Jonathan McKinsey was killed as he and the couple’s daughter were engaged in a bitter divorce and child-custody dispute.
DUBLIN, Calif. — A California couple faces murder charges after authorities said they shot and killed their son-in-law Saturday at a public park, just days before he and their daughter were scheduled to appear at a hearing in a contentious divorce case.
Shili Chen and Shouyong Zhang, both 77, were scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday, Sept. 30. The Associated Press could not reach a lawyer representing the couple before the hearing. Their daughter, Candice Jang, was also unavailable for comment, though she appeared briefly by video in the courtroom where her parents were expected to appear.
Jonathan McKinsey, a 40-year-old gaming engineer at The New York Times, was shot in the parking lot of a sports complex in Dublin, east of San Francisco. Dublin Police Services said a nearby police sergeant saw McKinsey on the ground as witnesses called 911 and identified the couple, who remained in their vehicle close to the scene.
Officers stopped Chen and Zhang as they drove through the parking lot and found a gun in Chen’s possession. Prosecutors said Zhang later acknowledged during an interview that he shot McKinsey. A second firearm was recovered from the vehicle, and Zhang reportedly admitted using it in the killing.
Prosecutors also said surveillance footage showed both Chen and Zhang firing at McKinsey.
The murder charges against Chen and Zhang include allegations that they lay in wait and used firearms.
Court records indicate that McKinsey’s death occurred amid a contentious divorce from Jang and a custody dispute involving their three young children. In restraining-order petitions filed in 2025, both spouses accused each other of physical, emotional and psychological abuse dating back more than a decade. McKinsey, who was transgender, alleged that Jang and her parents had verbally and physically abused him over a gender transition he underwent years earlier.
In a petition seeking a protection order, McKinsey accused Chen of directing anti-LGBTQ slurs at him and his oldest child.
McKinsey also alleged that Jang had physically and emotionally abused him during medical procedures connected to his transition. He said Zhang punched him in the chest while he was recovering from double-mastectomy surgery.
Victim had been charged with misdemeanor child abuse
McKinsey was arrested in October 2025 and charged with misdemeanor child abuse after allegedly striking the couple’s oldest son. Police said he acknowledged slapping the child. Prosecutors also accused him of endangering the youngest child after deputies went to the family’s home and found that the 2-year-old had been left alone, according to court documents.
McKinsey pleaded not guilty and claimed in court filings that his wife had set him up by leaving the house without telling him their child was asleep in a crib upstairs. He was released on the condition that he complete 12 parenting classes. At the time of his death, he was free on bail and seeking admission to a mental health diversion program.
Jang also obtained a domestic-violence protection order against McKinsey in October 2025.
In her filing, Jang said McKinsey grabbed her forearms during an argument in 2010, causing her to strike the corner of a coffee table and fracture a vertebra in her upper back. She also said she contacted police in 2023 after McKinsey forcefully pushed their oldest son on the head. Jang further accused him of emotionally abusing her mother.
Victim filed a competing protective order request
McKinsey filed his own request for a domestic-violence protection order against Jang in December, alleging years of abuse, including an incident in which he said she hit him in the head with a frying pan. He later filed for divorce and requested additional time with their children. Alameda County court records show that, since the previous fall, he had been limited to two hours of supervised visits each week.
In late August, a judge granted McKinsey permission to have unsupervised visits in public twice a week.
The shooting happened one week before McKinsey and Jang were due to appear at a hearing in their divorce case. They had been married since July 2011.
McKinsey joined The New York Times in January 2023 and served as director of engineering for The New York Times Games from the San Francisco Bay Area, the newspaper said. A spokesperson declined to provide additional comment.