Tragic End to Botched YouTube Stunt

HALSTAD, Minn. (AP) — 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.

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

The victim's aunt, Claudia Ruiz, tells WDAY-TV that the couple played pranks and put them on YouTube.

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

____________________________________________________________________

(previous version)

HALSTAD, Minn. (AP) — A woman from western Minnesota is in jail after authorities say she recklessly fired a gun in the fatal shooting of her boyfriend.

Norman County Sheriff Jeremy Thornton says the 20-year-old Halstad woman apparently shot her 22-year-old boyfriend outside of their home Monday night. Deputies responded to a report of a gunshot shortly after 6:30 p.m.

Thornton says a final decision on charges will be determined by the county attorney once the investigation is completed.

The man's name has not been released. KFGO-AM reports the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has joined the investigation.

A Fargo TV station, WDAY, is reporting the fatal shooting was the result of a bungled stunt video the couple hoped would become a hit on YouTube. The victim was holding  a thick book and instructed Monalisa Perez to fire a .50 caliber bullet into it, believing the book would stop it. It did not, and the bullet struck the young man in the chest.