The husband of Jonathan Joss, the beloved voice actor for John Redcorn on King of the Hill, claims his partner was gunned down in a homophobic attack driven by hatred for their same-sex marriage. Joss, 59, was fatally shot on June 1, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas, while checking mail at the site of their former home. His husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, alleges the shooter, a neighbor, targeted them because
“he could not stand the sight of two men loving each other,”
sparking a firestorm of grief and debate.
Kern de Gonzales shared a chilling account on Facebook, stating,
“My husband Jonathan Joss and I were involved in a shooting while checking the mail at the site of our former home. 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.”
He described ongoing harassment, saying,
“Throughout that time we were harassed regularly by individuals who made it clear they did not accept our relationship. Much of the harassment was openly homophobic.”
The couple’s distress peaked that day when they discovered the skull and harness of one of their dogs, killed in a January 2025 fire that destroyed their home.
“This caused both of us severe emotional distress. We began yelling and crying in response to the pain of what we saw,”
Kern de Gonzales recounted. As they grieved, a man approached,
“yelling violent homophobic slurs at us. He then raised a gun from his lap and fired.”
Joss heroically intervened, with Kern de Gonzales stating,
“When the man fired Jonathan pushed me out of the way. He saved my life.”
The suspect, Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, 56, was arrested at the scene and charged with first-degree murder, held on a $200,000 bond in Bexar County Jail. San Antonio police, however, found no evidence to classify the shooting as a hate crime, stating it occurred during a dispute. This contradiction has ignited fierce discussions online, with some supporting Kern de Gonzales’s claims and others citing broader neighbor conflicts, though details remain unverified.
“Jonathan is my husband. He gave me more love in our time together than most people ever get. We were newlyweds. We picked Valentine’s Day. We were in the process of looking for a trailer and planning our future.”
He was with Joss at the end, saying,
“I was with him when he passed. I told him how much he was loved.”
Addressing Joss’s supporters, he added,
“To everyone who supported him, his fans, his friends, know that he valued you deeply. He saw you as family.”
Joss, of Apache and Comanche descent, was set to reprise his iconic role in the King of the Hill revival on Hulu, premiering August 4, 2025. Known for roles in Parks and Recreation and True Grit, he was celebrated by colleagues like Nick Offerman, who called him a “sweet guy.” A GoFundMe campaign, launched after the fire that killed their dogs, has surged with donations since Joss’s death.
Kern de Gonzales remains resolute, stating,
“My focus now is on protecting Jonathan’s legacy and honoring the life we built together. If your concern is how someone coped with trauma or how loudly they speak when recounting injustice and being ignored by authorities then you never truly cared about my husband. Jonathan saved my life. I will carry that forward. I will protect what he built.”
