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Police in Texas have named Sigfredo Alvarez Ceja as the suspect arrested and charged over the murder of King of the Hill and Parks and Recreation actor Jonathan Joss.
Joss, who voiced John Redcorn on the animated series and Chief Ken Hotate in the Amy Poehler-led sitcom, died at the age of 59 after being shot multiple times.
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According to several outlets, and a statement from Joss’s husband, the shooting occurred outside his home in San Antonio, Texas on Sunday after a dispute with a neighbor, believed to be Ceja.
TMZ reports that the actor’s home burned down in February, killing his three dogs. Joss returned to the property on Sunday in order to collect a victim’s fire fund check. The site says that when he arrived at the property Joss saw the charred remains of one of his dogs, which provoked him. He began yelling at neighbors including Ceja, who allegedly drove by and shot him before fleeing by car.
Joss was pronounced dead on the scene when paramedics arrived.
Ceja was arrested just a block away from the incident and has been charged with felony first-degree murder. His bond was set at $200K and his first court date is scheduled for August.
Shortly after the shooting, Joss’s husband Tristan Kern de Gonzales posted a statement to the actor’s Facebook page claiming the shooting was a homophobic hate crime.
Gonzales said he and Joss were greeted by a disturbing sight when they arrived at the property, which he said had been “burned down after two years of threats from people in the area who repeatedly told us they would set it on fire”. He said they had reported these threats “multiple times.”
“When we returned to the site to check our mail we discovered the skull of one of our dogs and its harness placed in clear view. This caused both of us severe emotional distress. We began yelling and crying in response to the pain of what we saw,” Gonzales wrote.
That’s when, according to Gonzales, a man approached the two and “started yelling violent homophobic slurs at us. He then raised a gun from his lap and fired.”
“Jonathan and I had no weapons. We were not threatening anyone. We were grieving. We were standing side by side. When the man fired Jonathan pushed me out of the way. He saved my life,” Gonzales continued.
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Gonzales said he and Joss “were harassed regularly by individuals who made it clear they did not accept our relationship. Much of the harassment was openly homophobic.”
“He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other,” Gonzales continued. “I was with him when he passed. I told him how much he was loved.”
Gonzales noted he and Joss were married just a few months ago on Valentine’s Day and were making plans for the future, rebuilding what they lost in the fire.
He said their 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.”
Gonzales concluded his statement by vowing to “protect what [Joss] built” going forward.
According to a GoFundMe started on his behalf after the fire, Joss lost his childhood home and possessions, as well as his three dogs, in the blaze.
“This wasn’t just any home – it was the house his father built for his mother in 1957, filled with a lifetime of memories,” the GoFundMe description read in part.
Court records did not list an attorney for the suspect, the Washington Post reported, while police said the investigation into the actor’s death was ongoing.
