Jonathan McKinsey, a transgender New York Times games executive who was allegedly killed by his elderly in-laws, had previously clashed with them over allowing his son to wear his sister’s dresses, according to court documents.
McKinsey, 40, was shot and killed Saturday in the parking lot of Dublin Sports Grounds in Dublin, California. Police arrested his in-laws, Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, on suspicion of murder.
Witnesses said two masked shooters approached McKinsey and took turns firing at him before calmly walking away. The elderly couple were arrested shortly afterward.
Police have not established a motive. Court records show that McKinsey was in the process of divorcing his wife, Candice Jang, and had previously faced child abuse charges.
A 2023 restraining-order request filed by McKinsey against Jang described an earlier confrontation involving Chen, who had visited the family home to care for the children, according to the California Post.
McKinsey, who had served as the New York Times’ head of engineering for games player experience since 2023, wrote that Chen became angry after seeing his son Wyatt ask to wear dresses belonging to his sister, Alexis.
In the filing, McKinsey identified as a transgender man and said he told Chen that his son’s interest in wearing the dresses was a “phase.” He alleged that Chen then verbally attacked both him and the child.
McKinsey alleged that Chen used derogatory and anti-LGBTQ language toward Wyatt before directing similar insults at him while criticizing his gender identity, according to the filing.
Jonathan McKinsey, 40, a transgender New York Times games executive allegedly killed by his elderly in-laws, had previously clashed with them over his son wearing dresses, court documents show
Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, are accused of killing their son-in-law in a parking lot at Dublin Sports Grounds in Dublin, California, on Saturday
McKinsey said in his restraining-order filing that he pleaded with Chen to stop berating his son, but she then turned her anger toward him.
“She blamed me for Wyatt wanting to wear his sister’s dresses and told me to get out of ‘her house,’ even though we were in the home owned by Candice and I,” McKinsey wrote.
He said he urged his wife to arrange outside childcare so Chen would no longer be responsible for watching their children, but alleged that Jang refused.
McKinsey also accused Jang of abusive behavior during their relationship, including allegedly encouraging him to take his own life, according to court filings.
He alleged that Jang told him to kill himself because, in her words, no one would want to be with someone who was “f***ed up and transgender like me.”
McKinsey further alleged that Jang struck him with a frying pan in 2013 and made disparaging comments about their children.
Jang later sought her own restraining order against McKinsey, alleging that he had threatened to kill her and her parents.
McKinsey, who had worked in New York Times games technology since 2023, was in the midst of divorce proceedings when he was killed Saturday
Zhang was taken into custody Saturday after police said he and his wife allegedly took turns shooting their son-in-law in a daylight attack
McKinsey had previously 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 large hand-shaped bruise on his face.
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Jang also claimed McKinsey had previously been violent with her in 2018 when he grabbed her wrist hard enough to leave bruises.
In that incident, deputies said they arrived at McKinsey’s home to find a two-year-old left unattended in an upstairs bedroom while McKinsey had left to go shopping.
McKinsey was charged with cruelty to a child by endangering health and corporal injury to a child, both misdemeanors, and was freed on a $50,000 bail.
The bail was conditional on him completing 12 parenting classes. McKinsey pleaded not guilty in both incidents.
Jang’s restraining order and domestic violence protection order against McKinsey was granted last year, leading McKinsey to respond by requesting a domestic violence protection order against her and filing for divorce.
He had since 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.
McKinsey had previously faced two counts of misdemeanor child abuse, but had claimed in court filings that his wife – who he was divorcing – had been abusive to him
Witnesses said the elderly couple walked calmly away from the scene of the shooting, and they were arrested after being tracked to a black sedan (above) at a nearby intersection
McKinsey made the allegations that Chen had directed anti-LGBTQ+ slurs at him and at one of their children in his petition for a protection order.
The New York Times tech executive further accused Jang of being abusive during medical procedures related to his transition, claiming that at one point she tried to pull medical tubes from his body shortly after he underwent a procedure, according to the Mercury News.
He also alleged that Jang’s father, who was not named in the filing, punched him in the chest while he was recovering from a double mastectomy.
At the time of his killing, he was out on bail and had been trying to enter a mental health diversion program, which would have resulted in the charges being dropped upon completion, according to Mercury News.
In subsequent court documents, an attorney for Jang wrote that McKinsey ‘is simply prone to domestic violence and child abuse,’ noting that the incidents she cited in her previous complaint were ‘far from the first time’ he ‘committed physical violence against me or my family members’.
‘Due to his violent and negligent history, our children are simply not safe when left unsupervised and in his care,’ Jang wrote in a court filing last month.
The killing occurred a week before a hearing was scheduled in McKinsey and Jang’s divorce case.
It remains unclear whether Zhang and Chen may have been motivated to allegedly kill McKinsey over the claims of abuse or disagreements over his gender identity.
‘Part of our investigation is looking for motives from all angles as well as looking at the histories and relationships of everyone involved and associated with the victim and suspects,’ Captain Michael Campos, of Dublin Police Services, told the Post.
After McKinsey was shot dead on Saturday, a neighbor told the San Francisco Chronicle that McKinsey had recently moved out of the home he shared with his wife and three children.
Zhang and Chen’s arraignment has been scheduled for Wednesday. The couple are facing a slew of charges, including murder, felony conspiracy, child endangerment and dangerously firing a gun.
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