their latest video was uploaded on the same day Ruiz was shot and is about "Doing scary stunts at the fair." The video is included below.
Perez reportedly told her YouTube viewers just last week how it was a "blessing" that her husband would be home for the upcoming birth of their baby son, due in September. The 19-year-old mother is now facing second-degree manslaughter charges for the shooting of Ruiz. She appeared in the Norman County District Court on Wednesday, where she paid a $7,000 bail and was released later that day.
