A young couple working toward “Internet fame” has made headlines for a horrific reason: 19-year-old Monalisa Perez allegedly shot and killed Pedro Ruiz, her 22-year-old boyfriend of five years, during a filmed stunt gone wrong at their Minnesota home, according to the Washington Post.
“Me and Pedro are probably going to shoot one of the most dangerous videos ever. HIS idea not MINE,” Perez, who is pregnant with the couple’s second child, tweeted in the hours before the alleged shooting.
Previously, the couple’s “shtick” involved carrying out minor pranks on film—doughnuts with baby powder instead of powdered sugar, hiding hot peppers on an egg salad sandwich. This new stunt, however, involved the husband using an encyclopedia to stop a bullet, which Ruiz had said he successfully tested before deciding to film the “prank.”
The Post reports that Perez and Ruiz got ahold of a gold Desert Eagle .50-caliber pistol, which is considered “one of the most powerful semiautomatic handguns in the world.” Perez fired from a foot away, striking Ruiz in the chest and bursting from the home in a panic as neighbors watched nearby. Video footage of the incident, taken by the couple, is now evidence in the case.
Ruiz died on the scene. Perez is reportedly being charged with second-degree manslaughter.
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