# Boyfriend dies in Youtube prank/stunt video, girlfriend charged with manslaughter **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 28, 2017, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080 "2017-06-28T19:33:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/141 "2017-06-29T13:43:01Z")
They wanted to go viral and gets lots of attention. Seems like they’ve done it. :smack: It’s a sad story, and no purpose would be served by a jail sentence. If you watch the videos on [their channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYqSxhPHNYCLnt6pgUq-pJA/videos), they seem like nice enough people - a pleasant, loving couple with a happy kid. Not the brightest, obviously, but I’ve seen worse. I don’t know about getting pregnant at 15 or 16, but it seems like the guy had a good job and was supporting his family, and they had been together for 6 years (13 & 16 yo?). Feeding a 3 year old junk food isn’t a good idea, but they probably live mainly on junk food themselves. He was always trying dangerous stunts, apparently, even as a kid. I wonder if he had some kind of subconscious death-wish. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/142 "2017-06-29T13:43:54Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Which suggests that his claim that he tested it before is probably bullshit. Indeed. My father used to shoot phone books with a .32 in the basement. Now, that sort of round, a single thick metropolitan-area phone book actually can stop, but he always stacked a couple just in case. But something like a .50? That said, I actually was surprised that the round made it clean through two phone books. Fucking hell that thing packs a punch. Even if he held enough book to stop the round, that’s still a lot of force that has to be transferred somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/143 "2017-06-29T13:44:43Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > This makes no sense. Based on this, if you drive your car down a street with a bend in it, towards a man standing beyond the bend, but when you try to negotiate the bend your steering fails and so you continue into the man, you have “killed a man through deliberate action”. > > Your consideration lacks a vital element. She fired a gun at him, that’s the deliberate action. Your scenario involves an equipment failure, which didn’t happen in this case. If, instead we modify your scenario so that you deliberately drove the car into the man because you figured the curb would protect him from the impact, it would be similar. You might not have had intent to kill him, but you did something that any reasonable person would know is likely to kill him. The fact that you would claim to believe that a curb would entirely stop a car is irrelevant, because any reasonable person would know that the curb wouldn’t stop the car. Not really sure why people want to ignore that she shot a guy and make analogies to equipment failures, the gun firing was NOT an accident in any way shape or form. > [@](#): > > So no armourer who wants to demonstrate a bulletproof vest on themselves should do so, and anyone who participates should be prosecuted. Right? If their bulletproof vest is an ordinary book strapped to a cloth vest and the armorer ends up dying, absolutely. If it’s just some joker messing around, then still yes. If it’s actual competent people who, after testing, suffered some sort of unexpected failure, then no. But there’s a surprising lack of deaths from people who know what they’re doing demonstrating bulletproof vests. > [@madsircool](#): > > Highly unlikely with that powerful rifle. And at that distance. I doubt two copies of War and Peace could have stopped the bullet. The gun used is not a rifle, it’s a large caliber handgun that fires a bullet that is significantly less powerful than the .50 BMG round that most people think of as a .50 caliber round. Here’s a link showing the different sizes of the cartridges, the big one is not the one used here, and the extra space in it is used to hold more powder. [http://www.defesa.org/dwp/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/50bmg-50ae-605x169.jpg](http://www.defesa.org/dwp/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/50bmg-50ae-605x169.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/144 "2017-06-29T13:54:47Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Today’s earworm… > > _♪♫♬Shot through the heart > And you’re to blame > Darlin’, you give love a bad name♪♫♬_ Emphasis added. Books, _amigo_. Books. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/145 "2017-06-29T13:54:58Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > What I can’t understand is the thirty spectators…it didn’t occur to any of them to intervene? Thirty spectators AFTER he was shot and 911 had been called. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/146 "2017-06-29T14:40:20Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > What I can’t understand is the thirty spectators…it didn’t occur to any of them to intervene? Would you? I was present when a guy claimed he could juggle really well. He offered to demonstrate with two axes. There were about a dozen of us watching, cheering him on. He eventually messed up and one of the spectators drove him to the ER. I never considered intervening. Some people do stupid things. Some stunts go badly. Had the juggler not fucked up, it would have been really impressive. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/147 "2017-06-29T14:46:53Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > No it doesn’t though. > > Him: Shoot me here. I know it’s going to be OK. I tried it already. > Her: Oh, OK. Are you sure? > Him: Yes. It’s OK. > Her: …BLAM! > > And it’s her fault? Fuck that. Yes, it’s her goddam fucking fault. Does she have a brain? Does she have free will? Does she have independent thought, and the ability to evaluate situations for risks? Or is she just a helpless female, who can’t be expected to think for herself? Is she a slave to Her Man? Involuntary manslaughter. Real time in prison, not jail. And maybe a little remedial education while she’s in the joint. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/148 "2017-06-29T14:49:52Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > You may have heard of Sawstop. If not, it’s a system for stopping a table saw blade more or less instantaneously if it contacts something with capacitance (like a human). The owner has tested it on his own finger. Not once have I heard anyone say he should be charged with something (attempted GBH maybe?). My understanding is that he tested it on a bunch of other stuff _first_ before moving onto his fingers. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/149 "2017-06-29T14:52:14Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Today’s earworm… > > _♪♫♬Shot through the heart > And you’re to blame > Darlin’, you give love a bad name♪♫♬_ > [@John\_Mace](#): > > Emphasis added. Books, _amigo_. Books. It gets better at the bridge… ♪♫♬Oh, you’re a loaded gun, yeah Oh, there’s nowhere to run No one can save me The damage is done♪♫♬ ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/150 "2017-06-29T15:01:10Z")
Not reading anything further than this tread, is it possible that the boyfriend was feeling suicidal? I’m not that into guns, and have only shot other people’s guns, but wouldn’t even really stupid people know how strong that particular gun is? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/151 "2017-06-29T15:12:00Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I can’t help but think of [Mythbusters](https://mythresults.com/paper-armor). [This ep](https://mythresults.com/dive-to-survive) is even more on-point. [Quote=MythBusters test summary] Filling the cavities of a car’s doors with phone books will make the car bulletproof. **busted** The Build team filled several car doors with [a single thickness of] phone books and fired various firearms at it. The **phonebooks were able to stop 9mm, .357 magnum, and .45 caliber rounds.** However, the more powerful **deer slug shotgun rounds and the M14 assault rifle were able to pierce the door and the phonebooks easily**. Since the phonebooks could not stop all of the bullets, the myth was declared busted. However, the Build Team continued the experiment to see how many phone books behind the door would be needed to **stop a deer slug and rifle round and found that only two phonebooks were needed**. [/quote] Emphasis added. One book simply wasn’t going to be enough for a high-powered round. Two may have been, but still amazingly risky. And considering that the MythBusters scenario included a layer of sheet metal as well (the car door)… naah, this was going to end badly. Period. Don’t aim a gun at anything you’re unwilling to kill, and don’t stand downrange of a brandished firearm. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/152 "2017-06-29T15:12:52Z")
Their kids just lost their Dad. How is it okay for them to now lose their Mom? Who is served by putting her in jail/prison? Or her kids into foster care? Is she likely to reoffend? Is she an actual threat to anyone? Was this her first ever offence? You’re just criminalizing her and grievously damaging her kids, I think. Making an example? Sending a message? To whom? Other really stupid people? They’re way too stupid to get the message! Convict her, sentence her to several years. Suspended on condition… she attend every parenting class that exists, see a psychologist, supervision, stay off the Internet, etc, etc. Just my opinion ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/153 "2017-06-29T15:14:44Z")
Because the mom is a danger to the kids. She has used the 3-year-old in stunt videos to post on youtube. Ix-nay on the ids-kay. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/154 "2017-06-29T15:19:10Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Because the mom is a danger to the kids. She has used the 3-year-old in stunt videos to post on youtube. Ix-nay on the ids-kay. I’ll check later, but if you or anyone get to it before I do, can you describe the stunt the 3 year old was participating in? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/155 "2017-06-29T15:23:10Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Convict her, sentence her to several years. Suspended on condition… she attend every parenting class that exists, see a psychologist, supervision, stay off the Internet, etc, etc. > Just my opinion I’m fine with that. I don’t have a compelling need to see her do hard time. I have a compelling need to ensure, in every way possible, that she never endangers another person again. It’s worth noting that if the police arriving at the scene had determined she wasn’t fit to parent, she wouldn’t have custody of her kids right now. I’m inclined to trust the judgment of those in the position to evaluate the entire situation. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/156 "2017-06-29T15:27:23Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > … > > If she genuinely thought the book would stop the bullet, then she was not being reckless… I already provided a citation suggesting that in Canada, at least, your definition is not valid. The question is not whether the shooter believed that she was doing something reckless, but whether a reasonable person would believe that the shooter was doing something reckless. The two are not the same thing at all. Now of course, Canada is not Minnesota. You may be aware of things in the Minnesota law that completely validate your assertion, but if that’s the case I’d really like to see your cite for it. Seems to me that when shaken baby syndrome began to be a thing, I read about a number of parents saying that they had no idea that saying an infant could produce dangerous injuries. Therefore they were not negligent in the deaths of their children. My recollection is that this was not generally a Get Out of Jail Free card… ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/157 "2017-06-29T15:28:44Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > part of any plea deal she gets that keeps her out of prison includes an implanted birth control method that lasts at least 5 years. Is this legal, or has a precedent? :dubious: Does a judge have that power? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/158 "2017-06-29T15:33:31Z")
As forced birth control would constitute medical care against the will of the patient I don’t think that would be legal these days. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/159 "2017-06-29T15:36:26Z")
I don’t know if she should go to jail. Thinning the herd. She should get some credit for that. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080/160 "2017-06-29T15:38:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > (Another story in the media today is of a group of Dutch teenagers on a trip to Spain. They were doing bungee jumping and one student was strapped in when the Spanish-speaking guide told her, “No jump” because the harness hadn’t been secured yet. She heard this as, “Now jump” and did so.) Whoa, they are really recycling stories, no? This happened almost 2 years ago. Here is the thread I created about that incident: > **[Dutch teen dies bungee jumping in Spain](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=764871)** > > Last tuesday, a 17 year old Dutch teenager died while bungee jumping in Northern Spain. She jumped before her harness had been properly attached, and crashed into the river that ran more than 100 feet below her. The fall killed her instantly. Link... As to the two protagonists of this thread’s story… The only thing I can think is "how can somebody be so hideously, terminally _ **stupid!?!?!?!?!?!?** _ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyfriend-dies-in-youtube-prank-stunt-video-girlfriend-charged-with-manslaughter/790080.md?page=9)