The husband of Jonathan Joss, the actor best known for the animated television series King of the Hill, claimed that the fatal shooting Joss cried out a “violent homophobic slur” before the firing of the shot.
The 59-year-old was killed near his home in South San Antonio on Sunday night.
In a statement released the day after the murder, Tristan Caen de Gonzalez said he and Joss had previously faced harassment, many of which are “openly homophobic.”
“He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men who loved each other,” Gonzalez wrote.
After the shooting, authorities arrested 56-year-old Sigfredo Alvarez Seja and charged him with murder in Joss’ death. In a statement, San Antonio police said the investigation “has found no evidence to indicate that Joss’ murder is related to his sexual orientation.”
“We took such allegations very seriously and thoroughly reviewed all available information. If new evidence is revealed, we will request the suspect accordingly,” police said.
Gonzalez said he was present during the attack, and before the shooting they were checking mail at Joss’ home, which had been causing great damage during the January fire that claimed the lives of three dogs.
“The house burned out after more than two years of threat from people in the area who repeatedly said they would burn it,” he wrote. “We have reported these threats to law enforcement multiple times, but nothing has been done.”
“During that time, we were regularly harassed by individuals who made it clear they would not accept our relationship,” Gonzalez continued to share. “Most of the harassment was openly homophobic.”
He was told that when they visited the property to check the mail they discovered the site’s “one of their dogs and the skull of that harness and its harness,” which caused “severe emotional distress.”
“We began crying and crying in response to the pain of what we saw,” he wrote. “A man came up to us while we were doing this. He started screaming violent homophobic slur at us. He lifted his gun from his knee and fired him.”
He continued: “Jonathan and I had no weapons. We weren’t threatening anyone. We were sad. We were standing side by side. When I fired Jonathan, Jonathan didn’t get in the way. He saved my life.”
Police responded to the home around 7pm on Sunday, and “officials attempted life-saving measures until EMS arrived,” San Antonio police said in a statement. “EMS declared the deceased.”
A neighbor of Joss spoke to NBC affiliate Woai, saying the actor had a continuous feud with several people in the neighborhood and “had been acting irregularly for the past few months.”
“They are gay and two of them were repeatedly harassed because their homes burned out after years of threats from their neighbors,” the neighbor told the outlet.
Another neighbor told Telemundo San Antonio that the neighbor had previously reported Joss to police after he allegedly saw him walking through the area carrying his rifle and screaming. Neighbors claim they said they didn’t need to worry about Joss as police moved to North Carolina and pose no longer a threat.
Growing up in San Antonio, Joss was best known as the voice of John Red Corn, a native American character in the “King of the Hill” animated series, which ran for 13 seasons from 1997 to 2008. The show’s reboot is scheduled to begin in August.
Joss also played a recurring role in the television show “Parks and Recreation”, playing Chief Kenshota. He appeared in two episodes of the series “The Tulsa King” in 2022.
Before he was fatally shot, Joss was in Austin for an event related to Sneak Peak in the “King of the Hill” revival.
On Saturday, Joss posted a video on Instagram where he said he was signing the autograph at Austin’s comic book store.
“Fans can revisit King of the Hill again. I think it’s amazing because it’s a great show,” Joss said in the video, adding that he had already done audio work on four episodes of the revival.
Joss’ husband said Joss is grateful to his fans.
“To all those who supported him, his fans, his friends know that he deeply appreciated you. He saw you as a family,” DeGonzalez said.
The two got married on Valentine’s Day earlier this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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