Tragedy struck San Antonio on Sunday night when Jonathan Joss, the beloved voice of John Redcorn from "King of the Hill," lost his life in a shocking shooting at age 59.
Variety reported that in a heartbreaking turn of events, Joss was gunned down near a road outside a home in San Antonio, with police detaining a suspect just a block away, now booked for murder, while the investigation continues.
The incident unfolded around 7 p.m. on Sunday when San Antonio police responded to reports of a shooting in progress at a residential location.
Officers arrived to find Joss gravely wounded, having been shot multiple times. Despite their efforts to save him, medics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Reports from TMZ indicate the shooter was a neighbor, and the violence stemmed from a disagreement that spiraled out of control. While the full motive remains under investigation, the brutality of the act—shooting a man multiple times in broad view—raises serious questions about community safety.
Adding a layer of sorrow, Joss’s husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, shared a gut-wrenching account of the moments leading up to the tragedy.
“Jonathan was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other,” de Gonzales said. Well, intolerance may not be a crime, but pulling a trigger certainly is, and justice must follow.
De Gonzales further detailed the harrowing prelude, saying, “My husband Jonathan Joss and I were involved in a shooting while checking the mail at the site of our former home. 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.”
He continued, “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.” If true, this paints a grim picture of authorities ignoring cries for help—turns out, inaction can be as deadly as a bullet.
De Gonzales added, “When we returned to the site to check our main, 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.”
He recounted the fatal moment: “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.”
Amidst the horror, Joss’s bravery shone through, as de Gonzales noted, “When the man fired, Jonathan pushed me out of the way. He saved my life.” Heroism in the face of hatred is a bitter reminder of what was lost.
Just days before this tragedy, Joss was seen publicly on Friday at a "King of the Hill" reunion panel during the ATX Television Festival in Austin.
There, he spoke unannounced from the audience, expressing frustration at not being invited onstage and revealing he’d recently lost his San Antonio home to a fire. It’s a stark contrast—going from a public moment of vulnerability to a fatal encounter in mere days.
Joss’s career was marked by his iconic role as John Redcorn on "King of the Hill," a show created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels in 1997, running until 2009 with over 250 episodes.
He voiced the character from Season 2 through Season 13, taking over after the original actor, Victor Aaron, passed away in 1996. Fans will still hear his voice in the upcoming Hulu revival, set to premiere on August 4, with Joss already recorded for Episode 2 of Season 14 and possibly beyond.