Family seeks answers after man beaten to death at car show

The family of a man beaten to death after a car show is urging witnesses to come forward to help prosecute the person charged with murder.

Armando Munoz-Armas, 30, was with his brothers and friends at the Las Vegas Lowrider Supershow over Labor Day weekend. He was preparing to open his own business customizing low riders and car parts that would hop, or bounce several feet in the air.

Around 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 3, witnesses told police that Munoz-Armas was confronted by a former friend, Santiago Vargas, in the Llama Lot, at North 9th Street and East Ogden Avenue, according to an arrest report from the Metropolitan Police Department. Vargas is accused of punching Munoz-Armas, causing him to hit his head.

Munoz-Armas died the next day at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center from blunt force injuries of the head, the Clark County coroner’s office ruled.

Vargas was arrested and charged with murder.

His attorney, Chris Rasmussen, said Vargas acted in self defense to protect himself and his small children, who were next to him.

Munoz-Armas’ oldest brother, Alberto Armas, said an investigator and prosecutor told him that they were struggling to compile a case against Vargas because of uncooperative witnesses.

“For as many people as I’ve been told were around there, nobody knows nothing as to how it happened,” Armas said in an interview last week.

The prosecutor, Brittni Griffith, declined to comment because the case remained open.

Armas said Vargas had threatened to hurt Munoz-Armas before, but his family never took the threats seriously.

Munoz-Armas and his brothers had known Vargas for about four years, but the men had been quarreling for at least two of them. Armas said no one had disclosed what was said in the fight at the Llama lot that morning.

“There were many people surrounding the area at the time Armando was killed, but many have not come forward,” Armas said.

Munoz-Armas was the youngest of five children, and after he moved from Southern California to Las Vegas in 2017, he became the primary caretaker for his parents. He was also considered the cool uncle for his 14 nieces and nephews, Armas said.

“He was the inspiring part of the family,” said Armas, speaking on behalf of his family. “They always looked up to him. He always tried to stay out of trouble and did what he could to help them out.”

Munoz-Armas worked as a warehouse adviser for the electrical company Vinco in southwest Las Vegas, and he aspired to open a garage where he could manufacture cars that hop three feet in the air under his signature “Mandoe Made It.”

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.