SAN ANTONIO – Jonathan Joss, an actor known for voicing John Redcorn in “King of the Hill,” was shot and killed at his South Side property in San Antonio amid an ongoing feud with neighbor Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, according to police.
Alvarez, who has been charged with murder and released from jail after posting bail, told officers, “I shot him,” immediately after he was taken into custody on Sunday, a police report obtained by KSAT stated.
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The shooting happened just after 7 p.m. Sunday in the 200 block of Dorsey Drive near Pleasanton Road, the site of where Joss’ home burned back in January. He was 59.
>> ‘I shot him’: Suspect admitted to killing actor Jonathan Joss amid ongoing feud, report states
The circumstances leading up to the shooting remain unclear, but neighbor reactions and police reports suggest ongoing issues tied to the Joss home. Officers were called to the property more than 60 times in less than two years, according to San Antonio Police Department records.
Records also showed that officers were dispatched to Alvarez’s home 10 times since July 2023. Only one of those calls, a “shots fired” call on May 24, 2024, registered a police report.
In the report, obtained by KSAT on Thursday, police said an unidentified person was firing shots from the home throughout the evening and early on May 25, 2024.
No injuries or arrests were made stemming from the incident.
Joss, of Comanche descent, had a wide-ranging career in film and television and was featured in many television shows and movies, including “King of the Hill” from seasons two to 13.
Joss also played Chief Ken Hotate in “Parks and Recreation” and appeared in the 2010 Coen Brothers’ film “True Grit.” Outside of acting, he was a passionate musician who performed Native American folk rock.
He attended McCollum High School and graduated from Our Lady of the Lake University.
Since his death, his friends, colleagues and fans have honored his life and legacy with heartfelt tributes.
Here’s a closer look at Joss, his career and the circumstances surrounding his death:
Police held community forum with Pride San Antonio
SAPD held a community forum with Pride San Antonio to share updates and listen to concerns following Joss’ death.
SAPD Chief William McManus began the forum with an apology for the “premature” statement issued on Monday. He addressed criticism regarding the decision not to charge the shooter with a hate crime.
In that Monday statement, San Antonio police said there was no evidence that the fatal shooting was motivated by Joss’ sexual orientation.
“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,” police said on Monday.
Several individuals shared their concerns about the police department’s handling of LGBTQ+ cases.
One woman mentioned her gay brother was murdered in February 2023 and said she has had “such a hard time with SAPD” trying to solve her brother’s case.
“Historically, hate crimes go underreported and under-prosecuted,” Robert Vargas III said.
Hours before the forum, McManus made his first public statements since Sunday’s deadly shooting on Thursday morning.
The chief began Thursday’s news conference by admitting his department had sent out a “way way way premature” statement on Monday regarding Joss’ murder investigation.
Joss’ husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, went on Facebook on Monday and described how he and Joss were approached by a man “yelling violent homophobic slurs” at Joss before firing a weapon.
“Shouldn’t have done it,” McManus told reporters on Thursday morning. “It was way too soon before we had any real information. I will own that, and simply say again that we simply shouldn’t have done that. It was way too early in the process for any statement of that nature to be issued.”
Police have not labeled Joss’ death a hate crime.
“One of the most common questions that we’ve received is why this case isn’t being charged as a hate crime at this point. ‘Why didn’t SAPD charge him with a murder and a hate crime?’” McManus said at Thursday’s news conference.
In Texas, according to McManus, hate crimes are “not separate charges.” Instead, a hate crime determination would be made by a county’s district attorney’s office, in this case, the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.
“We (SAPD) don’t charge with (sic) hate crimes,” McManus said at the news conference. “We gather the facts, and we give those facts to the district attorney’s office. And then, that hate crime designation is determined at sentencing.”
While McManus spoke at Thursday’s news conference, Kern de Gonzales reaffirmed that his husband’s death was a “hate crime” on Facebook. He also claimed Joss spent “years begging for help” and police “ignored him.”
“If you really care about Jonathan or the long history of LGBTQIA+ and Indigenous people who have been ignored and harmed by the system, don’t believe this farce,” Kern de Gonzales wrote. “And let’s be clear: I know that the people outside of uniform, who truly loved and respected Jonathan, will deal with whoever did this. One way or another justice will prevail.”
Suspected shooter told police, ‘I shot him’
According to a San Antonio police report obtained by KSAT, Alvarez told officers, “I shot him,” immediately after he was taken into custody.
The report said a woman drove Joss and another person from Austin to the Dorsey Street property to check the mail.
On Sunday, the driver pulled into the driveway and parked while she waited for Joss and the other passenger, the report said. On Monday, Joss’ husband posted on Facebook that he was at the scene when he died.
They told the woman they would be ready to leave in about five minutes, the report said.
Alvarez drove up and parked directly behind the woman’s car, according to the report, and the woman watched as an argument ensued between Joss and Alvarez. She told police that Alvarez threatened to shoot Joss with a gun and then fired a rifle.
Joss was pronounced dead at the scene.
Alvarez was detained without incident and immediately told an officer, “I shot him,” the report said. His weapons were seized.
The police report does not indicate a motive.
Alvarez was released from the Bexar County jail on Wednesday afternoon, a day after posting a $200,000 bail. The bond amount was recommended by the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.
His bond conditions include full house arrest, random drug testing and no possession of firearms.
Joss had an ongoing feud with Alvarez
Neighbors told KSAT that Joss had an ongoing dispute with Alvarez — a claim that is supported by police reports.
Alvarez resides just a few doors down from Joss’s former home, neighbors said.
One woman who asked to remain anonymous said she noticed Joss standing toward the edge of his property on Sunday, arguing with someone in a car.
“I had just gotten into my vehicle, turned it on, and so my back was to them,” she said. “I didn’t see when it happened — that’s when gunshots rang out.”
The woman said she quickly took cover, ducking down in her own car, until she heard the other vehicle speed away and saw Joss on the ground.
Another neighbor said Joss would argue with different people over various things. One resident who also spoke anonymously said Joss could be a polarizing figure, often involved in disagreements with people up and down the street.
“We would see him down the street yelling, ranting and raving,” she said. “Other times, he could be really sweet.”
Robert Rios, a longtime friend of Joss, said he knew of the years-long tension between Joss and the suspect, whom he characterized as homophobic.
Police called to Joss’ home over 60 times since 2023
Officers were called to Joss’ home on Dorsey Street more than 60 times in less than two years, according to San Antonio police records.
In all, police said 66 calls were made for various reasons to the home that date back to September 2023.
Here is a breakdown of some of the calls:
- 13 disturbance with a neighbor calls
- 1 involved a gun
- 1 involved a knife
- 1 disturbance involving a gun call (not associated with a neighbor)
- 1 fire call
- 10 mental health calls
- 4 welfare check calls
Police said other frequent calls made to Joss’ address since September 2023 also include reasons labeled as “patrol by” (eight calls) and “miscellaneous” (seven calls).
On Oct. 10, 2023, a San Antonio police officer responded to Joss’ home on a possible disturbance involving a gun call. The person who called 911 reportedly witnessed Joss naked in the street holding a rifle.
According to a police report, an officer arrived at Joss’ home and called for him to come out. When Joss stepped out of the home, the officer said Joss remained naked except for a “window curtain” that “wrapped around his genitals.”
In the report, the officer wrote that Joss appeared to be nervous and confused. Joss told the officer that he had repeatedly heard the sounds of doors opening and closing or “a cough or moan” coming from Joss’ vehicle.
“I know someone is after me,” Joss told police. According to the report, he told the officer he believed the CIA was “tracking him.”
With Joss’ permission, two officers went into his home and saw a rifle. The officers confiscated three weapons from Joss’ home for his safety “and the safety of the public,” the police report said.
Officers said they notified MEDCOM, which facilitates the coordination of psychiatric emergency services transfers, about the detention of Joss’ weapons.
Joss was taken to a hospital for further evaluation, according to the police report.
Months later, on June 8, 2024, officers said they received a disturbance with a knife call at Joss’ home. Before arriving at the home, an officer said they looked up Joss’ information and found he had an active warrant on an unrelated criminal mischief charge.
When the officer arrived at the scene, the report said police spoke with Joss, who neighbors said was “walking the streets with a crossbow in his hands, not pointing it at anyone.”
The officer wrote that Joss was “on his property” and “did not have the crossbow or any other weapons on his person” when the officer talked to him.
According to a second police report from the same day and similar time as the first report, another officer spoke to Alvarez, who also complained about Joss “walking outside his home with a crossbow.”
Alvarez also told police that Joss called him names, including “racial slurs.” Alvarez then showed the officer a video of Joss.
According to the second police report, the video showed Joss driving slowly inside his vehicle before he stopped in front of Alvarez’s home, which is a few doors down from his own, and tried to get Alvarez to come out of his house.
Alvarez said he filed multiple complaints detailing how Joss has previously harassed him and Alvarez’s brother, who lives next door, but lamented how nothing has been done, the report said.
According to Alvarez, every time police officers arrived and later left the area, Joss would resume harassing him. On at least one occasion, Joss told Alvarez that he is “coming for him,” police said.
Alvarez also told police he was afraid to leave his wife and kids at home because he alleged Joss was “known to follow them around the neighborhood.”
When police spoke to Joss, he admitted to talking to Alverez about their “dogs fighting with each other,” but denied his harassment claims. Joss also told police the video of him driving was about showing “his partner something” and not at all connected to Alvarez.
Due to the then-active criminal mischief warrant, authorities said Joss was booked that day into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center.
911 calls were placed to Alvarez’s home
KSAT also obtained 911 calls made to Alvarez’s home on Thursday. In all, records show SAPD was called to his residence 10 times since July 2023.
Below is a full breakdown of the 10 calls:
- 5 disturbance neighbor calls
- 4 shots fired/heard calls
- 1 threat call
Among those 10 calls, KSAT learned a police report was filed for only one incident: a “shots fired” call that originated on May 24, 2024.
According to the report, an SAPD officer arrived at the home at 10:49 p.m., where they heard shots ringing out and loud music blaring from the back of the residence.
The officer then tried to get the attention of anyone at the home, but was unable to, the report states. SAPD said the officer notified their supervisor before leaving the scene.
More than two-and-a-half hours later, at 1:21 a.m. on May 25, 2024, the department said the original officer was dispatched to Alvarez’s home for a second time on a similar “shots fired” call.
In the report, the responding officer wrote that they heard shots ringing out again at the home and were unsuccessful in getting the homeowner’s attention a second time.
A neighbor, whose name and address were redacted in the report, told the officer that the person at the home, whose name was listed as “unknown” and whose age was redacted in the report, had been drinking and firing a weapon “all night next to her window.”
It is unclear if the referenced window belonged to the neighbor or the person at Alvarez’s address.
According to the report, the officer told the neighbor that they were “unable to force entry” into the home. SAPD said it also sent its EAGLE helicopter to the back of the home. Authorities said no injuries were reported at the home.
Joss lost his home in January
Joss lost two dogs and his home in a fire in January.
Firefighters were able to knock down the flames, but not before it burned the home, a vehicle in the carport and two dogs, Joss told KSAT at the scene.
Joss said his father built the home for his mother in 1957.
He told KSAT at the scene that he had wanted to come home and take care of his dogs due to the cold weather. He said the home had been vandalized and he lost electricity.
He said at the time he was using a propane heater in the home for warmth and that he wasn’t sure if he left it on or if someone “came in and did something.”
“I don’t have a job. I don’t have children. I’m missing one more dog. ... I don’t have a place to stay,” Joss said in January.
Watch his full interview below.
Joss’s husband was with him during the shooting
In a Facebook post on Joss’ account, Tristan Kern de Gonzales released a statement that said he and Joss were newlyweds and had married on Valentine’s Day.
Kern de Gonzales said he was with Joss the day he died, and the two were checking mail at the site of their former home on Sunday before the shooting occurred.
When the couple arrived at the property on Sunday, Kern de Gonzales said they found the skull of one of their dogs and its harness, causing him and Joss to yell and cry out in “severe emotional distress.”
A man then approached the two and “started yelling violent homophobic slurs” before raising a gun from his lap and firing, he wrote.
Kern de Gonzales said the two were unarmed and had previously been “harassed regularly by individuals who made it clear they did not accept our relationship.”
“Much of the harassment was openly homophobic,” he wrote on Facebook.
Police have not confirmed the sequence of events but acknowledged the allegations in a statement Monday.
“Our investigation has found no evidence whatsoever to indicate that Mr. Joss’s murder was related to his sexual orientation,” police said in a statement. “Should any new evidence come to light, we will charge the suspect accordingly.”
Kern de Gonzales said Joss pushed him out of the way during the shooting.
“He saved my life,” Kern de Gonzales wrote, and said he told Joss “how much he was loved.”
Kern de Gonzales said they were in the process of looking for a home and planning their future. In another post, he said he has no current plans for a “celebration of life” for Joss and donations are not needed.
“To everyone who supported him, his fans, his friends, know that he valued you deeply. He saw you as family,” Kern de Gonzales wrote. “My focus now is on protecting Jonathan’s legacy and honoring the life we built together.”
Joss performed in Austin over the weekend
Joss reportedly showed up at a reunion with his “King of the Hill” co-stars at Austin’s ATX TV Festival on Friday and had a “meltdown,” according to a thread on Reddit. Reddit users said Joss rambled and interrupted the panel, and he said that his house burned down because he was gay.
Fans shared their support for Joss — and later their condolences — in the thread.
Rios told KSAT that he and Joss had just performed together Saturday night in Austin.
“I was very fortunate to have spent the last few hours of his life with him,” Rios said. “He was only at that house to check for a royalty check.”
Tributes pouring in
Since his death, tributes have poured in remembering Joss.
In a statement to PEOPLE, actor Nick Offerman said he and his “Parks and Recreation” costars have been texting each other about Joss all day.
“We’re just heartbroken,” Offerman wrote, in part. “Jonathan was such a sweet guy and we loved having him as our Chief Ken Hotate. A terrible tragedy.”
On Monday, actor Chris Pratt posted a screenshot of an article about Joss’s death, writing, in part, “RIP Jonathan. Always such a kind dude ... Sad to see. Prayers up. Hug your loved ones.
The “Parks and Recreation” Instagram account made a post honoring Joss’ role in the series.
“King of the Hill” creators Mike Judge, Greg Daniels and current showrunner Saladin Patterson released a statement on the show’s Instagram account. Adult Swim, the programming block that aired the show, also made a post.
In a post to Facebook, OLLU remembered Joss as “a gifted actor” and said he graduated from the university’s communications and theater program in 1990.
“Jonathan remained a proud member of our university community and a trailblazer in his field, the post said, in part. ”His work and advocacy have left a lasting impact, and his legacy will continue to inspire."
The American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions said in a statement that Joss was “a powerful voice for Indigenous representation and cultural pride.”
“He was a friend and relative, and we at AIT-SCM were deeply honored by his support ... Jonathan’s lifelong contributions and dedication to elevating Native visibility have had a profound impact on many, and his absence leaves a significant void,” AIT-SCM wrote, in part.
A memorial has also been set up at the site of the shooting.
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