YouTube provides the unique opportunity for anyone with a camera and access to a computer the opportunity to showcase their life. But, with millions of hours of content uploaded every month, it may be tough to get noticed and garner the attention to build a thriving YouTube page. Many times, aspiring YouTubers engage in dangerous and sometimes illegal activity to gain followers. For example, early this year an aspiring YouTuber promised to release a sex tape if she reached 1 million subscribers. Now, an aspiring YouTube star accidentally shot and killed her boyfriend on Monday in a stunt gone wrong, according to a criminal complaint.
The Norman County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota said on Wednesday that Monalisa Perez, 19, shot her 22-year-old boyfriend, Pedro Ruiz III, in the chest at close range with a handgun as Ruiz was holding a large encyclopedia that was supposedly able to block the bullet.
“Me and Pedro are probably going to shoot one of the most dangerous videos ever,” Perez wrote in a tweet Monday evening before the alleged incident occurred. “HIS idea not MINE.”
Me and Pedro are probably going to shoot one of the most dangerous videos ever?? HIS idea not MINE?
— Monalisa Perez (@MonalisaPerez5) June 26, 2017
According to the criminal complaint, Perez who has been arrested wanted to grow her YouTube channel by performing daredevil stunts on camera. Perez has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, according to court documents and now faces up to 10 years in prison.
The couple has a three-year-old daughter, and Perez is pregnant with their second child. According to NBC News, local officials do not plan on releasing the video showing the fatal shooting.