A New York Times executive was shot and killed by his elderly in-laws in a parking lot in Dublin, California, during a court-supervised visit with his own children, prosecutors said at a plea hearing Monday.
Jonathan McKinsey, 40, was gunned down on September 26 at the Dublin Sports Ground in Alameda County. Prosecutors allege he was shot by Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, who witnesses say took turns firing at him. Both have been charged with first-degree murder and pleaded not guilty, according to KTVU.
Prosecutors told the court McKinsey was at the parking lot for a supervised visit with his children at the time of the shooting.
Defense Points to Fear, Not a Plot
Outside the courtroom Monday, Chen’s defense attorney, Curtis Briggs, said McKinsey had previously threatened to hire a hitman to “get rid of” his mother-in-law. Briggs said the couple bought firearms in March 2026 out of fear of their son-in-law, and that the guns were meant for self-protection rather than any planned killing.
Briggs said there was no plot by Zhang and Chen to kill McKinsey, but that tension within the family had been building for some time.
A History of Threats and Restraining Orders
Court documents allege McKinsey had also previously threatened to kill his wife and her parents, and had given his children a book about a girl whose mother dies.
McKinsey married Candice Jang in 2010. She filed for divorce in 2025 and sought a restraining order against him that same year; McKinsey responded by filing a restraining order of his own.
“During our marriage, the children and I learned to avoid provoking Jonathan lest he became angry. In my experience, appearing agreeable or happy around him was sometimes a means of avoiding his anger,” Jang wrote in an August custody filing.
The case remains pending in Alameda County, where Zhang and Chen face first-degree murder charges for the killing.
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