King of the Hill voice actor Jonathan Joss voiced John Redcorn from 1998 to 2009, having taken over during the show’s second season. He later returned for the upcoming revival which will air this year. Sadly, it’s been confirmed that Jonathan Joss has been shot dead at age 59.
This shocking news was broken by TMZ, and was confirmed by San Antonio police, via Variety. Variety notes that “San Antonio officers were dispatched to a shooting in progress at a home on Sunday night around 7 p.m. When they arrived at the scene, they found Joss near the road after he was shot multiple times.”
While “officers attempted life-saving measures until medics arrived,” it was too late. “Joss was pronounced dead at the scene.” Additionally, the man who shot Joss “fled in a vehicle but was detained by officers a block away and booked for murder.” He was said to have been “shot by a neighbor after a disagreement.”
An additional statement on the matter was shared by Tristan Kern de Gonzales, the husband of Jonathan Joss, via Facebook. He added some alleged context to the situation, asserting that he and Joss were innocently checking their mail before a neighbor approached them and fired a weapon. Gonzales alleges that Joss pushed him out of the way and sacrificed his life to save him.
“My husband Jonathan Joss and I were involved in a shooting while checking the mail at the site of our former home. That home was burned down after over two years of threats from people in the area who repeatedly told us they would set it on fire. We reported these threats to law enforcement multiple times and nothing was done.”
His statement continues:
“Throughout that time we were harassed regularly by individuals who made it clear they did not accept our relationship. Much of the harassment was openly homophobic. When we returned to the site to check our mail we discovered the skull of one of our dogs and its harness placed in clear view. This caused both of us severe emotional distress. We began yelling and crying in response to the pain of what we saw. While we were doing this a man approached us. He started yelling violent homophobic slurs at us. He then raised a gun from his lap and fired.”
Gonzales insists that he and Jonathan were innocent bystanders at the time:
“Jonathan and I had no weapons. We were not threatening anyone. We were grieving. We were standing side by side. When the man fired Jonathan pushed me out of the way. He saved my life. Jonathan is my husband. He gave me more love in our time together than most people ever get. We were newlyweds. We picked Valentines Day. We were in the process of looking for a trailer and planning our future.”
“He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other,” he adds. “I was with him when he passed. I told him how much he was loved.”
“To everyone who supported him, his fans, his friends, know that he valued you deeply. He saw you as family. My focus now is on protecting Jonathan’s legacy and honoring the life we built together. If your concern is how someone coped with trauma or how loudly they speak when recounting injustice and being ignored by authorities then you never truly cared about my husband. Jonathan saved my life. I will carry that forward. I will protect what he built,” Gonzales concludes.
Victor Aaron, the original voice for John Redcorn, was replaced by Joss after he himself passed away in 1996. As mentioned, Joss returned to voice the part for the show’s fourteenth season, which Variety adds fans will get to see in Episode 2. It’s unknown if Joss voiced Redcorn for any other moments in the new season but time will tell.
Unfortunately, Joss had been dealing with several issues in his personal life, having recently lost his San Antonio home in a fire. In recent days, he actually appeared unannounced at a King of the Hill reunion panel at the ATX Television Festival in Austin, TX, where he emphasized his disappointment for not being invited to the stage.
The shooting is currently still being investigated. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding the situation as we have them. The revival of King of the Hill, which will allow fans to hear Joss voice the character at least one more time, will premiere via Hulu on August 4.