A wannabe YouTube star was shot and killed by his girlfriend in an attempt to improve their social media following.
Pedro Ruiz III spent a lot of time convincing his 19-year-old girlfriend Monalisa Perez to shoot him in the chest with nothing but a thick encyclopedia protecting him.
The couple decided to position two cameras outside their home to up their online presence with the breakthrough stunt.
Authorities say Ruiz held the book to his chest, and Perez fired the Desert Eagle .50 caliber pistol at his chest from only a foot away.
The book didn't stop the bullet and instead pierced him through the chest; medics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Neighbor Wayne Cameron said he saw the shooting happen from a distance.
“Everyone was crying. I was standing behind that tree over there. And that was it. I just couldn’t take it anymore so I had to go back home.”
Perez called 911 and told dispatchers that the shooting was an accident and explained their YouTube plan.
Ruiz's aunt, Claudia says the two loved each other and this wasn't malicious.
“It was just a prank gone wrong. It shouldn’t have happened like this. It shouldn’t have happened at all.”
In court documents, she says her boyfriend had tried to convince her to shoot the book "for awhile" and she finally gave in.
She also says she told officers that Ruiz had previously shot another book as practices and that one had blocked the bullet.
Perez was originally arrested on Monday with the charge of reckless discharge of a gun.
Yesterday, her charge was upgraded to second degree manslaughter but was released on $7,000 bail.
If convicted she faces up to 10 years in prison.