Man who shot at wife, child in Cd'A last summer charged with murder for 2011 Alaska shooting

Garrett Cabeza, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
·2 min read

Jul. 12—A 36-year-old man sentenced to prison in April for shooting at his wife and toddler last year in Coeur d'Alene now faces murder charges for a 2011 shooting in Alaska.

Keenon Keyes was indicted June 29 by a grand jury in Alaska for first- and second-degree murder in the death of 30-year-old Loy Suthammavong, according to a Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office news release.

Keyes is accused of shooting and killing Suthammavong on December 3, 2011.

He was reported missing three days later when family hadn't heard from him, according to the Anchorage Daily News. That same day a burning vehicle was found in Anchorage that was later determined to be Suthammavong's.

It wasn't until March 2012 that his body was found in the Eklutna Lake area, about an hour from Anchorage in Chugach State Park.

Further investigation revealed that Keyes and Suthammavong knew each other and were both at the victim's house in Houston, Alaska, which is 57 miles north of Anchorage, when the shooting happened, according to an Alaska Department of Law news release.

An Alaskan Cold Case Unit reopened the investigation into Suthammavong's death in September.

Keyes was sentenced this spring to up to 15 years in prison for the Coeur d'Alene shooting. Judge Richard Christensen's sentence allows Keyes to be eligible for parole in about two years with credit for time served.

The incident stemmed from Aug. 12 when Keyes confronted his wife outside their home with an AR-15 sitting on his lap. Keyes was upset with his wife because she wanted to move out due to his physical abuse and addiction to alcohol and controlled substances, the prosecutor's office said. Earlier that day, Keyes threatened he would shoot her dead if she stepped foot inside the house.

The woman took off in her vehicle and returned with their 3-year-old son. Still upset, Keyes showed her he had a pistol.

She took off running with their 3-year-old, and Keyes fired multiple rounds toward her, striking her vehicle and sending one bullet through the windshield. Another bullet struck a neighbor's house.

The couple's two other minor children were in the house and heard the gunshots. The woman fled and called police.

Keyes was arrested and told police he should have shot it out with officers so they could have killed him, according to the prosecutor's office. Keyes' criminal history includes DUI, assault and theft.