A New York Times technology executive who was allegedly killed by his elderly in-laws in California had been embroiled in a bitter legal and family dispute with them and his estranged wife over his transgender identity, according to court records.
Jonathan McKinsey’s wife, Candice Jang, sought a restraining order against him in 2025. McKinsey responded by filing his own petition for protection.
In his filing, obtained by The Mercury News, McKinsey alleged that Jang tried to remove medical tubes from his body in 2010 as he transitioned from a woman to a man. The couple married the following year.
McKinsey further alleged that his mother-in-law called him a “disgusting queer” and a “pervert” after a dispute involving one of the couple’s children and the child’s clothing.
The 40-year-old, who served as The Times’ head of engineering for games player experience, was shot in a sports complex parking lot in Dublin, California, at about 3 p.m. Saturday.
Police arrested his in-laws, Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77. The pair are accused of murder.
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Court filings describe a history of violence between McKinsey and Jang. In his restraining-order request, McKinsey alleged that Jang struck him with a frying pan in 2013 and verbally abused their children.
The petition also accused Chen, Jang’s mother, of verbally mistreating the couple’s children, including during disputes over what they wore.
McKinsey himself faced two misdemeanor child-abuse charges in 2025 after Jang contacted Dublin police and alleged that he had slapped her six-year-old son in the face.
Jang also told investigators about a 2018 domestic-violence episode in which she said McKinsey bruised her left arm, according to the records.
McKinsey pleaded not guilty to both charges and was released from jail on the condition that he attend parenting classes.
A Times spokesperson confirmed that McKinsey was the victim of Saturday afternoon’s shooting and said he had worked for the newspaper since 2023.