A Las Vegas YouTuber shot and killed a rival streamer and his wife Sunday on a busy sidewalk on the Strip — and the murder was livestreamed.
Manuel Ruiz, 41, has been charged with two counts of murder and told police he shot 44-year-old Rodney Finley and 43-year-old Tanisha Finley in self defense because he believed they were going to shoot him, KLAS reported. The Finleys were not armed, police said.
Ruiz fled the scene, tossing his shirt, hat, and gun before taking a rideshare for a short distance — he didn’t have money to pay — then walked to a friend’s house.
Ruiz told police that Tanisha Finley approached him on the street and was “dancing in his face” and that Rodney Finley reached for his waistband and said, “What up cuz?” aggressively, leading him to believe he was about to be shot. So he opened fire. He said he aimed for Finley’s torso but aimed higher when he kept moving. He said he shot Tanisha Finley because he saw a “shiny black object” in her hand. BothFinleys were shot in the head.
According to the arrest report, another YouTuber told police that Ruiz and Rodney Finley had been engaged in a feud since 2023 and that he saw the shooting on Ruiz’s livestream. He said he saw “Manny pull a gun from his front waistband and point it toard where he believed Finny was standing … saw the muzzle flash on video and heard five to six gunshots.”
Then, he said, he saw Tanisha Finley grab the gimbal holding the phone for the livestream and heard two more gunshots, and the phone fell to the ground, the arrest report said.
Two police officers patrolling the strip heard the gunfire and responded to the scene in front of the Bellagio fountains. As they arrived, Ruiz’s wife, Juliana Pimental, approached them and said she believed her husband had shot someone. She said she was walking in front of him and heard gunshots, so she ran.
Other content creators told local media about the long-standing beef between the two. Ruiz, they said, was angry that he was losing viewers to the Arizona-based “Finny Da Legend” and began demanding that he not film in certain areas, KSNV reported.
Derek Ware, a friend of the Finleys, told Kxxx that Ruiz even pepper-sprayed Tanisha Finley two years ago, KVVU reported.
“His wife said she was OK, so he was just like, ‘OK, let’s handle this another way,’” Ware said. “He controls his emotions very well. That’s what I liked about him the most.”
Ruiz was charged with two counts of open murder and ordered held without bond.
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[Featured image: Manuel Ruiz/KSNV screenshot and Rodney Finley/YouTube]