In-laws charged with murder of NYT games engineer shot dead in California park

A California couple, both 77, face murder charges after allegedly shooting their son-in-law dead in a Dublin park days before his divorce hearing.

California couple, 77, accused of killing son-in-law ahead of divorce hearing

Shili Chen and Shouyong Zhang, both 77, have been charged with the murder of their son-in-law Jonathan McKinsey, a 40-year-old director of engineering for New York Times Games, according to theguardian.com. McKinsey was shot dead on Saturday in the parking lot of a sports complex in Dublin, a city east of San Francisco.

A police sergeant driving nearby spotted McKinsey on the ground as witnesses began calling 911 and pointing towards the couple, who were still in their vehicle close to the scene, Dublin police said in a news release. Officers detained Chen and Zhang as they attempted to drive away.

Prosecutors said Zhang admitted during a later interview to shooting McKinsey, and a firearm was recovered from his car that he acknowledged using. Surveillance footage was also retrieved showing Chen and Zhang shooting the victim "in concert", prosecutors added. The murder charges against both carry additional allegations of lying in wait and using a firearm.

Chen and Zhang were due in court on Wednesday for arraignment. An attorney for the couple could not be reached before the hearing. Their daughter, Candice Jang, who was McKinsey's wife, appeared virtually at Wednesday's proceedings.

Court records show the killing occurred amid a contentious divorce and custody battle over the couple's three young children. In restraining order petitions filed last year, McKinsey and Jang each accused the other of physical, emotional and psychological abuse spanning more than a decade. McKinsey, who is transgender, alleged that Jang and her parents were verbally and physically abusive in relation to a gender transition he underwent years ago.

The shooting took place one week before a scheduled hearing in the divorce case between McKinsey and Jang, who had been married since July 2011.

McKinsey joined the New York Times in January 2023 and was based in the San Francisco Bay Area. A spokesperson for the newspaper declined to comment further beyond confirming his role as director of engineering for New York Times Games.

Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)