This photo released by the Northwest Regional Corrections Center shows Monalisa Perez. Perez, of Halstad, was charged Wednesday, June 28, 2017, with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Pedro Ruiz... (Associated Press) 
 
 This photo released by the Northwest Regional Corrections Center shows Monalisa Perez. Perez, of Halstad, was charged Wednesday, June 28, 2017, with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Pedro Ruiz... (Associated Press) 
 
 HALSTAD, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota woman charged with fatally shooting her boyfriend in a failed YouTube video stunt foreshadowed the event when she tweeted that it would be "one of the most dangerous videos ever." 
 
 Monalisa Perez, of Halstad, was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Pedro Ruiz III. Perez, who is pregnant, was released on $7,000 bail. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. 
 
 According to the criminal complaint filed by the Norman County Sheriff Jeremy Thornton, the 19-year-old Perez told investigators that Ruiz wanted to make a 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. 
 
 Hours before the Tuesday night shooting, Perez tweeted: "Me and Pedro are probably going to shoot one of the most dangerous videos ever. HIS idea not MINE." 
 
 The complaint says Ruiz set up one camera on the back of a vehicle and another camera on a ladder nearby. 
 
 Ruiz's aunt, Lisa Primeau, told the Star-Tribune that her nephew was always chasing a thrill and "putting a dangerous twist on everything he did." Primeau said that included jumping into a swimming pool from the top of a house. 
 
 Many of the videos on Perez's YouTube channel are of her and Ruiz playing pranks and performing stunts. The most recent was posted the morning before the shooting. It's titled "Doing Scary Stunts at the Fair, Part I" and shows the couple attending a fair last week. 
 
 "Imagine when we have 300,000 subscribers," Perez says during the video. 
 
 Primeau said Ruiz liked guns and had "plenty" of them. Authorities say Perez used a .50-caliber Desert Eagle pistol in the stunt, which is described by retailer Cabela's in an online ad as "one of the world's most powerful semiautomatic handguns." 
 
 Perez died from a single gunshot wound to the chest. ||||| As part of a young couple's quest for YouTube fame, a 19-year-old woman shot at a book her boyfriend was holding against his chest, killing him at close range outside their northwestern Minnesota home. 
 
 Monalisa Perez was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter in the shooting of her boyfriend, 22-year-old Pedro Ruiz III, Monday night in Halstad. 
 
 Perez, who is pregnant, appeared from jail by video at a Norman County District Court proceeding Wednesday. She posted $7,000 cash bail and was released late Wednesday afternoon. 
 
 Ruiz held up the book — described by County Attorney James Brue as a hardcover encyclopedia — and Perez pulled the trigger on a .50-caliber Desert Eagle pistol, trying to see whether the bullet would go through, according to the criminal complaint. 
 
 A few hours before the shooting, a posting went up on Perez's Twitter account that read: "Me and Pedro are probably going to shoot one of the most dangerous videos ever. HIS idea not MINE." The note included two wide-eyed emoji faces and another of an eye-covering monkey with a gaping mouth. 
 
 The Desert Eagle is described by retailer Cabela's in an online ad as "one of the world's most powerful semiautomatic handguns." 
 
 MonaLisa Perez 
 
 Brue said there are "multiple videos" of the shooting, and they will not be released publicly at this time. 
 
 "We called him our little daredevil," said Lisa Primeau, an aunt who added that she "pretty much raised" Ruiz after his mother died in Texas when he was young. He tried living with his father in this part of the country, but it didn't work out, Primeau said. 
 
 Primeau said Ruiz was always chasing a thrill, "putting a dangerous twist on everything he did." His antics included "jumping into the swimming pool from the top of the house, no hesitation. He was a crazy driver with go-carts." 
 
 She said Ruiz also "had plenty of guns. He liked guns." 
 
 Another aunt of Ruiz's told WDAY-TV in Fargo that the shooting outside the couple's home on Hwy. 75, with their 3-year-old daughter nearby, was part of a stunt they intended to post on YouTube. 
 
 "He had told me about that idea," the aunt told the TV station, "and I said, 'Don't do it. Don't do it. Why are you going to use a gun? Why?' " 
 
 She quoted him as replying, " 'Because we want more viewers. We want to get famous.' " 
 
 Perez has a YouTube channel with many videos the couple have made, with stunts and pranks prevalent. The most recent one went up the morning before the shooting. It's titled "Doing Scary Stunts at the Fair, Part I" and shows the couple attending a fair last Thursday. Ruiz and a young relative were featured enjoying various rides. 
 
 "Imagine when we have 300,000 subscribers," Perez says during the video. 
 
 Ruiz replies, "I told them, the bigger we get, I'll be throwing parties." 
 
 One hour before their future unraveled Monday evening, Perez wrote on Facebook, "We are in the process of making Pedro a YouTube channel oh man is it going to be sweet! LOL." She added: "All the crazy stuff will [be] on his channel and mine. will be our family life!!!" 
 
 Soon after the shooting, Perez told a sheriff's deputy that it was Ruiz who had been pushing his idea for the video, which was recorded by one camera on the back of a parked vehicle and another on a ladder, according to the complaint. He had shown her another book that he had shot and the bullet didn't go all the way through, the charging document continued. 
 
 "Perez stated that she shot from about a foot away while [Ruiz] held the book to his chest," the complaint read. 
 
 In May, Perez posted a video revealing the sex of the child they are expecting in late September. It is a boy. 
 
 Ruiz and Perez had been together for six years, Primeau said, and Perez became pregnant at 15. 
 
 As they anticipated another child, Ruiz was supporting his growing family working for BNSF Railway and was studying to be a foreman, Primeau said. She added that she and others related to Ruiz "are all supporting Mona. It's a tragic incident. What she did … she has to live with that. It's the worst punishment she can get. She is pregnant with their second kid. It's just heartbreaking." ||||| A Minnesota woman who mistakenly shot her boyfriend to death in a stunt concocted for YouTube fame "tragically relied on his assurances" before pulling the trigger, the prosecutor said Wednesday after the woman was sentenced to jail. 
 
 Monalisa Perez's punishment, as outlined in an agreement to plead guilty to second-degree manslaughter, is a 180-day jail term and lifetime bans on possessing a firearm or receiving payment for telling the story of the June shooting of 22-year-old Pedro Ruiz III outside their home in the northwestern Minnesota town of Halstad. 
 
 The sentence falls below state sentencing guidelines that would have sent her to prison. Norman County Attorney James Brue said that was proper under the circumstances for the 20-year-old mother of two. 
 
 Brue said he is satisfied that the sentence 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." 
 
 Two of Ruiz's relatives made victim impact statements during the proceedings. Perez chose not to speak. 
 
 Monalisa Perez 
 
 Claudia Ruiz, an aunt of Pedro Ruiz, told reporters afterward that Perez understood what she was doing when she participated in the stunt, which was recorded with two cameras set up by the couple. 
 
 Judge Jeffrey Remick agreed that Perez can serve her jail time in South Dakota, where she now lives. 
 
 Remick also agreed that Perez, who retains custody of their two children, can serve her jail time in 10-day increments. She also will be on probation for 10 years. 
 
 For the stunt, Ruiz held a hardcover encyclopedia against his chest and Perez, standing barely a foot away, fired a shot from a .50-caliber Desert Eagle pistol, to see if the bullet would go through the book. The Desert Eagle is described by retailer Cabela's in an online ad as "one of the world's most powerful semiautomatic handguns." 
 
 The bullet passed through the book, Ruiz fell mortally wounded and Perez called 911. 
 
 "We were doing a YouTube video, and it went wrong," a transcript of the call quoted Perez. "It's all on recording." She spelled out her concern on Twitter a few hours before the shooting. "Me and Pedro are probably going to shoot one of the most dangerous videos ever. HIS idea not MINE," she wrote. 
 
 Perez has a YouTube channel with videos the couple made of various stunts and pranks. The channel remains live and has drawn millions of views since Ruiz's death.
– A Minnesota woman charged with fatally shooting her boyfriend in a failed YouTube video stunt foreshadowed the event when she tweeted that it would be "one of the most dangerous videos ever." Monalisa Perez, of Halstad, was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Pedro Ruiz III. Perez, who is pregnant and faces up to 10 years in prison, was released on $7,000 bail. According to the criminal complaint, the 19-year-old Perez told investigators that Ruiz wanted to make a video of her shooting a bullet into a book he was holding against his chest. Hours before the Tuesday night shooting, Perez tweeted: "Me and Pedro are probably going to shoot one of the most dangerous videos ever. HIS idea not MINE." The complaint says Ruiz set up one camera on the back of a vehicle and another camera on a ladder nearby. Perez says she fired from about a foot away with what authorities say was a .50-caliber Desert Eagle pistol, which the AP reports is described by retailer Cabela's in an online ad as "one of the world's most powerful semiautomatic handguns." Perez died from a single gunshot wound to the chest. Many of the videos on Perez's YouTube channel are of her and Ruiz playing pranks and performing stunts, with the New York Times noting that most were pretty mild; it cites one video were Ruiz eats a doughnut Perez covered not in powdered sugar, but baby powder. The most recent video was posted the morning before the shooting. "Imagine when we have 300,000 subscribers," Perez says during the video.