TRAGIC END
Parks and Recreation star Jonathan Joss dead at 59 after ‘irate neighbor grabbed gun and opened fire on actor’
His husband opened up about the moment Joss was shot
ACTOR Jonathan Joss, best known for his roles in Parks and Recreation and King of the Hill, died after a reported argument with a neighbor turned deadly.
Joss was shot multiple times outside his home in San Antonio, Texas on Sunday night.
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The actor was heard in a heated argument before gunshots rang out and a neighbor fled the scene in a car, police and witnesses told .
Officials arrested the suspect, 59-year-old Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, one block away from the crime scene as paramedics urgently tried to perform life-saving measures, cops confirmed to The U.S. Sun.
Paramedics attempted to save Joss's life, but he was declared dead at the home.
Nearly one day after his death, the actor's husband Tristan Kern de Gonzales shared a disturbing statement where he accused homophobic neighbors of being behind the killing.
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At the time of the shooting, Joss was stopping by his family's old home, which burned down in January, to pick up some mail, the husband explained.
When they got to the property, they saw a dog skull placed beside a harness that belonged to Joss's missing pet, Gonzales claimed.
The horrifying discovery came after one of Joss's dogs died in the first, and another one was never seen again.
"We began yelling and crying in response to the pain of what we saw," wrote Gonzales.
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Tristan went on to claim that a man approached the tearful couple and started "yelling violent homophobic slurs."
"He then raised a gun from his lap and fired," Tristan said.
Joss bravely pushed his husband away from the gunfire before he was hit multiple times, according to Tristan.
The devastated husband wrote, "He saved my life."
Tristan claimed that the couple had faced years of threats and harassment from people who "did not accept our relationship."
"He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other," the grieving husband claimed.
When asked whether there were signs that this attack was motivated by Joss's sexuality, the San Antonio Police Department told The U.S. Sun, "We cannot confirm anything along those lines as this is an ongoing investigation."
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JOSS'S LEGACY
A descendant of Comanche and White Mountain Apache people, the 59-year-old actor is known for playing various Native American characters on film and in TV shows.
One of his most iconic roles was voicing John Redcorn - the philandering masseur and "new age healer" on King of the Hill - from season 2 to season 13.
Joss is also recognized for playing Chief Ken Hotate in NBC's hit comedy series Parks and Recreation for five episodes.
Hotate was the shady chief of the Wamapoke Native American tribe who threatened to place a curse on a festival being held on a sacred burial ground.
Joss had an expansive career in film and other television shows outside of those two iconic roles.
From 1994 to 2021, he starred in 11 movies, including the Academy Award-winning True Grit in 2010.
And he also scored spots in Walker, Texas Ranger, ER, Charmed, and Friday Night Lights, among many other TV roles.
One of his final roles was the character Bad Face in the Paramount+ crime drama Tulsa King, which aired in 2022.
Joss is survived by his husband Tristan, whom he married on Valentine's Day.
Tristan announced their union in a now-heartwrenching post on Facebook, where he called the actor the "love of his life."
"Here's to the best Valentine's Day ever," he wrote in the post.
"Here's to our future together."
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TRAGIC LOSS
Just months before his tragic death, Joss revealed that he was jobless and homeless after a devastating fire destroyed his childhood house.
The actor broke down as he described the moment he discovered his dog's charred body in the wake of the devastation.
"This is a house I grew up in," Joss told ABC affiliate in January, explaining that his dad built the home in 1957.
"I'm more concerned about my dog that died, but you know what? The good Lord will protect us."
Joss didn't know the exact cause of the fire, but thought it could have stemmed from the propane heater he was using to keep warm.
Full statement from Jonathan Joss's husband
"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. 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. Much of the harassment was openly homophobic.
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.
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.
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.
Jonathan is my husband. He gave me more love in our time together than most people ever get. We were newlyweds. We picked Valentines Day. We were in the process of looking for a trailer and planning our future.
He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other.
I was with him when he passed. I told him how much he was loved.
To everyone who supported him, his fans, his friends, know that he valued you deeply. He saw you as family.
My focus now is on protecting Jonathan’s legacy and honoring the life we built together.
If your concern is how someone coped with trauma or how loudly they speak when recounting injustice and being ignored by authorities then you never truly cared about my husband.
Jonathan saved my life. I will carry that forward. I will protect what he built.
- Tristan Kern de Gonzales"
His house had been having electrical issues ever since it was vandalized, and he feared he could have accidentally left the heater running while he was out.
"Mistakes happen, man. And it’s my fault for, I guess, leaving something on," the actor said.
"Or if somebody came in and did something, who knows?
"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."
Alvarez was taken to the Bexar County jail and is being held on a $200,000 bond.
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