Pedro Ruiz III, 22, died on June 26, 2017 in Halstad, Minnesota after a YouTube stunt that ended in a fatal miscalculation. Ruiz planned to hold a hardcover encyclopedia against his chest while his girlfriend, Monalisa Perez, 19 and pregnant at the time, stood about a foot away and fired a .50-caliber Desert Eagle at the book. They believed the thick volume would stop the bullet; it did not. The projectile pierced the book and struck Ruiz in the chest. Perez called 911 and Ruiz was pronounced dead at the scene from a single gunshot wound.

Perez was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter; in December 2017 she pleaded guilty. Her plea agreement included a 180-day jail sentence to be served in increments over three years with the remainder as home confinement, 10 years of supervised probation, a lifetime ban on owning firearms, and a prohibition on profiting from the video of the stunt. Family described Ruiz as a daredevil who chased thrills and said the couple loved one another.

Were there people who knew the couple or saw them post about the stunt before June 26, 2017?