Tristan Kern de Gonzales says he was checking the mail with his husband, actor Jonathan Joss, when they found it: the skull of one of their dogs, placed intentionally, grotesquely, at the site where their home once stood—before it was reduced to ash. They hadn’t lived there since the fire, which de Gonzales claims followed years of threats.
“They told us they’d burn it down,” he wrote in a public Facebook post. “And then they did.”
Joss and de Gonzales began crying, yelling, breaking down. That’s when the shooter approached, they say. According to de Gonzales, the man shouted violent homophobic slurs before raising a gun from his lap and pulling the trigger. Joss—best known for voicing the Indigenous character John Redcorn on King of the Hill—pushed his husband out of the way. He died saving him.
Police Say Jonathan Joss’s Killing Wasn’t a Hate Crime
Despite the husband’s detailed account and claims of a long history of anti-gay harassment, the San Antonio Police Department says there is “no evidence whatsoever” that Joss’s killing was motivated by sexual orientation. The shooter is in custody, but hate crime charges are off the table—at least for now.
“We take such allegations very seriously,” SAPD said. “If new evidence comes to light, we will charge the suspect accordingly.”
But for de Gonzales, the message is clear:
“Jonathan was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other.”
SAPD Homicide is currently investigating the murder of Mr. Jonathan Joss. Despite online claims of this being a hate crime, currently the investigation has found no evidence to indicate that the Mr. Joss’s murder was related to his sexual orientation.
— San Antonio PD (@SATXPolice) June 2, 2025
A Long Pattern of Being Ignored
This wasn’t the first time the couple had cried out for help. De Gonzales says they reported harassment to the authorities “multiple times,” but nothing was done. In rural or suburban America, especially for same-sex couples, that story is all too common: threats aren’t taken seriously until they escalate into something irreversible.
Joss himself had recently posted on Facebook that he was in “one of the hardest seasons” of his life. His childhood home had burned down. All his dogs had died. He had felt excluded from a King of the Hill event. The show had been a major part of his identity for years.
“To not be invited,” he wrote, “felt like being shut out of a place I helped build.”
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What Does It Take to Be Believed?
In the public grieving of de Gonzales, a brutal question hangs: How many signs of hate does it take before we name it what it is? A burned home, a dog’s skull, slurs, a bullet. Still, police stop short of calling it what the survivor says it is: a hate crime.
What we’re left with is a love story turned tragedy, and a system once again slow to acknowledge the violence queer people still face—especially when their love doesn’t come with a corporate Pride sponsorship.
Jonathan Joss died a hero to the man he loved. That should be enough. But if justice is going to mean anything, his story deserves more than just an ending. It deserves truth.
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