Elderly Couple Pleads Not Guilty to Murder of New York Times Executive Son-in-Law at California Park
An elderly California couple accused of the fatal shooting of their son-in-law, New York Times executive Jonathan McKinsey, appeared in court on Monday to plead not guilty to first-degree murder charges that include a special circumstance of lying in wait.
Shili Chen and her husband, Shouyong Zhang, both 77, entered their pleas through defense attorney Curtis Briggs. According to Briggs, the couple did not premeditate the attack on the 40-year-old executive. Instead, the defense maintains the couple acted out of immediate concern after witnessing something disturbing while McKinsey was participating in a supervised visit with his children at a Dublin, California, sports complex.
“My client was absolutely concerned for her own life and also concerned for her grandchildren,” Briggs stated following the court appearance.
Alameda County prosecutors allege that Chen and Zhang carefully watched and waited to ambush McKinsey amid a bitter, long-running divorce and custody battle involving the couple’s daughter, Candice Jang. However, Briggs offered a different narrative, asserting that McKinsey had previously threatened Chen’s life on three separate occasions through a hired hitman. According to the defense attorney, the couple purchased firearms in March for self-defense and felt compelled to act in the parking lot of the popular park.
“They are not cold-blooded killers. They didn’t premeditate anything,” Briggs said, though he did not elaborate on the specific details of what the couple allegedly witnessed immediately prior to the shooting.
Local law enforcement reported that emergency dispatchers began receiving 911 calls at approximately 3 p.m. on September 26 from frightened witnesses, many of whom were accompanied by young children at the facility. Several witnesses observed a black Honda speeding away from the parking lot and subsequently identified Chen and Zhang as the shooters. Responding officers pursued the vehicle and apprehended the couple shortly afterward.
Court documents spanning nearly a decade illustrate a severely troubled relationship between McKinsey and Jang, who began dating in 2008 and married in 2011, according to domestic abuse restraining order petitions filed by Jang. The couple shared three children, who were living with Jang and her parents at the time of the shooting. Jang has not been charged in connection with her husband’s death.
Records indicate that McKinsey had recently filed for divorce and was scheduled for a court appearance during the same week he was killed. Both McKinsey and Jang had filed separate restraining order petitions accusing each other of physical and mental abuse during the marriage. While both sought full custody of their children, an ongoing child abuse case restricted McKinsey to supervised visits.
McKinsey had faced two misdemeanor charges involving cruelty to a child by endangering health and corporal injury to a child. Released on a $50,000 bail, he had been attempting to enter a mental health diversion program that could have resulted in the dismissal of the charges had it been successfully completed.
According to police documentation, Zhang admitted to investigators during interviews that he shot McKinsey with his firearm. Arresting officers noted that both husband and wife were carrying weapons when they were taken into custody.
“Chen and the passenger carried out this shooting in a crowded park parking lot with blatant disregard for public safety where several children were present,” the arresting officer stated in the report.
If convicted of the charges, Chen and Zhang face sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. A bail hearing has been scheduled for November 4, with a pretrial hearing slated for November 23.
