A bitter family feud involving a transgender New York Times executive, his estranged wife and his in-laws has ended in a shocking killing in California, with the executive gunned down in a sports complex parking lot.
Jonathan McKinsey, 40, who headed engineering for The New York Times’ Games Player Experience, was shot dead on Saturday afternoon at Dublin Sports Grounds in Dublin, California. His elderly in-laws, Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, were arrested in connection with the killing.
The court records paint a disturbing picture of a marriage that had descended into years of allegations of domestic violence, bitter custody disputes and accusations involving McKinsey’s transgender identity.
McKinsey and his estranged wife, Candice Jang, had been living separately. In 2025, both sought domestic-violence restraining orders against each other in Alameda County, with each side accusing the other of abusive behaviour.
McKinsey’s filings contained explosive allegations against his wife’s parents. He claimed his mother-in-law had subjected him and one of his sons to homophobic and derogatory abuse, allegedly calling them a “disgusting queer,” “pervert”, and “monster” over the child’s clothing.
He further alleged that his father-in-law had punched him in the chest while he was recovering from a double mastectomy in 2010, during his transition from female to male.
But the allegations did not stop there.
According to court records cited by local media, McKinsey also accused Jang of interfering with his medical treatment during his transition. He alleged that she attempted to pull medical tubes from his body in 2010. The couple married the following year.
In another alleged confrontation in 2013, McKinsey claimed that Jang attacked him with a frying pan. He also accused her of verbally abusing their children.
Jang’s version of events was dramatically different.
In her October 2025 filing, she accused McKinsey of physically assaulting her during an argument, alleging that he grabbed her by the forearms and dropped her onto the corner of a table, leaving her with a fractured vertebra in her upper back. She also accused him of emotionally abusing her mother.
McKinsey himself was subsequently facing criminal allegations. In 2025, he was charged with two misdemeanour counts of child abuse after Jang reported that he had allegedly slapped her six-year-old son in the face. McKinsey pleaded not guilty and was released on conditions that included attending parenting classes.
Now, the bitter legal battle has culminated in a killing.
The New York Times confirmed that McKinsey was the victim of the shooting. He had joined the newspaper in 2023 and had nearly two decades of experience in the technology industry, having previously worked at companies including Splunk, Coursera and Oracle.
