New York Times executive’s in-laws charged after fatal shooting in California park

The elderly in-laws of New York Times technical director Jonathan McKinsey killed him in an ambush-style attack, discharging two guns at him in front of children, according to explosive charging documents.

Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, then attempted to flee the scene in a Honda Civic before witnesses helped police identify and stop the vehicle, according to the documents. Cops said they then used witnesses to positively identify the two men before stopping and arresting them.

In a later interview, Zhang admitted to killing McKinsey, according to the documents. Chen invoked his Miranda rights.

The revelation comes as the two men were charged with murder early Wednesday and allegedly “lyed in wait” for him before the killing, a special circumstance that means they may have deliberately timed their attack. The couple has also been charged with myriad allegations and circumstances related to the crime.

Other allegations or special circumstances include: violence or bodily harm, use of a weapon, violent conduct, infliction of serious bodily injury, personal and intentional discharge of a firearm, use of a firearm, and personal use of a firearm, and an allegation that the defendant was armed with a firearm.

Zhang and Chen allegedly took turns shooting McKinsey in the car park of the Dublin sports ground last Saturday. Local police found and arrested the two men on suspicion of murder.

A Times spokesperson confirmed that McKinsey was a victim of the attack and had worked for the newspaper since 2023. He was responsible for engineering the newspaper’s player experience.

McKinsey had been involved in a brutal divorce and custody dispute with his wife, Candice Jang. He had three children under the age of 10 with Jang, to whom he had been married since 2011. Both parties had previously accused each other of abuse and filed restraining orders against each other.

The New York Times editor allegedly hit their six-year-old son in the face with an open hand, and Jang called the police to report the incident. McKinsey was charged with two counts of child abuse for the incident, but was ultimately released from prison on the condition that he take parenting classes.

He accuses Jang of beating him with a frying pan in 2013 and verbally abusing their children.

McKinsey also had a tense history with Jang’s in-laws. Chen visited the family in 2023 and allegedly began berating the couple’s young son for wearing dresses, calling him a “disgusting faggot” and a “pervert.” Chen also allegedly punched McKinsey’s young son in the back of the head when he asked.

When McKinsey begged her to stop, Chen turned her anger toward the New York Times employee, who was transgender and transitioned from female to male in 2010, according to the documents.

She then called McKinsey by the same names, according to the restraining order.

“She blamed me for Wyatt wanting to wear his sister’s dresses and told me to get out of ‘his house’ even though we were in the house owned by Candice and me,” McKinsey wrote.

In another incident, the stepfather allegedly punched McKinsey in the chest after undergoing a double mastectomy.

A family member told the California Post he would “put a lot of money” on the in-laws killing McKinsey to support his wife’s custody request.

Police searched Jang’s home Tuesday, but no arrests were made and no property seized.