A woman who shot her boyfriend in the chest for a YouTube prank has been jailed for manslaughter

YouTube

Monalisa Perez and Pedro Ruiz in a previous video.

• Monalisa Perez shot Pedro Ruiz in the chest with a Desert Eagle for a YouTube prank in Halstad, Minnesota, last year.
• Perez was holding a thick encyclopaedia which the pair thought would stop the bullet.
• It didn't, and Perez died at the scene in front of a large crowd who were watching.
• Perez struck a plea deal with Minnesota authorities and will spend 90 days in jail and 90 under house arrest.

A woman who shot her boyfriend in the chest and inadvertently killed him while trying to film a prank video for YouTube has been jailed.

Monalisa Perez, 20, was convicted of second-degree manslaughter for firing a Desert Eagle handgun into the chest of Pedro Ruiz, 22, outside their home in Halstad, Minnesota.

Ruiz was holding a thick encyclopaedia, which the pair thought would stop the bullet and leave him unharmed. Instead, the bullet pierced the book and killed him.

Perez called 911, but medics couldn't do anything for Ruiz.

Perez, who was pregnant with Ruiz's second child at the time, was being watched by their three-year-old daughter and a crowd of 30 other people at the time, according to the BBC. Cameras were recording from two different angles.

She posted this tweet in the build-up to the stunt:

Authorities in Minnesota agreed a plea deal with Perez, which stipulated a 180-day term of confinement, consisting of 10 days in prison, followed by 10 days under house arrest.

She has also been permanently banned from owning firearms.

The sentence is below the usual minimum guidelines, but was allowed to stand on the grounds that the stunt was mostly Ruiz's idea.