‘King of the Hill' voice actor Jonathan Joss shooting suspect released from jail on $200K bond
The man accused of killing voice actor Jonathan Joss was released from jail on Monday, after allegedly admitting to authorities what he had done, according to a police report obtained by KSAT.
Joss, 59, was best known for his character John Redcorn on King of the Hill. He was shot and killed on his property in San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday night, authorities said.
The suspect, Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, 56, who was Joss's neighbor, posted a $200,000 bond Monday night, a Bexar County court spokesperson told Yahoo News. (The San Antonio police report originally misstated his name as Sigfredo Alvarez Ceja.) He is now under house arrest (and thus subject to random drug testing) is not allowed access to any firearms and cannot make contact with Joss's family. Ceja Alvarez allegedly told San Antonio police, 'I shot him,' after he was taken into custody on Sunday, KSAT reported.
Officers responded to a call about a shooting around 7 p.m. on Sunday on the south side of San Antonio. Police found Joss near the roadway, and police attempted life-saving measures until the EMS arrived and pronounced him dead. Ceja Alvarez had fled the scene but was caught and arrested by police one block away, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
Joss's husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, alleged in a post on Joss's Facebook page on Monday that Joss was 'murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other.'
'He started yelling violent homophobic slurs at us,' Kern de Gonzales wrote. 'He then raised a gun from his lap and fired.'
San Antonio police said in a statement on Monday that their investigation has found no evidence that shows 'Joss's murder was related to his sexual orientation.'
A court hearing for Ceja Alvarez has been scheduled for Aug. 19, according to News 4 San Antonio.
Joss was best known for his role as John Redcorn on King of the Hill, which aired from 1997 until 2009. He took over for the original Redcorn voice actor, Victor Aaron, in the show's second season, after Aaron died in a car accident. Joss also played the recurring role of Chief Ken Hotate in NBC's Parks and Recreation and appeared onscreen in Ray Donovan, True Grit and The Magnificent Seven.
King of the Hill was revived for its 14th season, which will premiere on Hulu in August. Joss was not invited to partake in the revival, but he did attend the King of the Hill cast panel at 7 p.m. local time at Austin's ATX TV Festival on Friday, roughly 48 hours before he was found shot in San Antonio.
Joss lost two dogs and his San Antonio childhood home in a fire in January.
'This is a house I grew up in. I'm more concerned about my dog that died, but you know what? The good Lord will protect us,' Joss told KSAT at the time, adding that his father built the home in 1957.
Joss was of Comanche and White Mountain Apache ancestry, and his performances as Native characters on TV resonated with a lot of fans who took to social media to commend Joss's work.
'John Redcorn was pretty much the only contemporary Native representation I had in comedy growing up,' one viewer wrote on X. 'Probably the funniest Native character in cartoon history and a lot of that was on Jonathan Joss' pitch perfect rezzy uncle performance. RIP to one of the best to ever do it.'
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the day this shooting took place.
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