Joss’ husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, revealed he was present at the fatal shooting and claimed it came after “years of threats” due to their sexuality
More details are coming to light surrounding Jonathan Joss’ tragic shooting death. Hours after news broke that the King of the Hill actor was killed during a dispute with their former neighbor in San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday, June 1, his husband offered his first-hand account of the incident. Tristan Kern de Gonzales took to Joss’ Facebook page to reveal that he was present when Joss was shot, and claimed the issue was rooted in homophobia. “My husband Jonathan Joss and I were involved in a shooting while checking the mail at the site of our former home,” the statement began. “That home was burned down after over two years of threats from people in the area who repeatedly told us they would set it on fire. We reported these threats to law enforcement multiple times and nothing was done.” “Throughout that time we were harassed regularly by individuals who made it clear they did not accept our relationship,” he went on to share. “Much of the harassment was openly homophobic.”
According to the post, Joss and Gonzales allegedly found the remains of one of their dogs left out for them to see when they visited the property that day, causing them “severe emotional distress.”
“We began yelling and crying in response to the pain of what we saw,” he explained. “While we were doing this a man approached us. He started yelling violent homophobic slurs at us. He then raised a gun from his lap and fired.”
He continued: “Jonathan and I had no weapons. We were not threatening anyone. We were grieving. We were standing side by side. When the man fired, Jonathan pushed me out of the way. He saved my life.”
Having just gotten married on Valentine’s Day of this year, Gonzales gushed over his special connection with Joss, who “gave me more love in our time together than most people ever get.” He added that they were just “newlyweds” and “planning our future.”
“He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other,” Gonzales wrote. “I was with him when he passed. I told him how much he was loved. To everyone who supported him, his fans, his friends, know that he valued you deeply. He saw you as family. My focus now is on protecting Jonathan’s legacy and honoring the life we built together.” “Jonathan saved my life,” the post concluded. “I will carry that forward. I will protect what he built.” In a follow-up post, Gonzales confirmed he has “absolutely no plans yet” on a memorial service but would keep fans updated. “There’s not a need to donate to the gofundme,” he wrote, referencing the GoFundMe page that was set up after their home burned down. “But I want everyone to remember the joy and love Jonathan has brought and will continue to bring forever. I have my essentials covered and our family in San Antonio is taking care of me until I get back to South Carolina. Instead of donating Jonathan and I would both rather you spread the word about the consistent injustice done to him, to us, and to our dogs. We had so many beautiful plans for the future.”
Despite Gonzales’ claims, the San Antonio Police Department issued a statement on X, where they stated that they are “currently investigating the murder of Mr. Jonathan Joss” and whether it was “a hate crime,” but so far, have “found no evidence to indicate that Mr. Joss’s murder was related to his sexual orientation.”
PEOPLE has reached out to the San Antonio Police Department for comment.
The Parks and Recreation alum was shot and killed on the evening of June 1 at the age of 59, PEOPLE previously reported. According to police, authorities were dispatched to a shooting in progress at Joss’ address around 7 p.m., where they found him lying “near the roadway.”
Despite attempting “life saving measures,” paramedics pronounced Joss dead at the scene.
Officers quickly found and detained a suspect, 56-year-old Sigfredo Alvarez Cejam, who had fled the scene in a vehicle. He has now been booked for murder, and the investigation is still ongoing, per police. PEOPLE can confirm that the suspect is a neighbor of Joss.
Just two days before the fatal shooting, Joss disrupted a panel about the upcoming King of the Hill revival at the ATX TV Festival. At one point, he stood up from the audience and spoke out about the discrimination he had been facing.
“I’m an actor,” he said. “I see a mic, I use it. I see a wrong, I make it right. I take a breath, I want to breathe.”
He then revealed: “My house burned down three months ago because I’m gay.” Before sitting back down, a showrunner on stage pointed out that Joss played John Redcorn on the iconic series and confirmed that he was set to return for the reboot.