Jonathan Joss, the actor who voiced John Redcorn on King of the Hill, was fatally shot in San Antonio on June 1, 2025, at age 55. His husband described a confrontation involving a gun and alleged homophobic slurs; police later said their early statement about whether sexual orientation played a role was premature. The accounts do not establish a final motive or court outcome.
What happened to Jonathan Joss?
San Antonio police responded to a shooting-in-progress call at about 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 1, 2025. The Associated Press reported that officers found Joss wounded near the street and attempted life-saving measures; emergency medical services pronounced him dead.
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Joss was best known for voicing John Redcorn on King of the Hill. He was 55. The AP reported that police arrested Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez and charged him with murder.
What his husband said about the shooting
Joss’s husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, said they had gone to check the mail at the site of their former home, which had been heavily damaged in a January fire that killed their three dogs. According to de Gonzales’s account to the AP, a man approached and threatened them with a gun, shouted homophobic slurs, and opened fire. He said Joss pushed him out of the way.
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De Gonzales characterized the killing as anti-gay, saying, “He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other.” That is his account and characterization; the reporting cited here does not establish the motive as an official finding.
What police said about a possible hate-crime motive
On June 2, police were reported as saying they had found no evidence that Joss’s murder was related to his sexual orientation. On June 5, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said that conclusion had been premature and that whether sexual orientation played a role remained part of the investigation.
McManus acknowledged the earlier statement, saying, “I will own that and simply say again that we simply shouldn’t have done that.” He was referring to the department’s premature public conclusion about motive. The Washington Post reported that the reversal followed anxiety in the LGBTQ+ community. The cited coverage does not settle whether the killing was a hate crime.
Joss’s last documented public appearance
Two days before his death, on Friday, May 30, Joss attended a King of the Hill panel and preview at the ATX TV Festival in Austin, according to MySA. This is a documented appearance close to the date of his death, not a complete account of his final days.
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What is—and is not—established about the case
- Reported sequence: Joss appeared at the festival on May 30 and was shot in San Antonio on June 1.
- Different sources, different accounts: Police described their response and the arrest; the account of the confrontation and alleged slurs came from Joss’s husband.
- Motive: Police’s initial statement was later called premature, and the possibility that sexual orientation played a role remained under investigation in the June 5 reporting.
- Court outcome: The AP’s June 2025 report said Alvarez had been charged with murder. The cited coverage does not establish a later court disposition or final official finding on motive.
These reports give a limited chronology, not a full account of Joss’s life. The phrase “troubled life” should not be taken as a documented biography: the reporting summarized here supports specific facts about the fire at his former home, the shooting, and the investigation, but not a broader life narrative.
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