A Las Vegas man who fatally shot his landlord in the back during a heated confrontation over being forced to move out has been sentenced to prison, nearly five years after the deadly dispute left six children without their father.
Antoine Cloutier, 49, was sentenced Wednesday, November 4, to six to 15 years behind bars for the September 2021 killing of Rafael Ampier Jr., 44.
The sentence came after Clark County District Judge Michelle Leavitt rejected a request from Cloutier’s attorney to let him avoid prison and serve probation instead.
The deadly confrontation unfolded September 10, 2021, at a home on Montcliff Avenue in the Las Vegas Valley, where Cloutier was living with his wife and child.
Ampier had originally been a tenant in the same house but later negotiated an arrangement with the property’s owner that allowed him to take over the lease. He subsequently told Cloutier and his family that they needed to move out.
According to testimony presented during court proceedings, Ampier initially gave Cloutier additional time to find somewhere else to live. But tensions continued to grow when the family failed to leave.
The dispute eventually erupted into a physical confrontation inside the home’s garage.
Investigators said the two men struggled over a knife before Cloutier obtained a firearm and shot Ampier in the back.
The bullet entered the right side of Ampier’s back and lodged in his chest, according to the Clark County medical examiner.
Cloutier fled the scene following the shooting and was arrested the next day.
During the initial investigation, Cloutier acknowledged firing the gun but claimed he believed Ampier posed a threat to his wife. His defense maintained that the shooting occurred during an active struggle rather than a deliberate act of retaliation.
The case remained unresolved for nearly five years before Cloutier entered an Alford plea in July 2026 to voluntary manslaughter with use of a deadly weapon.
Under an Alford plea, a defendant accepts a criminal conviction while maintaining innocence and acknowledging that prosecutors have sufficient evidence to secure a guilty verdict at trial.
At Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, Cloutier’s attorney, Augustus Claus, argued that his client should receive probation because the shooting happened during a fight.
“This is not something where it’s a revenge instance,” Claus told the judge, insisting the gun discharged while the confrontation was still underway.
But Ampier’s devastated family urged the court to consider the enormous loss they had suffered.
His mother, Delfina Razo, delivered an emotional statement describing the family milestones her son would never experience.
“He did not deserve to be shot in cold blood in the back,” she told the court.
Razo said she would never see her son again and that he would never have the chance to walk his daughters down the aisle or watch his grandchildren graduate from high school.
“He stole everything from my son,” she said.
Ampier’s sister, Jacqueline, also remembered her brother as a generous man who was always willing to help family and friends.
“Rafael had a good heart. Rafael was an amazing person,” she told the court.
Cloutier addressed the judge as well, expressing remorse for the suffering caused by the shooting.
“I’m deeply sorry for the pain and loss that have come from this tragedy,” he said, adding that he would carry the memory of what happened for the rest of his life.
Despite the defense’s request for leniency, Judge Leavitt ordered Cloutier to serve between six and 15 years in Nevada state prison.
The sentence brings a long-running criminal case to a close, but for Ampier’s six children and grieving relatives, the consequences of the deadly confrontation will last a lifetime.
