Amarillo Man Charged For Fatal Beating Of 79-Year-Old

An Amarillo man has been charged with the murder of a 79-year-old man, according to a criminal complaint filed with the Potter County District Clerk's office.

On February 2, officers with Amarillo Police Department were dispatched to the area of 1600 E. Amarillo Boulevard in reference to an assault.

At the corner of Amarillo Boulevard and North Wilson, they located the victim, 79-year-old Quentin D. Voltairi. The elderly man had sustained injuries consistent with an assault. Voltairi was transported him to a nearby hospital while officers began the search to locate the assailant.

During the course of the investigation, officers obtained surveillance footage from a nearby business and reviewed the footage of the assault. A suspect was located and brought in for questioning. The interviewing officer was then able to positively identify 35-year-old Rafael R. Munoz, Jr., as the same individual seen carrying out the assault in the surveillance footage.

Munoz was booked into Potter County Detention Center the next day on misdemeanor charges of failure to identify, criminal mischief, and assault causing bodily injury.

On February 6, a formal criminal complaint was filed against Munoz, charging him with Injury to a Child/Elderly/Disabled, a First degree felony. The filings allege that he had intentionally caused serious injury by both punching and kicking the elderly man.

Munoz's remained in Potter County in lieu of a $100,000 bond. Several days later, on February 10, Quentin Voltairi died as a result of the injuries sustained in the savage beating.

As a result, investigators with the APD Homicide Unit filed a revised criminal complaint on February 17 that upgraded Munoz's charge to Murder.

In the complaint, Rafael Munoz is said to have intentionally acted in a manner that was "clearly dangerous to human life" and caused the victim's death by "striking him with his hand or by striking him with his foot, or a combination thereof".

Munoz's bond for the murder charge has been set at $500,000 and he remains in custody pending Grand Jury review.

Rafael Munoz has an extensive criminal history with the majority of his arrests shown to be for public intoxication. Randall County records alone show 21 arrests for Munoz since 2012. The alias on each booking is listed as 'Drunken Leprechaun".

Munoz shows several convictions for assaultive offenses, including that of assault against a public servant.

The murder charge filed against Munoz on February 17 will make the death of Quentin Voltairi the third homicide of 2023 in Amarillo.