A 19-year-old YouTuber has been charged with second-degree manslaughter after fatally shooting her boyfriend while trying to film a stunt for a video, Teen Vogue reports.
On June 26, Monalisa Perez tweeted that she and her 22-year-old boyfriend, Pedro Ruiz, would be filming “one of the most dangerous videos ever” and claimed that the video was Ruiz’s idea. She shot Ruiz later that day and turned herself in to authorities. ABC affiliate WDAY-TV reports that the stunt called for Ruiz to hold up a book and have Perez shoot at it with hopes of the book stopping the bullet. However, the bullet shot through the book and entered Ruiz’s chest. He died at the scene.
The Minnesota couple were creating content for their YouTube channel, which mostly consists of videos sharing their daily life with their three-year-old daughter. According to WDAY-TV, Ruiz allegedly told his aunt that the decision to film dangerous stunts was “because we want more viewers, we want to get famous.”
Perez, who is pregnant with a baby boy, is scheduled to appear in court on July 5 following her initial arraignment on Wednesday afternoon. According to BuzzFeed News, she faces the possibility of up to 10 years in jail, a fine of $20,000, or both.