King of the Hill voice actor shot dead outside Texas home
A voice actor best known for his work on animated series King of the Hill has died at the age of 59 after being shot outside his home in Texas.
Jonathan Joss, who portrayed John Redcorn on the series and also appeared in Parks and Recreation as Chief Ken Hotate, was fatally shot in south San Antonio around 7pm on Sunday.
Police arrived at the scene and performed life saving measures on the 59-year-old, who was discovered wounded.
Joss was pronounced dead by emergency medical services (EMS) crews at the scene.
'The officers attempted life saving measures until EMS arrived. EMS pronounced the victim deceased,' San Antonio police said in a statement.
Joss' death was confirmed by his husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales. The couple had married earlier this year on Valentine's Day.
Mr Kern de Gonzales claimed in a social media post that a man 'yelled homophobic slurs' at the couple before 'raising a gun from his lap and firing'.
A man has since been arrested on suspicion of murder.
San Antonio police said in a social media post on Monday that 'despite online claims' of his death being a hate crime, there is 'no evidence that Mr Joss's murder was related to his sexual orientation'.
Officers added: 'Should any new evidence come to light, the suspect will be charged accordingly.'
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Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Inside tragic King of the Hill star Jonathan Joss' shock final public appearance two days before his murder
Just days after his shocking murder, new details have surfaced about the final public appearance of King of the Hill star Jonathan Joss. The actor was best known for voicing John Redcorn in Fox's animated series King of the Hill, and for playing Chief Ken Hoate in Parks and Recreation. He was just 59 years old when he was shot and killed, allegedly after an altercation by a neighbor he had been feuding with, Sigfredo Alvarez Ceja. Joss already had a rough year, with his San Antonio house burning down in January, losing his home and two of his three dogs, with the final pooch still missing. He told KSAT that he was having issues with the electricity, and he was using a propane heater to keep the house warm, though he hinted that maybe, 'somebody may have come in and did something, who knows.' Just two days before his death, Joss also made headlines for crashing a King of the Hill panel at the ATV TV Festival in Austin, Texas, with Variety revealing new details about his uninvited appearance. The ATX panel was meant to celebrate the show's new reboot, debuting August 4 on Hulu, with creators Mike Judge (who voices Hank Hill and Boomhauer) and Greg Daniels joined by three voice actors - Pamela Adlon (Bobby Hill), Toby Huss (Dale Gribble) and Lauren Tom (Connie). Variety's Michael Schneider moderated the panel, revealing it was supposed to be a 'small gathering,' which is why Joss wasn't invited to be on the panel. Schneider added that Joss was, 'quite miffed' about his exclusion from the panel, and took matters into his own hands, leaving his seat in the audience and approaching the microphones set up for the audience Q&A, but they were not yet turned on. When Toby Huss was speaking about writer and voice actor Johnny Hardwick, the original voice of Dale Gribble before Huss replaced him, Joss walked to the mic, as Daniels gave him an impromptu introduction as the voice of John Redcorn to the crowd. 'You were talking about Johnny, and I want to say something about him. This young man said I couldn't stand over there. I guess he didn't know that my land's already gone. He said the mic wasn't going to be used. And I'm an actor. I see a mic, I use it. I see a wrong, I make it right. I want to breathe,' Joss said. He added, 'Our house burned down three months ago,' as Schneider recalled someone in the audience yelled out, 'Dammit Bobby!' before Joss added that his house burned down, 'Because I'm gay.' Schneider added that the panel was 'frozen' and the audience was unclear how to react, with one panelist letting out an, 'Uh,' as Joss responded, 'What? You're doing the same thing, sir. The mind's full of emotion. And real.' He then finally spoke about Johnny Hardwick, stating, 'Johnny, he gave you guys a character, because he is that character. He is that person.' Judge re-introduced Joss as the voice of John Redcorn, at which point Joss walked away from the microphone and past the stage, of his own accord, with Schneider mentioning he wasn't escorted away by security. After the panel backstage, Schneider revealed the panelists all agreed it was the 'right thing' to let him speak and not involve security, though the audience Q&A was skipped after Joss' interruption. He called the interruption, 'jarring,' with Schneider debunking reports that he was upset because he wasn't in Season 14 (he was upset because he wasn't on the panel) and insisted security didn't stop him from speaking, like others have suggested. Neighbors told TMZ that the city shut off the power to Joss' home because it was deemed 'unsafe and uninhabitable.' Joss' neighbors also claimed that the house went up in flames because Joss used a BBQ pit to keep the home warm. The actor's widow Tristan Kern de Gonzales claimed he was murdered after they were 'harassed' for two years by 'openly homophobic' individuals who 'did not accept our relationship.' 'When we returned to the site to check our mail we discovered the skull of one of our dogs and its harness placed in clear view. This caused both of us severe emotional distress,' the South Carolina native recalled on Facebook. '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. 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.' Tristan added: 'My focus now is on protecting Jonathan's legacy and honoring the life we built together.' Joss' neighbor Ceja was captured by law enforcement and has been booked on suspicion of murder. He is being held on $200K bond. The report from the San Antonio Police Department obtained by states Ceja uttered 'I shot him' as he was detained by arresting officers. New details about the run-up to the violent crime have also emerged via the report, with a unnamed witness stating they drove Joss from Austin to his burned down San Antonio home around 7pm on June 1 to check his mail. The witness said she pulled up and parked in the driveway while she waited for Joss and another witness to check the mail. Joss' husband Tristan Kern de Gonzales has claimed he was with the actor on this trip and during the murder.
The Independent
11 hours ago
- The Independent
‘King of the Hill' actor Jonathan Joss' alleged killer set free after posting $200,000 bail
The suspect accused of fatally gunning down Jonathan Joss, an actor best known for TV roles on King of the Hill and Parks and Recreation, is out of jail after posting $200,000 bond and will await trial at home – less than 75 yards from the scene of the crime. Police arrested Ceja, 56, on first-degree murder charges shortly after Joss was shot dead Sunday evening in front of his San Antonio home. He made bail on Monday, and was released Tuesday afternoon, court records show. He is now under full house arrest, with a slew of conditions that include GPS monitoring, random drug and alcohol testing, and a ban on firearms possession. Attorney Alfonso Otero, Ceja's court-appointed lawyer, did not respond to a request for comment. Although police say they have 'no evidence' the killing was a hate crime, Joss' husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, said that Ceja, who lives two doors down from the couple, directed homophobic slurs at the two as the 59-year-old Joss lay dying. 'Everything was really close range. It was in the head,' Kern de Gonzales told The Independent. 'I held his face together while I told him how much I loved him. He could still hear me, he looked up at me and he wasn't able to talk because of the extent [of his injuries], but I could tell he was trying to say, 'I love you.'' At the same time, Ceja, who had reportedly been engaged in a long-running feud with Joss, laughed coldly and sneered, 'Oh, you love him? Joto,'' according to Kern de Gonzales, a South Carolina native. ' 'Joto' is Spanish for f****t,' he said. 'I never knew the word until I came to Texas, and then I heard it a lot. The deadly clash occurred after Joss and Kern de Gonzales showed up at their home, which burned down in January, to collect their mail. The two had been living in Austin, about 90 miles away, following the blaze, according to Kern de Gonzalez, who said he is certain the blaze was arson. Authorities, on the other hand, have said the cause remains undetermined. Joss clashed frequently with others on the block, who Kern de Gonzales claimed had subjected the pair to ongoing anti-LGBT+ harassment over the past two years. One neighbor shared a video with local CBS affiliate KENS, purportedly showing Joss walking back and forth with a pitchfork, screaming. However, while Joss may have at times annoyed his neighbors by ' ranting and raving ' in public, Kern de Gonzales said his spouse battled mental illness and insisted he was never violent. 'I don't care if me and my husband were walking around with one pitchfork in our hand and another pitchfork up our a**, we didn't point any weapons at anybody,' Kern de Gonzales told The Independent. 'When the man rolled up with the gun, we were checking the mail.' A police log shared with The Independent by the San Antonio PD lists more than 50 calls between January 26, 2024 and February 9, 2025 to the house Joss and Kern de Gonzales shared. Officers showed up at the address in response to disturbance reports, to conduct mental health and welfare checks, complaints of theft and criminal mischief, and one incident last year allegedly involving a knife. (Further details were not immediately available on the episode, or exactly who was involved.) The final entry is for a shooting in progress at 7:02 p.m. on Sunday, June 1, the incident that ended Joss' life. Kern de Gonzalez said finds it 'really sad how people treat other people when they're having a mental health crisis or going through trauma,' and that no one wants to consider what led to that point. 'It's OK to be a little sad, but if you're in a state where you're yelling or whatever, that doesn't get the same grace,' Kern de Gonzales said. Ceja is due back in court on August 19.
Daily Mail
12 hours ago
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BREAKING NEWS King of the Hill actor Jonathan Joss' suspected killer is out of jail on $200K bail following fatal shooting
Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, the man suspected of fatally shooting King of the Hill and Parks and Recreation actor Jonathan Joss, is out of jail on a $200,000 bail. Just days after he was arrested for murder, law enforcement officers in San Antonio confirmed to TMZ that Alvarez, who was Joss' neighbor, has 'been placed under house arrest.' He is required to wear an ankle monitor and will 'undergo random drug and alcohol testing.' During his detention, Alvarez is also forbidden from possessing firearms. Joss, 59, died in San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday after a reported altercation with Alvarez outside his home. Alvarez was captured by law enforcement and booked on suspicion of murder. The report from the San Antonio Police Department obtained by states Alvarez uttered 'I shot him' as he was detained by arresting officers. New details about the run-up to the violent crime have also emerged via the report, with an unnamed witness stating they drove Joss from Austin to his burned down San Antonio home around 7pm on June 1 to check his mail. The witness said she pulled up and parked in the driveway while she waited for Joss and another witness to check the mail. Joss' husband Tristan Kern de Gonzales has claimed he was with the actor on this trip and during the murder. Per the report, she said she saw suspect Alvarez pull up in his vehicle with a passenger and stop 'directly behind her car.' She allegedly saw Joss and Alvarez argue in her rearview mirror, and claimed Alvarez told Joss 'he had a gun and would shoot [Joss].' She claims Alvarez then shot Joss. Per the report, Joss was pronounced dead at the scene at 7.20pm and Alvarez was detained by police and 'immediately told them "I shot him." His weapons were seized. The report states that '[Alvarez] intentionally and knowingly discharged a weapon at [Joss] resulting in his death Joss' husband has since claimed the star's death was a homophobia-fueled murder - although police have dismissed this theory. A statement from a San Antonio PD spokesman read: 'Despite online claims of this being a hate crime, currently the investigation has found no evidence to indicate that Mr. Joss's murder was related to his sexual orientation.' Last Saturday, Joss — who boasts 9K social media followers — shared a video of himself in good spirits, urging fans to visit him at Tribe Comics and Games in Austin, TX for a signing. The Our Lady of the Lake University grad's last IMDb-credited gig was voicing characters for CD Projekt RED's video game Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty in 2023 alongside Keanu Reeves and Idris Elba. Jonathan also voiced the character Healing in Paul McComas and Holly Trasti's animated drama Unplugged alongside the late Louis Gossett Jr., the late Ed Asner, Christina Ricci and Jeri Ryan. But Joss is best known for voicing musician and healer John Redcorn, who embarked on a 14-year-long affair with anchorwoman Nancy Hicks-Gribble (Ashley Gardner), on the Fox animated sitcom from seasons 2–13. On January 23, Jonathan suffered the loss of his three beloved dogs when his childhood home, that his father built in 1957, burned to the ground. Joss also lost his car in the blaze, but the GoFundMe organized by Logan Kostroun successfully raised $21,300 from a $15K goal. But neighbors told TMZ on Monday that his house burned down because he attempted to use a BBQ pit to heat it after the city allegedly 'shut off his power when the property was deemed unsafe and uninhabitable.' On Monday, the star's widow Tristan Kern de Gonzales — whom he wed on Valentine's Day — claimed he was murdered after they were 'harassed' for two years by 'openly homophobic' individuals who 'did not accept our relationship.' 'When we returned to the site to check our mail, we discovered the skull of one of our dogs and its harness placed in clear view. This caused both of us severe emotional distress,' the South Carolina native recalled on Facebook. '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. Jonathan and I had no weapons.' 'My focus now is on protecting Jonathan's legacy and honoring the life we built together,' Tristan wrote in a Facebook He continued, '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.' Tristan added, 'My focus now is on protecting Jonathan's legacy and honoring the life we built together.' Jonathan is also remembered for his role as Chief Ken Hotate in five episodes of NBC's mockumentary sitcom Parks and Recreation spanning 2011–2015. Joss had small roles in TV shows like Walker Texas Ranger, Charmed, ER, Ray Donovan and Tulsa King. He also acted in films like True Grit, The Magnificent Seven, Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World and Johnson Family Vacation.
