Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty for the man accused of murdering two YouTubers while they were livestreaming in Las Vegas, court documents show.
Manuel Ruiz, known online as “Sin City Manny,” faces two counts of murder with use of a deadly weapon after killing husband and wife content creators Rodney Finley, 44, and Tanisha Finley, 43, in June near the Bellagio Hotel.
Last Wednesday, state prosecutors filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty, according to court filings.
Under state law, to seek the death penalty, prosecutors must show that one or more “aggravating circumstances” occurred.
Ruiz, 41, "knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one person” by opening fire in such a crowded area, prosecutors argued in the notice, obtained by KSNV.
"To establish this aggravating circumstance, the State will rely on certified court documents, statements made by the Defendant, police reports, witness statements, videos, photographs and/or testimony of witnesses to establish these facts,” the notice read.
Ruiz was arraigned on July 17. He has not yet formally entered a plea, but said at his court appearance: “I’m innocent.”
However, when he turned himself in to the police, he told investigators he was “adamant that he shot in self-defense,” the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in an arrest report obtained by the outlet.
He believed Rodney Finley was reaching for a gun, so Ruiz opened fire in self-defense, he argued. Ruiz also thought he saw Tanisha with a “shiny black object in her hand," which he believed to be a gun.
A livestream from Rodney Finley’s account, "Finny Da Legend,” captured the shooting. That footage "clearly showed Manny advancing towards Finny while shooting," the arrest report claims, noting there were no weapons found near the couple.
During a news conference in June, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson trashed Ruiz’s self-defense claim.
"I think it's probably garbage. There's no indication from any of the evidence at all that self-defense would be a viable defense," Wolfson said. "No weapons were found near the victims or on the victims, and the motivation is pretty clear."
Ruiz and Finley had a years-long feud that dated back to 2023, another content creator told police in June, KSNV reported.
“It is believed that the suspect and the victims knew each other and had previously engaged in conflict over social media prior to the shooting,” LVMPD said in a news release a day after the shooting.
Ruiz is being held at Clark County Detention Center. He’s next scheduled to appear in court on August 14 for a continued arraignment, court documents show.
