NY Times tech exec in domestic row with ex-wife shot dead by elderly in-laws
Soumya Karlamangla and Amy Qin
AI generated
SAN FRANCISCO – A Bay Area couple have been accused of shooting and killing their son-in-law in a suburban sports park on Sept 26, local police have said.
asserted
police → shoot → Sept
The man, Jonathan McKinsey, 40, was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds around 3pm in a parking lot at Dublin Sports Grounds, an athletic complex and playground in Dublin, California, about 56km east of downtown San Francisco, according to Dublin Police Services.
uncertain
man → find → Services
McKinsey was director of engineering for the games department of The New York Times, according to a company spokesman.
uncertain
McKinsey → accord → spokesman
Before McKinsey began working at the Times in 2023, he worked for several tech companies, including Splunk, Coursera and Oracle, according to his LinkedIn profile.
uncertain
he → begin → profile
The authorities did not describe a motive for the shooting, but McKinsey and his wife had a turbulent marriage and were living separately, records show.
asserted
records → describe → marriage
Each filed requests for domestic violence restraining orders against the other in 2025.
asserted
Each → file → 2025
McKinsey also pleaded not guilty in 2025 to two charges of misdemeanor child abuse.
asserted
McKinsey → plead → abuse
McKinsey was a transgender man and accused his wife, Candice Jang, and his in-laws of abusing him because of his identity, according to his filing for a restraining order in December 2025.
uncertain
McKinsey → accuse → December
He said his mother-in-law called him and one of his sons a “pervert” and a “monster” after the boy tried on dresses, and he accused his father-in-law of punching him in the chest while he was recovering from double mastectomy surgery in 2010.
asserted
he → say → 2010
Assad Razawi, a resident of Dublin, said he was outside a grocery store near his car on Sept 26 at around 3pm when he heard what sounded like five or six gunshots coming from the sports park across the street.
asserted
what → say → street
When he looked over, he said he saw a man drop to the ground in the parking lot and another man and woman walking calmly away from the scene.
asserted
man → look → scene
The San Francisco Chronicle was first to report Razawi’s account.
asserted
Chronicle → report → account
Around the same time, a Dublin police sergeant was driving by the park when he saw a man lying on the ground and stopped to investigate, local police said.
asserted
police → drive → ground
Emergency personnel began arriving after receiving 911 calls from people in the park about the shooting.
asserted
personnel → arrive → shooting
Witnesses directed officers to two individuals standing nearby, whom police identified as Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 76.
asserted
police → direct → Zhang
They are a married couple who live in Dublin and are the parents of McKinsey’s wife, the police said.
asserted
police → live → wife
Zhang and Chen were held on suspicion of murder, and detectives are continuing to investigate.
asserted
detectives → hold → murder
They also were held on suspicion of willful discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, conspiracy, and child endangerment likely to produce great bodily injury or death.
asserted
They → hold → injury
It was not clear which children the last booking charge pertained to.
asserted
charge → pertain → children
They are scheduled to be arraigned on Sept 30.
asserted
They → schedule → Sept
It was unclear whether Zhang and Chen had legal representation.
uncertain
Zhang → have → representation
Alameda County court records show that McKinsey’s wife, Jang, filed a request for a temporary restraining order citing domestic violence in October 2025.
asserted
wife → show → October
She also sought a protective order against McKinsey for her three children and her mother.
asserted
She → seek → children
A report from the Dublin Police Services noted that on Oct 17, an officer met with Jang, who said her husband struck their six-year-old “in the face with an open hand”.
asserted
husband → note → hand
When officers went to the residence to contact McKinsey, they discovered a two-year-old child in an upstairs bedroom who had been left without supervision.
asserted
who → go → supervision
The officers said McKinsey left the child alone for more than an hour while he went shopping.
asserted
he → say → shopping
McKinsey was later charged in Alameda County Superior Court with two misdemeanor counts of child abuse in connection with the separate incidents.
asserted
McKinsey → charge → incidents
He pleaded not guilty to both charges and was released from jail on the condition that he complete 12 parenting classes.
asserted
he → plead → classes
A pretrial hearing had been scheduled for October.
asserted
hearing → schedule → October
In December, McKinsey also filed for a temporary restraining order against his wife, citing domestic violence.
asserted
McKinsey → file → violence
According to his request, his wife had been granted full custody of the children, and he feared for their safety.
uncertain
he → accord → safety
That same month, he filed for divorce.
asserted
he → file → divorce
McKinsey said he was framed for the October incident in which the couple’s two-year-old son was found alone.
asserted
son → say → which
He said Jang was responsible for the children during the workweek, and that she did not tell him before leaving that the child was sleeping in his crib upstairs.
asserted
child → say → crib
“She did this on purpose, to set me up,” he wrote.
asserted
he → do → me
In his filing, he accused his wife of regularly abusing their children and neglecting to properly bathe and feed them.
asserted
he → accuse → them
“When I protested about any of this, she threatened me with harm or said she would call the police and tell them I was hurting our children,” he said in the filing.
asserted
he → protest → filing
He said Jang once hit him on the head with a frying pan and forced him to ingest a cockroach.
He accused her, on another occasion, of striking him on the head with a mirror, which shattered as he tried to wrest it from her control and severed a tendon and nerve in his hand, requiring surgery and leaving him with a permanent loss of sensation in his thumb.
asserted
he → say → thumb
The Aporia
