The deadly double shooting on the Las Vegas Strip was allegedly sparked by a years-long feud between two streamers, with one gunned down alongside his wife while they filmed live, according to reports.
The victims in Sunday’s shooting outside the Bellagio have been identified by friends as being Rodney Finley, 44, and Tanisha Finley, 43, an Arizona couple better known on YouTube as Finny Da Legend and wife Bubbly, according to Fox5.
They had been in a feud with fellow YouTuber Sin City Manny, aka Manuel Ruiz, 41, the suspect now charged with double murder, according to an investigation by 8NewsNows.
That feud started in 2023 when Ruiz allegedly pepper-sprayed Tanisha Finley, with the rival streamers regularly escalating their animosity online, the report said.
“This was brewing, this brewed for two years,” Derek Ware, a friend of the Finleys, told Fox 5.
Video circulating online shows Rodney Finley livestreaming from the Strip on Sunday night — when a man steps up and starts shooting just feet from the camera.
The next day, Ruiz walked into a precinct to hand himself in, and appeared in court the next morning on two charges of open murder with a deadly weapon.
Ruiz claimed to cops that he’d seen Rodney Finley reach toward his waistband and say, “What up cuz?” leaving him convinced his rival had a gun, according to an arrest report documented by News 3.
After shooting Finley, Ruiz also shot his wife because he saw a “shiny black object in her hand,” thinking that was also a gun, he told cops.
However, no guns were found near the Finleys, and no weapons were seen in any of the videos posted online, according to Las Vegas police
Detectives used casino surveillance video to track the suspected gunman running from the scene and into a valet area, where he threw away his hat and T-shirt, according to an arrest report seen by KSNV.
The feud reportedly started in 2023 when Ruiz allegedly pepper-sprayed Tanisha, according to Ware, who did not say exactly what caused that first incident.
The pair’s dispute continued online, Ware said.
“[Rodney’s] wife said she was OK, so he was just like, ‘OK, let’s handle this another way. [Rodney] controls his emotions very well. That’s what I liked about him the most,” Ware said.
Finley hosted a livestream, provoking free conversation about any topic — including his rival YouTuber Ruiz.
“Manny was welcome to come on and defend himself. He kept it fair. It wasn’t just a bash. It wasn’t just, ‘let’s talk about Manny, talk bad about Manny.’ It’s just everybody’s experiences,” Ware said.
The war of words between the pair had escalated as Ruiz lost followers and Finley’s online popularity grew, Ware claimed.
If Ware hadn’t been resting ahead of an upcoming surgery, he could well have been on the Strip with his friend that night, he said.
“That’s just sick. What do you get out of that? I don’t get that. You just ruined two families,” Ware said.
He paid tribute to his late friends, describing Finley as a loving husband, son, father and grandfather.
“If something was wrong, he would just always check up on me. He’s donated to people [who] needed help online,” he said.
Tanisha also lived up to her online name in real life, he added.
“She would have fun everywhere she went. People wanted to be around her,” Ware said.
