RantCrush Top 5: June 29, 2017

A young couple in Minnesota were trying to gain internet fame by making prank and stunt videos. But their plan went horribly wrong when Monalisa Perez, 19, accidentally shot her 22-year-old boyfriend Pedro Ruiz III, killing him. They were attempting to perform a “prank” in which she shot him while he was holding a book in front of his chest. For some reason, they thought a book would stop a bullet. It didn’t, and Ruiz died almost immediately. Now Perez, who is pregnant with the couple’s second child, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter. She could face up to 10 years in prison. Before the accident, they teased their follows with the “dangerous” stunt:

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

Ruiz’s aunt said he had rationalized performing the stunt by saying that it would gain the couple more viewers, leading to their fame. The police said they have video footage of the shooting but that it will not be released. The sheriff described the .50-caliber pistol that was used as a “very strong weapon,” but that Ruiz owned it legally.

Sadly, it seems like deadly tricks could in fact create a bigger YouTube following. On Wednesday, the couple’s videos had between 200 and 3,000 views. But later the same evening, most of their videos had many thousands of views. Their most recent video, which some news coverage of the accident has linked to, had over 300,000 views as of this morning.

Pregnant Minnesota woman Monalisa Perez, 20, fatally shoots boyfriend in YouTube “prank” gone wrong, police say https://t.co/aZG9rQdfgW pic.twitter.com/YiHawsPF2O

— Tom Cleary (@tomwcleary) June 28, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.