Las Vegas man sent to prison for 2021 killing

A man who fatally shot another man in the back nearly five years ago during a dispute over the occupancy of a Las Vegas Valley home was sentenced to six to 15 years in prison Wednesday.

District Judge Michelle Leavitt rejected a request for probation and instead doled out the prison sentence for Antoine Cloutier, 49, after family members of Cloutier’s victim, Rafael Ampier Jr., 44, told of the heartache and pain the killing has caused.

“He did not deserve to be shot in cold blood in the back,” said Ampier’s mother, Delfina Razo. “I’m never going to see my son again. My son’s never going to walk my granddaughters down the aisle. My son’s never going to see my grandkids graduate from high school. He stole everything from my son.”

The shooting unfolded at a home in the 6900 block of Montcliff Avenue, near West Flamingo Road and South Rainbow Boulevard, in September 2021. Multiple people, including Cloutier, his wife and their child, along with Ampier and his girlfriend, were living in the home when Ampier took over the lease for the house through negotiations with the landlord.

According to both family members of Ampier and prior witness testimony given during a preliminary hearing, Ampier had told Cloutier he and his family had to move out. Ampier showed patience over the issue, but Cloutier and his family had still not moved out on the night of the shooting.

That night a fight broke out between the two men in a garage of the home. There was a struggle over a knife, then Cloutier brandished a firearm and fatally shot Ampier. A medical examiner with the Clark County coroner’s office said Ampier suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the right back of the chest.

The criminal case remained pending until July 2026 when Cloutier pleaded guilty by way of an Alford plea to voluntary manslaughter with use of a deadly weapon. An Alford plea is not a formal admission of guilt, but it acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to secure a conviction.

Cloutier said in remarks to the judge that he had “sincere sorrow” over the shooting.

“I’m deeply sorry for the pain and loss that have come from this tragedy,” he said. “I will never forget what happened, the lives that were changed that day. This is something I will live with for the rest of my life.”

Cloutier’s defense attorney, Augustus Claus, asked Leavitt to impose probation, saying the gun was discharged during an active fight.

“This is not something where it’s a revenge instance, your honor,” he said. “This is a situation where everyone’s still in the middle of the fight when the firearm goes off.”

Claus said “this is a tragedy,” adding “this is not a fight that Antoine sought.”

Ampier’s sister, Jacqueline Ampier, said the killing has caused immense suffering and that her brother was a good man and a role model for the family.

“He was always helping family, friends,” she said. “Rafael had a good heart. Rafael was an amazing person.”

Contact Glenn Puit at [email protected].