Manslaughter Charges Filed In Halstad Shooting Death

The criminal complaint filed Wednesday against Mona Lisa Perez alleges she shot her boyfriend in the chest from about a foot away into a book he was holding.

HALSTAD, MN — The Halstad woman accused of killing her boyfriend with a high-caliber gunshot to the chest at close range will make her first appearance on second-degree manslaughter charges in Norman County Court.

The criminal complaint filed Wednesday against Mona Lisa Perez alleges she shot her boyfriend in the chest from about a foot away into a book he was holding.

Prosecutors allege the victim, Pedro Ruiz the Third, wanted to make a Youtube video of her shooting a book and he believed the book would stop the bullet.

Perez had shown her a different book he’d shot, that didn’t go all the way through, according to the complaint.

He’d been trying to convince her to shoot the book while he held it for awhile.

The criminal complaint says the couple had set up a GoPro camera, as well as a second camera mounted on a nearby ladder, to record the shooting

Perez allegedly used a gold Desert Eagle fifty caliber pistol found at the scene to shoot Ruiz.

He died at the scene.

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HALSTAD, Minn. — A woman is in jail after the shooting death of her boyfriend on Monday night.

Police say it was about 6:30 when 20-year-old Mona Perez shot her 22-year-old boyfriend in the chest outside their home off of Highway 75 in Halstad.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Perez was taken to the Northwest Regional Correctional Center in Crookston on charges of reckless discharge of a firearm.

“It is an isolated incident and there is no threat to the public whatsoever,” said Sheriff Jeremy Thornton.

Minnesota BCA has joined the investigation with the Norman County Sheriff’s Office.

Police say a final decision on charges will be determined once the investigation is complete.