Amelia Schafer
ICT
White Mountain Apache and Comanche actor Jonathan Joss, 59, was killed Sunday, June 1 in a shooting in San Antonio, Texas.
San Antonio Police told ICT that officers were dispatched to Joss’s residence at 200 Dorsey Drive around 7 p.m. on June 1 due to reports of a shooting in progress. When officers arrived, they found Joss near the road and pronounced him dead following life saving measures.
Police detained neighbor Sigfredo Alvarez Ceja, 56, of San Antonio at the scene. Ceja has been charged with murder in connection to Joss’s death.
Joss is survived by his husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales. In a June 2 statement on Facebook Gonzalez shared that Joss was shot while checking the mail at their former home where they had experienced repeated harassment and homophobic threats for the last two years.
“Throughout that time we were harassed regularly by individuals who made it clear they did not accept our relationship,” Gonzales wrote on Facebook. “Much of the harassment was openly homophobic. He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other.”
Even with Joss’ husband’s witness account, the San Antonio Police Department Public Information Officer told ICT, “Our investigation has found no evidence whatsoever to indicate that the Mr. Joss’s murder was related to his sexual orientation. We take such allegations very seriously and have thoroughly reviewed all available information. Should any new evidence come to light, we will charge the suspect accordingly.”
During a June 5 press conference the SAPD walked that statement now say that Joss’ murder could be given a hate crime designation during sentencing and the statement from officers that there was no evidence of a hate crime was issued prematurely.
In Texas handles hate crimes are brought up during sentencing and can contribute to a sentencing enhancement but are not a separate charge. The SAPD is also working closely with San Antonio Fire Department’s arson investigators to better understand fire connected to Joss’ death.
The couple’s home was burned down in January killing one of the couple’s dogs. In an interview with local San Antonio TV Station KSAT12, Joss said the house was built by his father in 1957 and said the fire was the result of vandals.
Joss was most known for his roles as John Redcorn in “King of the Hill,” and as Chief Ken Hotate of the fictional Wamapoke tribe in NBC’s “Parks and Recreation.”
Joss voiced Redcorn for nearly a decade, taking over for former voice actor Victor Aaron, Yaqui, in 1996 following Aaron’s death. Joss had recorded lines as Redcorn for the upcoming reboot of “King of the Hill,” which airs this September on Hulu.
Hulu did not respond to request for comment.
Joss was also featured as a voice actor in several video games including “Cyberpunk 2077,” “Red Dead Redemption,” and “Days Gone”.
Joss appeared at Indigenous Comic Con in 2017 and often spoke about Native Representation in television and broader media.
He built his career playing Native characters in western movies in the 1990s and later took on more comedic roles in television series where he worked to build depictions of modern Native people, rather than what he’d had to portray previously in old 1880s-set western movies.
In 2022 Joss won Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Sparrow International Film Festival for his role as Uncle Steve in “Abduction of the Fourth Kind”.
Joss was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas and took his first on-screen acting role in 1994. Joss played Native characters in a majority of his roles across television, movies and videogames.
“To everyone who supported him, his fans, his friends, know that he valued you deeply,” Gonzalez said on Facebook. “He saw you as family. My focus now is on protecting Jonathan’s legacy and honoring the life we built together.”
This story has been updated with the San Antonio Police Department Public Information Officer statement.
This story has been updated with a June 5 update from the San Antonio Police Department press conference.