Elderly in-laws accused of killing New York Times games engineer, police say

An elderly couple was arrested in connection with the shooting death of their son-in-law, a director for the New York Times’ games division, over the weekend in California, police said.

While court documents detailed a long a history between Jonathan McKinsey and his in-laws, Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, and a divorce between McKinsey and his wife, investigators didn’t immediately disclose a motive behind Saturday’s shooting.

McKinsey, 40, of Dublin, California was found by an officer in the parking lot of a sports complex Saturday afternoon with multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene, the Dublin Police Services said in a statement.

Eyewitnesses helped officers track Zhang and Chen, both 77, and they were arrested on suspicion of murder, police said. They were set to be arraigned on their charges Wednesday morning, the Alameda County District Attorney said.

Attorney information for the suspects wasn’t immediately available.

The New York Times said in a statement that McKinsey was director of engineering for the games department and joined the news company in 2023.

The investigation is ongoing, police said.

Court documents detailed a nearly year-long divorce battle between McKinsey and his estranged wife Candice Jang, that included accusations of abuse and domestic violence.

The documents show that Jang obtained a domestic violence order of protection against McKinsey in October 2025 after he was arrested for allegedly striking their son.

McKinsey was charged with two counts of child abuse and pleaded not guilty, according to court documents. His trial was pending before his death, and he had a pre-trial hearing schedule for October, according to court documents.

McKinsey, who was transgender, claimed his wife framed him in the incident and accused Jang and her parents of abuse and using anti-LGBTQ slurs against him during arguments in a restraining order filed in December 2025, court documents said.

He filed for divorce that same month, court records show.

Jang denied her husband’s allegations in court filings.

The couple, who had two other children, were living separately at the time of his death, according to court documents.

Jang’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to ABC News for comment.