21-year-old Minnesota woman admits to fatally shooting boyfriend in botched YouTube stunt – Monalisa Perez was jailed 180 days for killing Pedro Ruiz

21-year-old Monalisa Perez, a mother of two will spend six months in jail for the shooting death of her boyfriend at a fair, in 2017. Perez was jailed for shooting and killing her boyfriend in a YouTube stunt gone wrong
A 21-year-old Minnesota woman was sentenced to a 180-day jail term after fatally shooting her boyfriend during a botched YouTube stunt.
Monalisa Perez of Halstad, Minn., was sent to jail after pleading guilty to second-degree manslaughter, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports, in the shooting of 22-year-old Pedro Ruiz III outside their home in the northwestern Minnesota town of Halstad.
As part of her sentence, Perez is banned for life from owning firearms, profiting or collecting payments for her story.
In June 2017, Perez was charged after accidentally shooting her boyfriend, 22-year-old Pedro Ruiz III. According to the criminal complaint, the two were shooting a YouTube video where Perez shot at a book Ruiz held in front of his chest, believing the book would stop the bullet.
Perez and Ruiz who shared a child and were expecting their second child, had just shared a video on YouTube titled “Doing Scary Stunts at the Fair Part 1.”
Unfortunately, the prank went very wrong, and the bullet went through the book and into Ruiz’s chest, killing him before he could be air-lifted for medical treatment,.
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Perez had been facing a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
As part of the plea agreement, Perez can serve her jail time in her home state of South Dakota in 10-day increments, but will be on probation for 10 years.
Perez who has two kids, both with Ruiz.Perez, retains custody of their two children,
The pair’s channel, which is still live on YouTube, features prank videos including one where Perez gets Ruiz to eat a sandwich filled with hot peppers. The channel has drawn millions of views since Ruiz’s death.
The sentence falls below state sentencing guidelines that would have sent her to prison for at least a decade, much to the chagrin of the victim’s family who voiced their opinion that Perez deserved a stiffer sentence.
Norman County Attorney James Brue said that was proper under the circumstances for the 21-year-old mother of two. The sentence he said, holds her accountable for “culpable negligence that led to the tragic and completely avoidable death.”
He also pointed out “the reality 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.”
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