Warning: Don’t try this at home.
People of all ages are using social media these days. Whether they be on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Individuals are on social media, businesses are on social media, and teens and even younger children are on some sort of social network. Social media is a powerful tool, people are doing everything to be famous, from acting and dancing to even hilarious pranks, and it’s not a new thing to remind individuals to think twice before they do something for social media.
And because of trying to be famous, people don’t consider the danger and potential consequences.
Just like what this 22-year-old wannabee YouTube star did. In hopes of achieving 300,000 subscribers despite just having 218 subscribers. 22-year-old Pedro Ruiz III and his pregnant girlfriend 20-year-old Monalisa Perez knew that they would have to do something ridiculous to gain internet fame.
The couple was determined to succeed online, at all costs. They believed that they had the perfect plan. However, that is not exactly what happened to Ruiz and his girlfriend, because unfortunately for them, their plan didn’t succeed at all but rather turns out to be a horrifying incident, whereas Ruiz died in their dangerous stunt because it all horribly went wrong.
This is an important lesson for parents on the importance of monitoring their children’s social media usage.
The incident happened when the couple decided to post a video of a death-defying stunt. As Ruiz was holding an encyclopedia in front of his chest and Perez was going to make shoot it. She would perform the feat with a .50-caliber Desert Eagle handgun, which is marketed as the most potent firearm in the world.
“Me and Pedro are probably going to shoot one of the most dangerous videos ever. HIS idea not MINE,” as the caption of the upcoming video, which Perez tweeted on Twitter.
However, when they went ahead with the so-called prank video, they merely demonstrated their ignorance of firearms. Since then, the transcripts of the tragic final video have been made public by the Norman County, Minnesota, prosecutors.
According to the transcript from the video, Perez, as she wielded the .50-caliber Desert Eagle was having second thoughts. “I can’t do it, babe. I’m so scared,” she told her boyfriend, it turned out, she had every right to be afraid. After rambling about the set-up of the prank for a long time, it was finally time to get on with the show.
No one can be certain if Perez was out of real concern for Ruiz’s safety or acting for the so-called prank video, as she goes to say, a statement that was like a premonition, “Babe, if I kill you what’s gonna happen to my life. Like, no this isn’t okay,” Perez was pregnant with her second child at the time of Ruiz’s death. Their son would be born months after his mother killed his father.
Saying, “So if I’m going to die, I’m pretty much ready to go to heaven right now. If I die, I’ll be ready for Jesus,” Ruiz said.
“He probably won’t accept me into the pearly gates because of how stupid this is, but I have confidence that my girlfriend will hit the book and not me.”
While holding a hardcover encyclopedia to his chest, he reassured his girlfriend, saying, “As long as you hit the book, you’ll be fine. Come on.”
However, Ruiz was killed.
Monalisa Perez was later convicted of second-degree manslaughter and barred from ever possessing firearms after the bullet went through the book, killing Pedro Ruiz III.
The mother-of-two was sentenced to 180 days in jail but allowed to serve half of her sentence in increments of 30 days per year for the next three years, after accepting the deal. As fortunately for her, the prosecutor in charge of her case stated that Ruiz’s family members agreed to a plea bargain. But if she had gone to trial and been found guilty, she could have faced up to ten years in prison.
The couple’s three-year-old daughter, Aaliyah, was present when her young parents recorded the video during the shooting, even though she isn’t visible in the clip that has been made public. As her father lay dying, she watched as her mother dialed 911. “We were doing a YouTube video and it went wrong. Please hurry up.”
Watch the videos below for more details:
Sources: Taphaps, Tollingstone, scmp
