Jonathan McKinsey: Trans NYT Games Executive Angered His In-Laws by Letting Son Wear Girls’ Dresses Before They Shot Him Dead

The transgender New York Times games executive, who was allegedly killed by his elderly in-laws, had previously angered them by allowing his son to wear dresses typically associated with girls, court documents reveal. Jonathan McKinsey, 40, was shot and killed on Saturday in the parking lot of a store at Dublin Sports Grounds in Dublin, California.

Police later arrested his in-laws, Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77-year-old, on suspicion of murder. Witnesses told investigators that two masked gunmen approached McKinsey and took turns shooting at him before “calmly” leaving the parking lot. The elderly couple were arrested shortly afterward. The motive behind the shooting remains unclear and under investigation.

Strange Obsession

McKinsey was going through a divorce with his wife, Candice Jang, and had previously faced child abuse charges, court records show. A 2023 restraining order McKinsey filed against Jang also described a tense confrontation involving his in-laws after Chen visited their home to look after the couple’s children, according to the California Post.

At the time, McKinsey was serving as the New York Times’ head of engineering for games player experience, a position he had held since 2023. In the filing, he claimed Chen became angry after seeing his son, Wyatt, ask to wear dresses belonging to his sister, Alexis.

McKinsey, who was a biological female at birth and had undergone surgery as part of his transition to a transgender man, said he told Chen that wearing the dresses was a “phase” his son was going through. He alleged that his mother-in-law then began berating both him and the child.

Chen allegedly called Wyatt a “disgusting queer” and a “pervert,” according to the filing. McKinsey also alleged that she hurled the same insults at him while slamming him for being transgender.

In his restraining order filing, McKinsey alleged that he pleaded with Chen to stop berating his son, but said his mother-in-law then turned her anger on him. “She blamed me for Wyatt wanting to wear his sister’s dresses and told me to get out of “her house” even though we were in the home owned by Candice and I,” McKinsey wrote.

He said he later tried to compel his wife to arrange outside childcare so Chen would no longer be responsible for looking after their children, but claimed Jang refused to do so.

Always in Confrontation

McKinsey also accused Jang of abusive behavior during their marriage. Court filings show he alleged that she had encouraged him to take his own life. He claimed Jang told him he should kill himself because “no one would want to be with someone as f***ed up and transgender like me.”

McKinsey further alleged that Jang assaulted him with a frying pan in 2013 and accused her of making disparaging remarks about their children.

Jang then sought her own restraining order against McKinsey last year, alleging that he had “threatened to kill me and my parents.”

McKinsey had previously been charged with two misdemeanor counts of child abuse after a 2023 police report accused him of slapping his six-year-old son across the face, allegedly leaving a “large bruise in the shape of a handprint.”

Jang also accused McKinsey of being violent toward her during a 2018 incident, alleging that he grabbed her wrist so forcefully that it left bruises.

When deputies responded to the home in that case, they reportedly found the couple’s two-year-old child alone in an upstairs bedroom while McKinsey had gone out shopping.

McKinsey was charged with misdemeanor cruelty to a child by endangering health and corporal injury to a child. He was released on $50,000 bail, with the condition that he complete 12 parenting classes. He pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Jang was granted a restraining order and domestic violence protection order against McKinsey last year. He subsequently sought a similar protection order against her and filed for divorce.

McKinsey later requested additional time with the couple’s three children, saying he had been restricted to two hours of supervised visitation each week since last fall, court records from Alameda County show.

McKinsey made the claims about Chen using anti-LGBTQ+ slurs against him and one of their children in his petition seeking a protective order.

McKinsey also accused Jang of mistreating him during medical procedures related to his transition. According to the Mercury News, he alleged that she once attempted to pull medical tubes from his body shortly after he had undergone a procedure.

McKinsey further claimed that Jang’s father, who was not identified in the court filing, punched him in the chest while he was recovering from a double mastectomy.

At the time of his death, McKinsey was out on bail and seeking admission to a mental health diversion program.