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By Marni Rose McFall and Joshua Rhett Miller
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An elderly couple is suspected of shooting dead their transgender New York Times executive son-in-law at a suburban athletic complex in Dublin, a city southeast of San Francisco.
Jonathan McKinsey, 40, of Dublin, was pronounced dead at the scene after being found by a Dublin Police Service (DPS) sergeant with multiple gunshot wounds in the middle of a parking lot shortly after 3 p.m. on September 26.
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According to a DPS press release, McKinsey's in-laws, Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, were arrested on suspicion of murder and booked into Santa Rita Jail after witnesses spoke to officers. Investigators did not give a motive for the shooting.
McKinsey, who worked as the director of engineering for the games department at The New York Times, had been employed by the outlet since January 2023, a company spokesperson told Newsweek. His LinkedIn account indicates he previously studied computer science at the Georgia Institute of Technology and later at the University of California, Berkeley.
McKinsey and his wife Candice Jang had a turbulent relationship and were locked in a custody dispute that was set to resume this week with an initial family law status conference on Friday.
Newsweek has contacted the Dublin Police Service and attorneys for Jang and McKinsey for comment outside of regular working hours on Tuesday.
According to legal documents reviewed by Newsweek, both parties had filed requests for domestic violence restraining orders against the other.
Both McKinsey and Jang alleged that the other was ill-suited to care for their children. They were living separately and had been married for more than a decade prior to filing for divorce last December.
History of Allegations
McKinsey had faced multiple allegations of abuse in court filings by his wife, The Mercury News reported, citing court documents.
Jang alleged that McKinsey had, in one instance, hit one of their children during an argument and left a large bruise, and that McKinsey had been violent with her, grabbing her wrist hard enough to leave bruises.
One of McKinsey’s children had been found alone in the house at the age of two by officers while McKinsey was out shopping, said The Mercury News.
McKinsey was later charged with two misdemeanors—cruelty to a child by endangering health and corporal injury to a child. He had been freed on a $50,000 bail and had attempted to enter a mental health diversion program which, if it had been successfully completed, would have led to the charges being dismissed.
McKinsey had rejected this portrayal, accusing his wife of regularly abusing their children.
Andrea Mah, an attorney who represented McKinsey, said she was "deeply saddened" by his death.
"This is a true tragedy, particularly for the three children now left without a father," Mah told Newsweek in a statement Tuesday afternoon. "I trust that our justice system will hold those responsible for Mr. McKinsey's senseless death accountable."
LGBTQ+ slurs
He alleged that Jang had been abusive over a 15-year period, had beaten him with a frying pan and had verbally denigrated their children, per The Mercury News.
McKinsey had also alleged that during a row a family member had been verbally abusive to one of the couple's young children and used anti LGBTQ+ slurs toward him and the child.
It had also been alleged by McKinsey that Jang had been abusive while he was in the process of gender transition, and that Jang had tried to pull medical tubes from his body following a medical procedure, per The Mercury News.
On social media, McKinsey had previously spoken about LGBTQ+ rights.
A recent comment on McKinsey’s Facebook page appears to reference the custody proceedings, where a friend wrote: "Jon, hope everything is going well…Hope everything goes well with you and Candice and the kids."
In a comment on LinkedIn on a post from someone who wrote about their child identifying as nonbinary, McKinsey wrote, "The world can be so unkind to those that are different. Thank you for supporting your child and acknowledging your own learning journey to be a better parent for them."
What Happens Next
Violence against the transgender community has risen in recent years. Data from the FBI reported a 33 percent rise in anti-trans hate crimes between 2020 and 2021.
The suspects are expected to be arraigned in court this week.
The Dublin Police Service said in a statement that the investigation is active and ongoing at this time and that detectives are "continuing to examine evidence to determine the circumstances that led to this homicide."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Toby Meyjes and Trevor Davies
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