A 40-year-old New York Times technology executive was shot dead in a California parking lot on Saturday in what authorities believe was a calculated murder carried out by his wife's elderly parents. Jonathan McKinsey, who headed engineering for games at the New York Times, was killed by two masked shooters who witnesses said took turns firing at him before calmly walking away. The suspected killers—Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77—were arrested and are being held without bail on charges including murder, conspiracy, child endangerment and weapons violations. The case is drawing attention for its complex backdrop of domestic strife, allegations spanning years of abuse, and McKinsey's claims that his in-laws made derogatory remarks about his gender transition.

Authorities are investigating multiple possible motives centred on allegations of child and domestic abuse. McKinsey's wife, Candice Jang, has claimed in court documents that he hit her six-year-old son in the face and assaulted her previously, though McKinsey counterclaimed that Jang was the abusive party, alleging she struck him with a frying pan in 2013 and was verbally denigrating towards their children. Additionally, McKinsey alleged that Jang's mother, Chen, directed anti-LGBTQ+ slurs at both him and a child in the family, and that Jang attempted to pull medical tubes from his body during medical procedures related to his transition. McKinsey had faced misdemeanor charges related to child endangerment and was attempting to enter a mental health diversion programme that would have resulted in those charges being dropped.