A teenager from Minnesota, Monalisa Perez, was charged with manslaughter after she fired a gun at her boyfriend, Pedro Ruiz, in a stunt they hoped would make them famous on YouTube. The shooting took place in front of their three-year-old son, while two cameras were set up to record it. With Ruiz holding an encyclopedia as a shield, Perez shot him in the chest from a foot away. He died instantly.
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The stunt was apparently designed to increase the couple’s social media following. In one tweet posted shortly before the incident, Perez described the stunt as “one of the most dangerous videos ever”. After the shooting, Perez informed the police that Ruiz had been trying to persuade her to fire the gun “for a while”. She also claimed that Ruiz had previously shot a book which had stopped the bullet, inspiring the fatal stunt.
Perez and Ruiz had launched their YouTube channel in March of the same year. Their videos had included a range of pranks, including eating donuts covered with baby powder instead of sugar. In the couple’s last video, posted just before the shooting, they discussed what it would be like to be a social media “star”, and speculated on the number of subscribers needed to achieve this status.
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Both Ruiz’s aunts publicly stated that they supported Perez. They also described Ruiz as a “daredevil” who was always in search of thrills. Perez faces ten years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
The incident has led to calls for greater education about social media for young people. Professor Kerry O’Grady, a communications and PR lecturer from New York University, commented that “People believe there is quick money, and it’s not true. What they forget is that these ‘social media stars’ were famous before. The Kardashians – they were famous. The Hadid sisters – they are models. You need to have a talent, and a plan.”
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The Telegraph’s report on the case called for greater awareness of the dangers of social media stardom, warning that “social media was not created to make people famous – it was created to build a community”.
The weapon used in the shooting was a .50 caliber pistol known as the Desert Eagle, which has been described as powerful enough to “punch holes in engine blocks”.
As of 2023, the story continues to be a tragic reminder of the dangerous stunts that can be undertaken for the sake of social media fame.
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