Jonathan Joss, an actor of Apache and Comanche descent best known for voicing John Redcorn on the long-running animated television series King of the
Jonathan Joss, an actor of Apache and Comanche descent best known for voicing John Redcorn on the long-running animated television series King of the Hill, died in a shooting in San Antonio, Texas on Sunday. He was 59.
According to a statement posted on Joss’s Facebook page by his husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, Joss’s death was the result of a homophobic hate crime. In the post, which now has over 17,000 reactions, Gonzales writes that he and Joss were “involved in a shooting while checking the mail at the site of our former home,” a house he alleges was burned down over two years ago by “individuals who made it clear they did not accept our relationship” via continued threats and harassment. Gonzales says that he and Joss reported those to law enforcement to no avail.
When Gonzales and Joss arrived at the site of their former home, they allegedly “discovered the skull of one of our dogs and its harness placed in clear view,” wrote Gonzales. Per Gonzales, this caused both parties “severe emotional distress,” and they both began yelling and crying as a result. At this time, Gonzales alleges that a man approached them and began yelling “violent homophobic insults” at himself and Joss, before raising his gun and taking fire.
According to Gonzales, neither of them had weapons, and Joss pushed him out of the way when the gunfire began. “He saved my life,” wrote Gonzalez. “He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other.”
Authorities in San Antonio, meanwhile, have released a statement saying that they’ve found no evidence that Joss’s death was the result of a homophobic hate crime. “Despite online claims of this being a hate crime, currently the investigation has found no evidence to indicate that the Mr Joss’s murder was related to his sexual orientation,” they wrote.
Per Variety, San Antonio police officers arrived at the scene of the crime on Sunday evening at 7 p.m. after receiving a report of a shooting in progress. There, they reportedly found Joss near the road after he was shot multiple times. Joss was pronounced dead at the scene. According to TMZ, which first broke the story, the shooter was reportedly a neighbor of Joss’s, and fled the scene in a vehicle only to be detained by officers a block away. A suspect, Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, has been arrested and charged with murder. According to TMZ, he was held in custody on a $200,000 bond.
Joss voiced John Redcorn from 1997 to 2009 on the animated sitcom King of the Hill. He took over the guest role from original actor Victor Aaron after Aaron died in a car accident in 1996. Joss had already recorded dialogue for the forthcoming King of the Hill revival series, which is set to premiere on Hulu on August 4. His last public appearance was on Friday, attending a King of the Hill panel at the ATX Television Festival in Austin, Texas. Joss was there as an audience member; he apparently was not invited to participate on the panel, which disappointed him, according to a post he wrote on Facebook.
“This show was a part of my life for many years,” Joss wrote on April 21. “That character, that voice, that story…they were my home, my pride, my connection to something bigger than myself. To not be invited felt like being shut out of a place I helped build.” On April 29, Joss wrote another Facebook post that said Disney had eventually reached out to him, explaining that the panel would be focused on series regulars. “I truly appreciate them taking the time to reach out to me personally,” he wrote. “It means a lot.” Per Variety, Joss approached an audience microphone at the panel, where he expressed disappointment about not being invited to participate; he also shared that he had lost his San Antonio home to a fire.
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