Teen pot-home invader shot with his own gun

(06-09) 18:06 PDT ANTIOCH -- A 15-year-old boy killed when he and his older brother broke into an Antioch home where marijuana was being grown apparently had his gun wrestled from him and was shot with it, authorities said Wednesday.

Keylow Colston of Oakland was shot by 34-year-old Sonepaseut Meksouvanh, who lives in the four-bedroom home on the 1300 block of Aster Drive with his girlfriend Misty Mckinsey, 25, and their two small children, authorities said.

Colston, his 17-year-old brother, Koran Colston, and an unidentified man broke in through a back window at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, police said. Mckinsey was shot and wounded as she ran down a hallway, and Meksouvanh was hit by gunfire as well, authorities said.

At some point in the chaotic confrontation, Meksouvanh pulled the gun from Keylow Colston and killed him, police believe.

Ballistics tests are still pending to confirm that Colston was shot with his own gun. Investigators said Meksouvanh, a poker enthusiast who has played in professional tournaments, fired in self-defense and will not be charged.

Meksouvanh held Koran Colston at gunpoint until officers arrived, police said.

A search continues for the third suspect, who escaped through the rear window. Authorities say he may have been injured because a blood trail was found immediately outside. Police said they are seeking additional accomplices besides the third intruder.

Police say Meksouvanh and Mckinsey were growing marijuana in two rooms of their home. They have not been charged with any drug offenses, pending the outcome of the investigation.

The intruders may have been after the marijuana or money that they believed was in the house as a result of drug sales, police said.

Meksouvanh and Mckinsey were in critical but stable condition at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. Both are expected to survive.

Their two children, an 8-month-old girl and 2-year-old boy, were unhurt and are in the custody of their grandmother.

Koran Colston has lived in Fresno and played football at Fresno High School. He was charged Wednesday with murder in his brother's slaying under the provocative-act doctrine, which holds accomplices responsible when their crime partners act in a way that leads to death.

He is also accused of two counts each of attempted murder and attempted residential robbery and one count of burglary, said John Cope, a Contra Costa County deputy district attorney. He also faces an allegation that he personally used a firearm.

Colston, who turns 18 in September, will be prosecuted as an adult.

"If you have several people who arm themselves and conspire with each other that they're going in the middle of the night to break into someone's residence when they're sleeping with their small children and engage in assaultive behavior or kill, I don't know a better description of adult criminal behavior than that," Cope said. "This is serious business."

E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle