Husband and Close Friends of Gay Man Stabbed To Death Mourn His Loss
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The husband and friends of Chris Finlay are trying to make sense of the brutal stabbing that took his life last Saturday and mourn. Finlay and his husband, Jake Stone, were both stabbed in the early hours of Saturday morning last week after getting into an argument with a man outside the Mineshaft gay bar in Long Beach, California.
Above: From left to right: Jake Stone and his partner Christopher Finley. (Danika Cervantes/Jacob Touchstone/GoFundMe)
The two men were on their regularly scheduled date night when the suspect, Michael Smalls, also of Long Beach began an argument and stabbed both men.
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Long Beach Post News reported that a man allegedly rode up on a bicycle and attacked the pair.
The local police department’s spokesperson, Richard Mejia, said the attacker fled before police arrived.
Authorities rushed the couple to hospital where Finley, 28, later died.
Finley was an LA-based makeup artist, and, since his death, his Instagram account has been flooded with messages of condolence.
A comment on his latest post, dated 10 August, reads: “I am heartbroken. I’m so thankful for the times we had. I won’t forget you angel. Rest easy.”
Following the attack Stone told Long Beach Post News: “Chris was my other half. Neither of us knew life without each other. He was the love of my life, my soulmate.”
Smalls faces murder and attempted murder charges.
Following his failure to appear in court for his initial arraignment, the judge has upped his bail from $2 million to $3 million.
After the attack, owners of the bar, Jeff and Rhonda Daring, took to Facebook to share the news “with a heavy heart”.
