A Texas grand jury has indicted the neighbour accused of killing actor Jonathan Joss, charging him with first-degree murder. The case, involving Joss—the distinctive voice of John Redcorn on King of the Hill—now centres on whether the fatal shooting will be classified as a hate crime, prompting widespread public debate over the motive.
The indictment, filed Monday in Bexar County, charges 57-year-old Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez with murder in the June 1 shooting outside Joss’ burned-out home on the North Side. Ceja Alvarez remains free on a $200,000 bond. Prosecutors declined to comment on motive, saying only he is “charged with murder, which is the most serious charge applicable to this crime under Texas law.”
Police say Joss, 59, and his husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, returned to the property to check their mail when a confrontation began. According to a police report obtained by KENS-TV, Ceja Alvarez confessed after being detained, telling officers, “I shot him,” as he was taken into custody. The report does not specify what prompted the encounter, but notes the two men had a history of disputes.
Kern de Gonzales, who said he witnessed the shooting, has said since June that the killing was fueled by hate. He told officers the gunman used “violent homophobic slurs” before shooting, a claim now shaping much of the public discussion. A friend of the couple told local media the neighbours had “argued for years” and sometimes confronted each other while armed, although earlier incidents never became violent.
San Antonio police initially stated they found no evidence that the shooting was related to Joss’s sexual orientation. But Police Chief William McManus later reversed course, calling the earlier conclusion “premature” and saying that whether the killing was motivated by anti-LBGTQ bias “is part of the investigation.” Texas law treats hate-crime designations as sentencing enhancements rather than separate charges, meaning prosecutors must first secure a conviction before the issue can be weighed by a judge. Defence attorneys for Ceja Alvarez have disputed the hate-crime allegations. In June, attorney Alfonso Otero told reporters that his client was innocent and denied that any slurs had been used. The legal team has yet to offer a detailed public account of the events, but has signalled it will challenge both motive and witness credibility. Requests for comment from his attorneys this week went unanswered.
The shooting came months after a January fire destroyed the couple’s home, an event that Joss had spoken about publicly. During an appearance at the ATX TV Festival days before his death, he told attendees he had experienced discrimination in recent years and added, “My house burned down three months ago because I’m gay. ” Festival organisers confirmed that Joss was expected to reprise his role in the newly launched King of the Hill reboot, which premiered in August .
Joss’ career spanned decades across television and film. In addition to voicing John Redcorn for 13 seasons on King of the Hill, he portrayed Chief Ken Hotate on Parks and Recreation and appeared in series such as Ray Donovan, Tulsa King and True Grit. A member of the Mescalero Apache Nation, Joss was long regarded as one of the most prominent Native American actors working in mainstream television.
As the case proceeds, prosecutors have declined to elaborate on potential enhancements, and police have not released further details about the evidence collected. A trial date has not been set.
