Man indicted for cold case 2011 Houston Murder

A Palmer grand jury indicted 36-year-old Keenon Leland Keyes on one count of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder on June 29, 2023. Keyes is charged with shooting and killing 30-year-old Loy Suthammavong in his Houston, Alaska home on Dec. 3, 2011.

The Alaska State Troopers’ Cold Case Investigation Unit (CCIU) reopened the case in September 2022. The primary function of the CCIU is to investigate unresolved homicide cases previously investigated by the Alaska State Troopers.

“Your Alaska State Troopers will never give up on a murder investigation, and we will not rest until we have brought justice to anyone who takes the life of an Alaskan,” said Alaska Bureau of Investigation Commander Tony Wegrzyn. “To anyone who victimizes Alaskans, know that sooner or later the Alaska State Troopers will find you, arrest you, and work with our partners at the Alaska Department of Law to hold you accountable for your actions. The indictment of Keenon Keyes is evidence of that.”

The case was presented to the grand jury by the Office of Special Prosecutions’ Cold Case Prosecutor, who has statewide responsibility for the prosecution of cases that have been unsolved for a period of at least five years. This is the fifth cold case indicted by the Office of Special Prosecutions in 2023.

Keyes is currently serving a 15-year sentence in Idaho for felony aggravated assault, felony injury to a child, and possession of a firearm by a felon after shooting at his wife and 3-year-old child in Idaho in July 2022.

These charges are only allegations and are not evidence of guilt. Defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the prosecution must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted at trial, Mr. Keyes faces a sentence of up to 99 years of imprisonment.