Complaint: Woman blames video stunt for boyfriend’s death

Published 8:19 am Thursday, June 29, 2017

HALSTAD — A Minnesota woman charged in the fatal shooting of her boyfriend told authorities it was a video stunt gone wrong.

Monalisa Perez, of Halstad, was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Pedro Ruiz III.

According to a criminal complaint, the 19-year-old Perez told authorities Ruiz wanted to make a YouTube video of her shooting a bullet into a book he was holding against his chest. She says she fired from about a foot (0.3 meters) away.

Email newsletter signup

Authorities say Ruiz died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.

The victim’s aunt, Claudia Ruiz, says the couple played pranks and put them on YouTube.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.