Woman who accidentally killed boyfriend in YouTube stunt pleads guilty

Monalisa Perez and Pedro Ruiz are seen in one of their Youtube videos before the deadly shooting. Photo by La Monalisa/Youtube

Dec. 20 (UPI) — A Minnesota woman who accidentally shot and killed her boyfriend in a YouTube stunt gone wrong pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Monalisa Perez, 20, will face up to a 180-day sentence that will be served 30 days per year for three years, with the remaining 90 days on house arrest, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. In addition, Perez would be restricted from making “any financial compensation” from the recording of the shooting and is “banned from possessing firearms for the rest of her life.”

A judge will make the final determination of the sentence in February, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.

Perez killed Pedro Ruiz III in June when the couple, who had one child and another on the way, were making a YouTube video in which Ruiz was attempting to demonstrate how a book could block a bullet. Ruiz put the book to his chest and Perez, from one foot away, fired a .50 caliber pistol.

The bullet went through, killing Ruiz.

“We were doing a YouTube video, and it went wrong,” Perez said in a 911 call after the shooting.

Before firing the gun, Perez tweeted a teaser about the video she and Ruiz were going to make.

“Me and Pedro are probably going to shoot one of the most dangerous videos ever. HIS idea not MINE,” she wrote.

At the time of the shooting, the couple was in the early stages of trying to grow an audience via their YouTube channel, which featured family videos and mild-mannered “stunts,” such as eating spicy peppers and riding roller-coasters.

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