YouTuber Kills Husband Filming Stunt

With an audience of over one billion active users and nearly five billion videos being watched every day, standing out on YouTube is getting harder by the day. But one Minnesota couple took their ambition to go viral to deadly heights.

On Monday night, Monalisa Perez, 19, allegedly shot and killed her husband Pedro Ruiz III, 22, while attempting to make a viral video for their YouTube channel, La Monalisa. The stunt in question, which involved Ruiz holding a hardbound encyclopedia to his chest as Perez shot him with a .50 caliber handgun from about a foot away, was supposed to be their latest bid for YouTube stardom, according to Perez's tweet that she posted to her account on the night prior.

At around 6:30pm (Central Time), minutes after the accident, Perez called 911 and reported that she accidentally shot her husband. Upon arriving at their house, the paramedics pronounced him dead on the scene. According to the arrest report filed by the Norman County Sheriff's Office, Perez stated that Ruiz convinced her to partake in the deadly game by saying he had tested the trick with another book, and both believed that the bullet from the .50-caliber Desert Eagle used would not go through the encyclopedia.

Perez called 911 at 6:30 Monday night, claiming she accidentally shot her husband. In the arrest report, Perez states that Ruiz convinced her that the stunt was safe after he told her that he tested it on another book. They believed that the bullet from the .50-caliber Desert Eagle used would not go through the encyclopedia. Paramedics pronounced him dead on the scene.

"They were in love," Ruiz's aunt, Claudia Ruiz, told KVLY News. "They loved each other. It was just a prank gone wrong. It shouldn't of happened like this. It shouldn't have happened at all."

"He had told me about an idea. I said, don't do it, don't do it. Why are you going to use a gun? Why? Because, we want more viewers."

Their YouTube channel, La Monalisa, features the two engaging in a variety of challenges, pranks and stunts, occasionally with their three-year-old daughter.

In the wake of the tragic incident, the local authorities have charged Perez with second degree manslaughter. Perez, who is currently expecting her second child with her late husband in seven weeks, now faces up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine of $20,000, if convicted. Perez is scheduled to make her first court appearance today.

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