A Las Vegas man who shot his landlord in the back during a heated dispute over moving out of a rental home has been sentenced to six to 15 years in prison, more than five years after the killing. Antoine Cloutier, 49, was ordered to prison this week after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter with use of a deadly weapon in the September 2021 death of Rafael Ampier Jr., 44.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Cloutier entered an Alford plea in July, a legal maneuver that lets a defendant accept a conviction while maintaining innocence, acknowledging only that prosecutors had enough evidence to secure a conviction without requiring a formal admission of guilt. District Judge Michelle Leavitt rejected Cloutier’s bid for probation at sentencing and instead imposed the six-to-15-year prison term.
The shooting happened at a home in the 6900 block of Montcliff Avenue, near West Flamingo Road and South Rainbow Boulevard, where Cloutier, his wife, their child, Ampier and Ampier’s girlfriend were all living at the time, per the Review-Journal’s reporting. Ampier had taken over the house lease through negotiations with the landlord, and witness testimony described him telling Cloutier and his family they needed to move out. They had not done so by the night of the shooting.
A Garage Fight Turns Deadly
A fight broke out in the home’s garage, during which Cloutier and Ampier struggled over a knife before Cloutier brandished a firearm and fatally shot him, according to case facts reported by the Review-Journal. The Clark County coroner’s medical examiner determined Ampier suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the right back of the chest…