The grieving family of New York Times executive Jonathan McKinsey, who was allegedly shot by his in-laws, has spoken about the troubled relationship he had with his wife’s family before his death.
McKinsey was killed Saturday in a Northern California parking lot after his elderly in-laws, Shili Chen and Shouyong Zhang, allegedly took turns firing at him. The shooting unfolded as McKinsey and his estranged wife, Candice Jang, were involved in a bitter custody dispute.
Lovell Garner, McKinsey’s cousin, told The California Post that tensions within the family had reached a breaking point. In his view, Jang’s relatives appeared to have decided they could no longer tolerate the situation.
“Well, it’s all still pretty fresh for me still,” Garner said. “So far, everyone in my immediate family is completely shocked. It seems obvious that they were done with him since they killed him. Not sure what would make them do something that extreme.”
Garner said he reconnected with McKinsey about a year ago after they had been out of touch for several years. Having heard that McKinsey was going through a difficult period, he reached out to discuss his life and work. Garner said McKinsey did not mention his wife, children or the custody case during their conversation.
Garner remembered McKinsey as “very smart” and “outgoing,” describing him as kind, generous and raised in a supportive family. Referring to McKinsey before his transition from male to female, Garner added, “I remember more of her than him.”
McKinsey, who was formerly known as Dawn Finney, transitioned in 2010 and married Jang in Harris County, Texas, the following year.
Public details about Jang remain limited. She is the mother of three children, all younger than 10.
The couple’s troubled marriage intensified after Alameda County prosecutors charged McKinsey with two misdemeanor counts of child abuse. The charges followed Jang’s report that he allegedly struck their six-year-old son in the face with an open hand.
McKinsey pleaded not guilty to both charges and was released from custody on the condition that he attend parenting classes.
In a restraining-order request filed last year, Jang also alleged that McKinsey had threatened “to kill me and my parents.”
McKinsey filed for a restraining order against Jang as well, accusing her of emotional and physical abuse. He alleged that she told him to kill himself because “no one would want to be with someone as f–ked up and transgender like you.”
Garner said McKinsey’s own relatives appeared to support his decision to transition.
Chen and Zhang now face serious charges, including first-degree murder, felony conspiracy, unlawful discharge of a firearm and child endangerment offenses involving the potential for significant injury or death. Police arrested the couple and booked them into Alameda County’s Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of murder.
Court records describe a difficult history between the couple and McKinsey. According to a restraining order McKinsey filed against Jang, Chen visited the family’s home in 2023 to help care for the children.
During that visit, Chen reportedly noticed that one of McKinsey’s sons, Wyatt, had started asking to wear dresses belonging to his sister, Alexis. McKinsey described it in court records as a phase and alleged that Chen responded by berating the child, calling him a “disgusting queer” and a “pervert.” He also alleged that Chen struck Wyatt on the back of the head when the boy made the request.
McKinsey said that when he pleaded with Chen to stop, she directed the same insults at him.
“She blamed me for Wyatt wanting to wear his sister’s dresses and told me to get out of ‘her house’ even though we were in the home owned by Candice and I,” McKinsey wrote in the filing.
In another alleged confrontation, McKinsey said his father-in-law punched him in the chest after he underwent a double mastectomy.
Garner said his immediate priority is supporting the surviving members of the family, including McKinsey’s father, William Finney II. Finney is currently in Taiwan with McKinsey’s mother, according to Garner.
Finney posted a chilling message on McKinsey’s Facebook page a few weeks before his death, imploring his son to come back home.
“Jon, hope everything is going well,” Finney wrote on Sept. 8. “Hope you can visit us when you have some free time. Mom and Dad love you so much and miss you. Hope everything goes well with you and Candice and the kids.”
Jang’s parents allegedly killed McKinsey 18 days later.
When asked if he believed outright that the in-laws allegedly killed McKinsey to support his wife’s custody bid, Garner had a definitive answer.
“I’d lay a lot of money on that,” he said. “It’s unbelievable that they would put themselves on the line like that for her.”
