Elderly Couple Charged In Dublin Murder of Son-In-Law, Accused of Lying In Wait

Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, appeared in court Wednesday to face newly filed charges of murder in connection with the shooting death of their son-in-law in a Dublin parking lot Saturday.

The Alameda County District Attorney's Office has charged Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen with murder and multiple related charges, with the special circumstance of "lying in wait," in the death of 40-year-old Jonathan McKinsey. As the New York Times reports, prosecutors say that surveillance video from the scene show the couple shooting McKinsey "in concert" with two guns before driving off in a black Honda Civic.

They further allege that Chen admitted to the shooting after her arrest, and before invoking her Miranda rights.

After Dublin police said that they had arrested the couple on suspicion of murder as well as child endangerment, there was a question about whether McKinsey's children were in the car when he was ambushed. But prosecutors indicate that the child endangerment charge stemmed from the shooting taking place in a crowded parking lot on a Saturday, "with blatant disregard for public safety where several children were present."

No motive for the crime was given in charging documents, but as we've learned since the shooting, McKinsey and his wife of 15 years, Candice Jang, were in an ongoing custody battle and in the process of getting divorced. Allegations of abuse and neglect of the children were volleyed from both sides in warring court filings last year, and McKinsey alleged that his wife had threatened him previously saying she would tell police that he abused the children if he tried to make any claims against her.

As the Chronicle reports, a judge had granted McKinsey unsupervised visits twice a week with his three children, ages 3, 5, and 7, at a hearing in late August, over the objections of Jang, who claimed in court that the children were afraid of their father. These visits were only to happen in public spaces, such as parks and libraries, per the Times.

Jang had been granted full custody of the children last December, as the divorce proceeding began, and after McKinsey had moved out of their shared Dublin home, according to court documents. Jang got a restraining order against McKinsey last August, claiming that he had slapped their six-year-old son in the face, and that he had forcibly grabbed her by the arms and knocked her into the corner of a table, causing injuries, years earlier.

McKinsey had also gotten his own restraining order against Jang. He pleaded not guilty last year to two charges of misdemeanor child abuse last year, and agreed to take 12 parenting classes in exchange for having the charges dismissed.

Court filings included claims by McKinsey, who was trans, that both his wife and his in-laws had been hostile to his gender transition — and that his father-in-law had once punched him in the chest shortly after he had "top surgery," i.e. a double mastectomy in 2010. He also claimed that his wife had tried to pull medical tubes out of his body after procedure.

Following an incident in which their then-six-year-old son had apparently talked about wanting to wear his sister's dresses, McKinsey said that Chen had hit the child and called him a "disgusting queer" and a "pervert," and then used the same words to describe him.

After the charges were filed, McKinsey's divorce attorney, Andrea Mah, issued a statement, per the Times, saying, "This is a true tragedy, particularly for the three children now left without a father. I trust that our justice system will hold those responsible for Mr. McKinsey’s senseless death accountable."

Per the Chronicle, Dublin police were at the home that McKinsey and his wife previously shared on Tuesday night, but declined to give any details about why they were there.

Previously: Accusations of Transphobia and Abuse Revealed In Court Filings Linked to Dublin Homicide