A supervised visit ended in gunfire, and the legal process begins

There is a particular sorrow in a family dispute that ends in a parking lot, a violence that arrives not from strangers but from the people one has married into, from the grandparents of one's children. On September 26, in the parking lot of Dublin Sports Grounds in California, Jonathan McKinsey, a forty-year-old engineer for the New York Times Games, was shot and killed during what was supposed to be a court-ordered supervised visit with his children. On Monday, his in-laws—both seventy-seven years old—stood in an Alameda County courtroom and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder .

Shili Chen and Shouyong Zhang, the parents of McKinsey's estranged wife, Candice Jang, are accused of lying in wait in the parking lot before the shooting. Prosecutors allege that surveillance video shows both of them firing at McKinsey . Zhang admitted to shooting McKinsey during an interview with investigators, according to police reports, and a second firearm was found in the couple's car . If convicted, they face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The context of the killing is a divorce and custody battle that had consumed the family for years. McKinsey and Jang had been married since 2011 and had three children. In 2025, both sought restraining orders against each other, each alleging physical and emotional abuse. McKinsey, who was transgender, alleged that his in-laws had been abusive toward him for years, including using anti-LGBTQ slurs and physical violence . Jang alleged that McKinsey had been violent toward her and the children. McKinsey was facing misdemeanor child endangerment charges at the time of his death and had been granted only supervised visitation .

The defense offers a different narrative. Chen's attorney, Curtis Briggs, told reporters that McKinsey had threatened Chen's life at least three times, including once through a hit man. He said the couple purchased firearms in March because they feared for their safety, and that they acted out of concern for their grandchildren, not premeditation. "They are not cold-blooded killers," Briggs said . Zhang's public defender said he is physically frail, shows signs of dementia, and has never been in trouble with the law before . Both remain in custody without bail, with a bail hearing scheduled for November 4.

There is a detail in this story that is difficult to hold. The shooting occurred in a crowded park parking lot on a Saturday afternoon, with children present. The couple is accused of carrying out the killing in a place where families had gathered for sports and play, a setting that made the violence visible to witnesses and bystanders . Whatever the legal merits of the defense, the choice of location is part of the record.

For the three children at the center of this, the arithmetic is brutal. Their father is dead, killed by their mother's parents. Their mother has not been charged, though detectives searched her home . Their grandparents are in jail. The custody battle that consumed their parents will continue in some form, but the family that was already fracturing has now shattered in a way that no court can repair.

The case will proceed through hearings and motions and eventually a trial, if no plea is reached. The not-guilty plea entered on Monday is the beginning of a legal process, not the end. For now, the couple remains in custody, the children remain with their mother, and the parking lot where a father was killed remains what it was before—a place where people park their cars and walk toward a park, unaware of what happened there.

---

AI Image Disclaimer: The imagery accompanying this article is generated by artificial intelligence and is for illustrative purposes only.

Sources: NBC News, NewsNation, CBS News, Bay Area Reporter, KRQE