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A fatal shooting over the weekend was the deadly culmination of an online feud between two content creators, according to investigators.
On Sunday, a man who went by Finny Da Legend was near the Bellagio with his wife, who went by the moniker Bubbly. He was in the middle of a livestream when the shooting began.
Finny Da Legend’s real name is Rodney Finley, and his wife’s real name is Tanisha Finley.
Prior to the shooting, Finley and another man — Manuel Ruiz, 41, who goes by Sin City Manny — were sniping at each other on their individual livestreams, according to CBS 8 News Now.
A fellow Youtuber told police that the feud started in 2023, and that he watched the shooting on a livestream, according to CBS 8 News Now.
“Manny pull a gun from his front waistband and point it towards where he believed Finny [Finley] was standing … saw the muzzle flash on video and heard five to six gunshots,” he told authorities.
He then said Finley’s wife grab the gimbal holding the phone used to live stream, and two more shots were heard, causing the phone to fall to the ground, documents said.
Ruiz was arrested and has been charged with two counts of murder. He’s currently being held in the Clark County Detention Center.
Ruiz made his first appearance in court on Tuesday morning, saying he acted in self-defense. He was denied bail.
He claimed during his hearing that Finley's wife was "dancing in his face" and that he saw Finley reach for his waistband and ask "what up cuz?"
Ruiz apparently interpreted this action as Finley reaching for a gun, and says he shot in self defense. He also admitted to shooting Finley's wife when he said he saw her holding a "shiny black object" that he believed was a gun.
According to investigators, Ruiz scrubbed his videos off the internet following the shooting, though some of his footage was still available via Finley’s streams.
Finley and others would sometimes stream themselves watching Ruiz's streams and poke fun at his content.
“He’s the least informed Vegas person out there,” a guest on Finley’s stream reportedly said.
Judging by some of the social media posts associated with the feud, it appears that Ruiz allegedly used YouTube's copyright strike system to "claim" some of Finley’s content. When a creator's video is claimed, they can no longer make money from the content on YouTube.
One of Finley’s streams suggests that he had an issue with a broader coalition of streamers. An opening to one of his streams included a copyright disclaimer and a clearly fake portrayal of President Donald Trump saying the words "I want to say f*** Sin City Family and f*** Manny."
"Sin City Family" was reportedly a term he used to refer to the people aligned with Ruiz.
Finley had approximately 4,000 subscribers when he was killed.
Derek Ware, a friend of Finley’s, told Fox 5 Vegas that the streamer was also a father, a grandfather, and a good friend.
“He’s a good father. He takes care of his kids,” Ware told the outlet.
Ware said Tanisha Finley lived up to her moniker, Bubbly, and was a welcome and bright personality everywhere she went.
“She would have fun everywhere she went. People wanted to be around her,” he told the broadcaster.
According to Ware, the feud between Finley and Ruiz began in 2023 after Ruiz allegedly pepper sprayed Tanisha Finley.
He said rather than getting physical, Finley chose to respond to Ruiz pepper spraying his wife by trolling him online.
“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.”
He said that Ruiz's alleged escalation to outright violence was "sickening" and "ruing two families."
