NYT Executive Shot Dead by In-Laws During Supervised Child Visit in Dublin, CA

Jonathan McKinsey, 40, was fatally shot by his elderly in-laws at a Dublin, California sports complex during a supervised visit with his children. The couple pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

NYT Executive Killed in Parking Lot During Supervised Child Visit, In-Laws Plead Not Guilty

A transgender New York Times executive was shot and killed by his in-laws during a court-supervised visit with his children, prosecutors said Monday, according to NY Post Metro.

Jonathan McKinsey, 40, was gunned down on September 26 in the parking area at Dublin Sports Ground in Dublin, California. Witnesses described how Shouyong Zhang, 77, and Shili Chen, 77, took turns firing at McKinsey's body.

At a plea hearing Monday, prosecutors disclosed that McKinsey had traveled to the parking lot specifically to meet his children for the supervised visit. Zhang and Chen both entered not guilty pleas to first-degree murder charges, KTVU reported.

Defense attorney Curtis Briggs, representing Chen, offered a competing account outside the courtroom. He alleged that McKinsey had previously threatened to hire a hitman to "get rid of" his mother-in-law, and that the couple purchased firearms in March 2026 out of fear for their own safety. Briggs argued the weapons were acquired for protection, not for a planned killing, and that Zhang and Chen had not plotted McKinsey's death but had grown increasingly frightened as family tensions escalated.

Court documents also reveal threats attributed to McKinsey in the other direction. He had allegedly threatened to murder his wife and her parents. Prosecutors noted that McKinsey gave his children a book about a young girl whose mother had died.

McKinsey's wife, Candice Jang, described the climate inside the marriage in an August custody filing obtained by The California Post. "During our marriage, the children and I learned to avoid provoking Jonathan lest he became angry," Jang wrote. "In my experience, appearing agreeable or happy around him was sometimes a means of avoiding his anger."

McKinsey and Jang married in 2010. She filed for divorce in 2025 and sought a restraining order against him that same year. McKinsey filed a restraining order of his own in response.

Source: NY Post Metro