Background: Manuel Ruiz is purportedly seen opening fire on Rodney Finley during a livestream on Sunday night, June 8, in Las Vegas, NV (YouTube). Left inset: Manuel Ruiz appearing in court on Tuesday, June 10, in Las Vegas, NV (KTNV/YouTube). Right inset: Rodney Finley moments before he was fatally shot (YouTube).
A dispute between YouTube streamers, characterized by personal and public confrontations, including an alleged pepper spray incident remarked by a companion as “I’m just glad … it wasn’t bullets,” escalated into a deadly altercation over the weekend in Las Vegas. Reports indicate that one streamer shot and killed the other outside a resort.
The deceased, identified by acquaintances and relatives as 44-year-old Rodney Finley, popularly known on YouTube as Finny Da Legend, was reportedly killed by another streamer, recognized as Sin City Manny. Local CBS affiliate KLAS identified him as 41-year-old Manuel Ruiz.
Ruiz is facing two counts of murder and was ordered to be held Tuesday without bail by a Las Vegas Justice Court judge. His arrest report says he allegedly told cops that Finley’s wife, Tanisha Finley — who was also fatally shot — had approached Ruiz outside a Las Vegas Strip resort and was “dancing in his face,” according to KLAS. Ruiz alleged that Finley reached for something in his waistband and asked him “What’s up cuz?” in an aggressive manner, which spooked Ruiz into shooting in self-defense, the arrest report says.
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At first, Ruiz claimed he fired a single shot toward Finley’s torso before eventually aiming higher and blasting him again when Finley continued to move for his waistband. Finley’s wife was shot after Ruiz allegedly saw a “shiny black object” in her possession, which he thought was a gun, according to police.
A mutual friend and fellow YouTube content creator, who has not been publicly identified, allegedly told cops that the shooting was broadcast on a livestream and that he watched it. The friend reported seeing Ruiz “pull a gun from his front waistband and point it towards where he believed Finny [Finley] was standing,” according to the arrest report. The friend “saw the muzzle flash on video and heard five to six gunshots,” the report adds.
Police officers who were on duty nearby heard the gunfire and responded. Ruiz allegedly fled the scene, but was later captured after his wife, Juliana Pimentel, approached cops and told them her husband was responsible, the report says.
Fellow YouTubers have taken to their channels in the days after the shooting to describe what allegedly happened and how the two parties were feuding online before the fatal confrontation, local NBC affiliate KSNV reported.
“He recorded a livestream where Manny basically said he’s going to come after Finny,” said YouTuber LFP Gaming in a recent video, according to KSNV.
Another streamer, Daniel Gutierrez, told KSNV that the beef stemmed from the YouTubers allegedly wanting more viewers and control of streaming in the Vegas area. He said that Ruiz, in particular, was “demanding” that Finley couldn’t film in certain places.
“He started losing streamers,” Gutierrez alleged about Ruiz, noting how he would allegedly talk bad about Finley’s wife and use racial slurs.
“The followers that were normally with Manny are now giving money to Finney,” he said. “That made it worse … for Manny. And then Finney would post, ‘Look at how many streamers,’ how many viewers he’s got now.”
One of Finley’s friends, Derek Ware, told local Fox affiliate KVVU that the problems between Finley and Ruiz “brewed for two years.” Things got so bad that Ruiz allegedly aimed pepper spray at Finley’s wife during an incident, Ware says.
“I was saying, ‘I’m just glad it was pepper spray, it wasn’t bullets,” Ware told KVVU. “I said, ‘I don’t want to. I don’t want to see you here in pain with bullets in you, so let’s figure this out.’”
Ware claimed the allegations about Ruiz losing followers were true, and that he himself met Finley and started following him through watching Ruiz’s livestreams.
“This was brewing,” Ware said.
