Police investigating if homophobia played a role in King of the Hill actor's killing

Investigators are looking into whether the sexual orientation of King of the Hill voice actor Jonathan Joss played a role in his shooting death in Texas, authorities said Thursday, walking back a previous statement about the potential motive.

Joss's husband has claimed the person who killed the actor yelled "violent homophobic slurs" before opening fire outside his home in San Antonio on Sunday night. A day after the shooting, San Antonio police issued a statement saying they had found "no evidence whatsoever to indicate that Mr. Joss' murder was related to his sexual orientation."

But during a news conference on Thursday, San Antonio police Chief William McManus said the statement was "premature" and that whether Joss's sexual orientation played a role in the shooting "is part of the investigation."

"I will own that and simply say again that we simply shouldn't have done that. It was way too early in the process for any statement of that nature to be issued," McManus said.

The police chief said many in the 2SLGBTQ+ community "are feeling anxious and concerned" after Joss's shooting and that "a lot of it has to do with that premature statement."

"The loss of Jonathan Joss was tragic, most heavily felt by the LGBTQ+ community," McManus said.  

Texas does not have separate hate crimes charges. But if homophobia is found to have been a motive in the shooting, that could result in a harsher sentence at trial under the state's hate crimes law.   

"We gather the facts, and we give those facts to the district attorney's office. And then that hate crime designation is determined at sentencing," McManus said.

Husband says Joss previously faced harassment

The actor's home burned down in January. Joss's husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, has said that they were checking mail there Sunday when a man approached them, pulled out a gun and opened fire.

In a statement, de Gonzales said he and Joss had previously faced harassment, much of it "openly homophobic."   

Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, who is a neighbour of Joss, is charged with murder in the shooting. Ceja Alvarez has been released on a $200,000 US bond.

Ceja Alvarez's attorney, Alfonso Otero, did not immediately return an email seeking comment Thursday.   

McManus said police had been called to Joss's home and his neighborhood about 70 times over the past two years related to "neighbourhood type disturbances."

"Sometimes [Joss] was the caller. Other times, the neighbours were calling on him," McManus said.   

The San Antonio Police Department's mental health unit as well as a unit known as SAFFE that works with residents to help prevent crime "had extensive engagements with Mr. Joss, making repeated efforts to mediate conflicts and connect him with services that he may have needed," McManus said.   

The January fire at Joss's home is still being reviewed by arson investigators, McManus said.

Joss lost all his belongings in the blaze and his three dogs were killed.

Actors who worked with Joss, along with friends and fans have honoured Joss' memory with tributes.   

"His voice will be missed at King of the Hill, and we extend our deepest condolences to Jonathan's friends and family," the show's creators and producers — Mike Judge, Greg Daniels and Saladin Patterson — said in a statement on the animated series' Instagram page. Joss voiced the character John Redcorn and had done recording for a revival of the show before his death. The revival is set to air later this summer.