Actor Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor at his former San Antonio home on Sunday, June 1st. He was 59 years old.
Joss is best known for voicing the character John Redcorn in the adult cartoon King of the Hill—which will be returning for its 14th season this August after being off the air for 15 years—and Chief Ken Hotate in the sitcom Parks and Recreation. He also appeared in movies, video games, and TV shows including The Forever Purge, Cyberpunk: 2077, and Walker, Texas Ranger. His Parks and Recreation costar Nick Offerman shared the following statement with PEOPLE magazine:
The cast [of Parks and Rec] has been texting together about it all day and we’re just heartbroken. Jonathan was such a sweet guy and we loved having him as our Chief Ken Hotate. A terrible tragedy.
Joss’s husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, believes that the shooting suspect’s motives may have been homophobic in nature. In a Facebook post, he writes:
My husband Jonathan Joss and I were involved in a shooting while checking the mail at the site of our former home. That home was burned down after over two years of threats from people in the area who repeatedly told us they would set it on fire. We reported these threats to law enforcement multiple times and nothing was done.
Throughout that time we were harassed regularly by individuals who made it clear they did not accept our relationship. Much of the harassment was openly homophobic.
When we returned to the site to check our mail we discovered the skull of one of our dogs and its harness placed in clear view. This caused both of us severe emotional distress. We began yelling and crying in response to the pain of what we saw.
While we were doing this a man approached us. He started yelling violent homophobic slurs at us. He then raised a gun from his lap and fired.
Jonathan and I had no weapons. We were not threatening anyone. We were grieving. We were standing side by side. When the man fired Jonathan pushed me out of the way. He saved my life.
Jonathan is my husband. He gave me more love in our time together than most people ever get. We were newlyweds. We picked Valentines Day. We were in the process of looking for a trailer and planning our future.
He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other.
I was with him when he passed. I told him how much he was loved.
To everyone who supported him, his fans, his friends, know that he valued you deeply. He saw you as family.
My focus now is on protecting Jonathan’s legacy and honoring the life we built together.
If your concern is how someone coped with trauma or how loudly they speak when recounting injustice and being ignored by authorities then you never truly cared about my husband.
Jonathan saved my life. I will carry that forward. I will protect what he built.
Joss and Gonzalez’s neighbor has been apprehended and is being charged with murder; however, his $200,000 bail was posted within 72 hours of his arrest and he will soon be released under full house arrest. Police are not currently prosecuting him with a hate crime.
