DUBLIN, Calif. (AP) — A California couple has been charged with murder after authorities say they shot their son-in-law to death Saturday in a public park, days before he and the couple’s daughter were set for a hearing in a bitter divorce case.
Shili Chen and Shouyong Zhang, both 77, were due in court Wednesday for an arraignment on the charges. The Associated Press was not able to reach an attorney for the couple prior to the court appearance. Their daughter, Candice Jang, could not be reached, though she appeared virtually at Wednesday’s hearing.
Jonathan McKinsey, a 40-year-old gaming engineer for The New York Times, was shot to death in the parking lot of a sports complex in Dublin, east of San Francisco. A police sergeant was driving nearby and saw him on the ground as witnesses began calling 911 and pointing out the couple in their vehicle, who were still near the scene, Dublin Police Services said in a news release.
Police detained the couple as they were driving away in the parking lot. Prosecutors said Zhang admitted to shooting McKinsey during a later interview, and a firearm was found in his car that he admitted to using during the crime.
Prosecutors also said surveillance video was recovered showing Chen and Zhang shooting the victim “in concert.”
Chen and Zhang’s murder charges included additional allegations of lying in wait and using a firearm.
Court records show McKinsey’s killing came during a contentious divorce with Jang and a custody battle over the couple’s three young children. In petitions for restraining orders filed last year, the couple accused each other of physical, emotional and psychological abuse going back more than a decade. McKinsey, who is transgender, alleged that both Jang and her parents were verbally and physically abusive regarding a gender transition he underwent years ago.
In his petition for a protection order, McKinsey alleged that Chen had directed anti-LGBTQ slurs at him and his oldest child.
He also accused Jang of being physically and emotionally abusive during medical procedures related to his transition. He alleged Zhang punched him in the chest while he was recovering from double mastectomy surgery.
Victim had been charged with misdemeanor child abuse
McKinsey was arrested last October and charged with misdemeanor child abuse for allegedly hitting their oldest son. Police said he acknowledged having slapped the child. Prosecutors also charged him with endangering their youngest child after deputies responded to the family’s home to talk with him and found their 2-year-old had been left home alone, according to court documents.
McKinsey pleaded not guilty to the charges and alleged in court records that he had been set up by his wife, who had left the house without telling him the child was sleeping in a crib upstairs. He was released from jail on the condition that he complete 12 parenting classes. At the time of his killing, McKinsey was out on bail and had been trying to enter a mental health diversion program.
It was also in October that Jang obtained a domestic violence protection order against McKinsey.
Jang said in her filing that in 2010 McKinsey had grabbed her by the forearms during one argument and caused her to hit the corner of a coffee table, fracturing a vertebra in her upper back. She also said that in 2023 she called the police to their home after McKinsey pushed their oldest son hard on the head. Jang also accused McKinsey of emotionally abusing her mother.
Victim filed a competing protective order request
McKinsey in December filed his own request for domestic violence protection against Jang, alleging years of abuse that included her hitting him in the head with a frying pan. He later filed for divorce and sought more time with the three children, noting that he had been limited to two hours of supervised visits per week since last fall, Alameda County court documents show.
In late August, McKinsey was granted unsupervised visits in public twice a week.
The killing occurred a week before a hearing was scheduled in McKinsey and Jang’s divorce case. The couple had been married since July 2011.
McKinsey joined The New York Times in January 2023. He was director of engineering for New York Times Games and based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the paper said. A spokesperson declined to comment further.