A slain New York Times executive gave his daughter a children’s book about grieving the death of a mother—even though her mother was still alive, according to allegations in a court filing.
Candice Jang said she was frightened by the birthday present Jonathan McKinsey allegedly selected for their daughter.
The book, The Memory String, tells the story of a young girl mourning her mother’s death, SFGATE reported.
“Jonathan has previously threatened to kill me and my parents,” Jang wrote. “… I cannot know what Jonathan intended by selecting that particular book.”
Given those alleged threats, Jang said the choice of book was “deeply disturbing and frightening.”
McKinsey, who was assigned female at birth and later transitioned to become a transgender man, was embroiled in a bitter divorce when his in-laws allegedly shot him in a California parking lot last weekend.
McKinsey had served as head of engineering for games player experience at The New York Times since 2023. He and Jang presented sharply conflicting accounts of their relationship.
The couple accused each other of domestic violence in filings before Alameda County Superior Court during the divorce proceedings. Jang received a temporary restraining order in October 2025.
McKinsey sought his own restraining order in December 2025, one week before Jang’s temporary order was due to expire.
Jonathan McKinsey, 40, a transgender New York Times games executive who was allegedly killed by his elderly in-laws, had reportedly angered them by allowing his son to wear dresses belonging to his sister, according to court documents
McKinsey’s wife, Candice Jang, wrote: “I cannot know what Jonathan intended by selecting that particular book.” The Memory String follows a girl mourning her mother’s death
Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, are accused of fatally shooting their son-in-law at Dublin Sports Grounds in Dublin, California, on Saturday
In his December restraining-order application, McKinsey accused Jang of physically and emotionally abusing him on a weekly basis.
He alleged that Jang struck him on the head with a frying pan in 2013 and continued hitting him until he agreed to eat a cockroach, SFGATE reported.
The filing also alleged that Jang submerged a cat in a bucket, though McKinsey said he was able to revive the animal.
McKinsey further accused Jang of mistreating their children.
He also claimed that his mother-in-law, Shili Chen, became angry after seeing his son Wyatt ask to wear dresses belonging to his sister, Alexis.
According to the filing, McKinsey told Chen that his son was going through a “phase.” He alleged that she responded by berating both him and the child.
McKinsey alleged that Chen called the boy a “disgusting queer” and a “pervert,” then directed the same slurs at McKinsey while criticizing him for being transgender, the filing stated.
The wife of slain New York Times executive Jonathan McKinsey, who is the daughter of his accused killers, was seen walking with her three young children in the Bay Area
When approached by the Daily Mail on a sidewalk Wednesday, Jang refused to comment on her estranged husband’s murder
McKinsey alleged in his restraining order filing that when he begged Chen to stop berating his son, his mother-in-law 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 in the filing.
He added that he attempted to make his wife hire outside help to prevent Chen from ever watching their children again, but he claimed Jang refused.
McKinsey also filed allegations of abuse from Jang in their relationship, including claiming that she tried to push him into suicide, according to his court filings.
SEE ALSO: New Bodycam Footage Shows Officers Realizing They Had Arrested Luigi Mangione
According to McKinsey, his wife told him he should take his own life because ‘no one would want to be with someone as f***ed up and transgender like me.’
Jang went on to file her own restraining order against McKinsey last year, alleging he had ‘threatened to kill me and my parents.’
McKinsey had previously faced two counts of misdemeanor child abuse, following a police report in 2023 accusing him of slapping their six-year-old son in the face and leaving a ‘large bruise in the shape of a handprint’ on his face.
Jang also claimed McKinsey had previously been violent with her in 2018 when he grabbed her wrist hard enough to leave bruises.
McKinsey, who had worked in games tech for the New York Times since 2023, was in the midst of a divorce from his wife when he was killed last weekend
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
Zhang was taken into custody. He and his wife allegedly took turns gunning down their son-in-law in a brazen, broad daylight attack last Saturday, police say
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 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, Shouyong Zhang, 77, punched him in the chest while he was recovering from a double mastectomy.
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
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.
SEE ALSO: David Patrikarakos: Modern Ireland Has Become Sanctimonious and Angry