Actor Jonathan Joss, best known for his role as John Redcorn from the beloved animated series King of the Hill, has died in a fatal shooting incident in San Antonio, Texas.
As first reported by TMZ, the San Antonio Police Department confirmed that Joss, 59, got into an argument with his neighbor on Sunday, June 1. The argument turned violent, and Joss was fatally shot by Sigredo Alvarez-Cegas, who has been arrested and charged with murder. According to eyewitnesses and authorities, Alvarez-Cegas pulled out a gun during the argument and fired several shots at Joss before fleeing the scene in a vehicle.
Paramedics were called to the scene, but they were unable to revive Joss, who was pronounced dead shortly after their arrival. Authorities apprehended Alvarez-Cegas roughly a block from where the shooting happened. His bond has been set at $200,000. An investigation is ongoing.
Joss' husband Tristan Kern de Gonzales, in a post shared on Facebook, said that the shooting was a homophobic attack after years of animosity from their former neighbor.
"My husband Jonathan Joss and I were involved in a shooting while checking the mail at the site of our former home," reads the post. "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. 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."
They returned to the site of their former home and discovered that someone had left a skull of one of their dogs there.
"This caused both of us severe emotional distress. We began yelling and crying in response to the pain of what we saw," the post continued. "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." Gonzales said that the man pulled out the gun and Joss pushed him out of the way. "He saved my life," he wrote.
"He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other," Gonzales wrote, noting that they only got married earlier this year. "I was with him when he passed. I told him how much he was loved. ... Jonathan saved my life. I will carry that forward. I will protect what he built."
Joss portrayed John Redcorn from Season 2 through Season 13 of King of the Hill, taking on the role after the original actor, Victor Aaron, died in 1996. Alongside his work in the Mike Judge-created series, he appeared in movies including True Grit, The Magnificent Seven, and The Forever Purge. He also appeared in several episodes of Parks and Recreation, Ray Donovan, and Tulsa King. Video game roles included Red Dead Redemption, Days Gone, and Cyberpunk 2077.
Hulu confirmed a revival of King of the Hill in 2023, and Joss was scheduled to reprise his role in the new season. It's unclear if he completed his work on the show before the fatal shooting. Fellow cast member and actor Johnny Hardwick, who provided the voice of Dale Gribble, died in August 2023 but recorded work on six episodes of the revival before his death, TV Line reported.