Sophos Cloud Optix
The prank, destined to be filmed for YouTube: stand one foot away from your boyfriend and, at his insistence, shoot a .50 caliber bullet through an encyclopedia he was holding in front of his chest to see if it would pass through.
It did. He’s dead.
The prankster who talked his girlfriend into the stunt was Pedro Ruiz III, 22. His girlfriend and the mother of his two children, Monalisa Perez, now 20, pleaded guilty in December to second-degree manslaughter in his death.
On Wednesday, Minnesota Judge Jeffrey Remick set out the terms agreed under plea bargaining: Perez will serve a 180-day jail term, alternating between 10 days in jail and 10 days out for the first six months, for a total of 90 days behind bars.
Perez is also banned for life from owning firearms and is forbidden from making money off the case.
The couple had been dating for 5 years. According to a local paper, the Star Tribune, Perez was pregnant when she shot Ruiz with a Desert Eagle handgun. Their 3-year-old daughter was nearby, watching.
Just a few hours before the fatal shooting in June, Perez took to Twitter to express her misgivings about the stunt:
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
The sentence could have been more severe, but Norman County Attorney James Brue said it fitted the circumstances for the 20-year-old mother. The StarTribune quoted him:
The reality [is] that this foolish stunt was dreamed up, planned, and executed by Pedro Ruiz, and the defendant wrongfully and tragically relied on his assurances that the stunt was safe.
Ruiz had reportedly tested the stunt beforehand. The hardcover encyclopedia he used to protect his chest was about 1.5″ thick. The handgun, however, was high caliber: the Desert Eagle is described by retailer Cabela’s as “one of the most powerful semiautomatic handguns in the world.”
The couple was after fame and followers for their YouTube channel, which features a number of light-hearted pranks. In one such video taken at a fair, Ruiz talks excitedly about someday reaching 300,000 followers.
Unfortunately, this stunt gone horribly wrong has made Pedro’s wildest dreams come true. As of Thursday afternoon, “DOING SCARY STUNTS AT THE FAIR | PART 1” was approaching two million views.
Another candidate for the Darwin awards!
Not to take life for granted!
Very sad for everyone
Sad story. Judge has been incredibly lenient in sentencing. Too bad stupidity isn’t a felony as well. (yeah, I know this is going to PO a bunch of people)
Did you read the article? It explains why she got such a light sentencing.
How are people this stupid?
It’s not You Tube. It’s humans.
Pedro gets my nomination for the Darwin Awards.
Doesn’t apply, as far as I know, because he already passed his DNA onto the next generation.
Once the shock and grief subside, this leads me down a convoluted rabbit hole of disbelief.
– Possibly a .38 but a FIFTY CAL?! I wish it were possible to agree with Laurence more than 100%.
– Tested it in advance. How do you tell the guy at the bookstore you need TWO physical encyclop(a)edias in the 21st century?
– If this was two volumes of the same multi-bound set, maybe you should’ve tested with the liberal arts volume and then went live (rimshot) with the hard sciences.
– Just when we thought it couldn’t get worse…your three-year-old daughter witnessed this.
– One hopes that growing up without Dad will include a strong inclination to observe (and learn from) others’ mistakes.
I don’t get why he couldn’t just use clickbait like the rest of the youtubers …smh
You wrote: “and then become eligible to serve the balance out of prison”.
According to your story she has 180 days to serve. After she has served 90 days over the first six months and another 90 days over the following three years, what balance remains to be served?
Thanks for flagging. We’ve removed that part.
I guess there won’t be a Pedro Ruiz the IVth unless the unborn was a boy.
Even if it went off without a hitch, they let the 3-year-old is watch (I’m sure with no hearing protection)? Take all the kids away from this woman.