New York Times games executive Jonathan McKinsey was shot dead in a California car park, with his two elderly in-laws accused of the killing after court documents revealed long-running family disputes over his transgender identity and his son wearing dresses.
Mr McKinsey, 40, was attacked at Dublin Sports Grounds in Dublin, California, on Saturday. Police arrested Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, on suspicion of murder.
Witnesses said two masked shooters approached Mr McKinsey and took turns firing at him before walking away. The couple were arrested shortly afterwards after officers tracked them to a black sedan near a nearby junction.
The motive remains under investigation. Captain Michael Campos of Dublin Police Services said investigators were examining “all angles”, including the histories and relationships of those involved.
Dispute over child wearing dresses
Mr McKinsey had been divorcing his wife, Candice Jang, and had previously sought a restraining order against her. In a 2023 filing, he alleged that Ms Chen became angry during a visit to the family home after seeing his son Wyatt asking to wear his sister Alexis’s dresses.
Mr McKinsey said he told his mother-in-law it was a phase his son was going through. He alleged that she then berated both him and the child, calling them “a disgusting queer” and “a pervert”, and directing similar abuse at him over his gender identity.
He claimed Ms Chen blamed him for Wyatt wanting to wear his sister’s clothes and ordered him to leave “her house”, despite the property being owned by Mr McKinsey and his wife. He also alleged that he had asked Ms Jang to arrange alternative childcare so Ms Chen would not look after the children again, but that she refused.
The couple had three children. A neighbour said Mr McKinsey had recently moved out of the home he had shared with his wife and family.
Mr McKinsey worked as head of engineering for games player experience at The New York Times, a role he had held since 2023.
Claims and counterclaims in divorce case
Court filings contain allegations of abuse on both sides. Mr McKinsey claimed Ms Jang had told him to take his own life because “no one would want to be with someone as f***ed up and transgender like me”.
He also alleged that she had beaten him with a frying pan in 2013, tried to pull medical tubes from his body after a procedure connected to his transition, and that her father had punched him in the chest while he was recovering from a double mastectomy.
Ms Jang later sought her own restraining order, alleging that Mr McKinsey had threatened to kill her and her parents. An attorney representing her described him in a subsequent filing as “simply prone to domestic violence and child abuse”.
Ms Jang also said the incidents detailed in her complaint were “far from the first time” he had committed physical violence against her or members of her family. She wrote that the children were not safe when left unsupervised in his care.
Mr McKinsey had faced two misdemeanor child-abuse counts after a 2023 police report accused him of slapping the couple’s six-year-old son and leaving a hand-shaped bruise. He was also accused of leaving a two-year-old child unattended upstairs while he went shopping.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on 50,000 US dollars bail, on condition that he completed 12 parenting classes. At the time of his death, he was seeking entry to a mental-health diversion programme and had been limited to two hours of supervised visits with his children each week.
A hearing in the divorce case had been scheduled for the week after the shooting. Zhang and Chen are due to be arraigned on Wednesday and face charges including murder, felony conspiracy, child endangerment and dangerously firing a gun.
