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Wife of New York Times exec 'shot dead by in-laws' makes claim about way he 'abused both children'
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More has been unveiled about the New York Times tech executive who was attacked in a California parking lot and allegedly shot dead by his in-laws.
At around 3PM on Saturday (September 26), Jonathan McKinsey suffered multiple gunshot wounds, with 911 calls from witnesses making their way to emergency dispatchers.
Despite their best attempts, the 40-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police arrested his elderly in-laws, Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both aged 77, near the scene of the shooting.
According to The New York Times, McKinsey, who had been employed at the company since 2023, was the victim of the attack.
It would later be revealed that McKinsey was married to the elderly couple's daughter, Candice Jang, though she had filed a domestic violence prevention order against her spouse nearly a year prior.
Court records reveal domestic violence claims
McKinsey was accused by Jang of physically, verbally and emotionally abusing her and their three young children.
The protection order was filed in Alameda County Court in October 2025, as per the San Francisco Chronicle.
Jang detailed that her husband had hit their son 'at least four to five times', pushing him so hard on one occasion that he hit his head on the hardwood floor and suffered a bump and abrasions.
The court filing further claims that McKinsey pushed his son after saying he was too rough while playing with his sister.
It's alleged that McKinsey called the boy names such as 'a*****e' and 'jerk.'
The mom said that she was abused by her partner over 17 years, recalling over a dozen alleged attacks from November 2020 to July 2025.
Jang recalled an occasion where her partner pulled their young daughter so hard that her head hit the corner of a baby gate.
She added in the filing: "The abuse that happened over the past 17 years has caused permanent damage to my mental health and physical health.
"I would like a restraining order to protect myself and my three children, as well as my mother from future abuse."
Records reveal that the protection order was granted by the judge.
Physical abuse allegations
According to court documents revealed by Mercury News, Jang said he hit their son in the face during an argument about Lego, which left a large, handprint-shaped bruise on his face.
She spoke more about violent outbursts from McKinsey, claiming that he grabbed her wrist hard enough in 2018 to leave bruises.
Deputies who were called to the home that day found a two-year-old child unattended in an upstairs bedroom while McKinsey had left to go shopping.
As a result of his actions, he would be charged with cruelty to a child by endangering health and corporal injury to a child, both misdemeanors.
He would post $50,000 bail.
McKinsey had been trying to enter a mental health diversion program, which would have seen his charges dropped upon conclusion.
An attorney for Jang wrote that McKinsey 'is simply prone to domestic violence and child abuse' in the documents, where Jang said he regularly 'committed physical violence against me or my family members.'
McKinsey's claims about Jang
However, McKinsey made court filings claiming that Jang had been more abusive for that same time period, recalling an incident in 2013 where she beat him with a frying pan.
He also alleged that Jang verbally berated their children and that her mother, Chen, was verbally abusive toward one of the children regarding their clothing.
McKinsey, a transgender man, also accused his in-laws of making offensive comments about his gender transition, claiming they made anti-LGBTQ+ slurs at him and the child.
The late executive said they referred to him as a 'disgusting queer' and a 'pervert.'
He even claimed that his partner was abusive throughout medical procedures during his transition, alleging that she tried to pull medical tubes from his body after getting his breasts removed.
McKinsey said that Jang's dad had also punched him in the chest while recovering from the double mastectomy.
He would file for divorce from Jang last December, with the couple still battling for child custody, and a court hearing was scheduled for Friday.
Arrest and charges against the suspects
Witnesses at the scene reported seeing two masked assailants approach McKinsey in the parking lot before taking turns shooting him. Video footage recorded in the aftermath showed a body lying in the lot while officers placed the two suspects into the back of a police vehicle.
Zhang and Chen were booked into the Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County. According to booking records, the couple faces several severe allegations, including first-degree murder, felony conspiracy, firing a gun dangerously, and child endangerment that could have caused major injury or death.
Jail records indicate that while the couple currently resides in the Dublin area, they also maintain ties to Albuquerque, New Mexico.