The husband of Parks and Recreation star Jonathan Joss has detailed the late actor’s final moments after being shot outside his home.
The actor was best known for playing Chief Ken Hotate on the popular comedy series and for voicing John Redcorn on animated sitcom King of the Hill, which ran for 13 seasons between 1997 and 2009.
On Sunday night Joss, 59, was shot and killed in San Antonio, Texas, with Sigfredo Alvarez Ceja, 56, since charged with murder.
Soon after Joss’ death, his husband Tristan Kern de Gonzales shared a lengthy statement on Facebook, claiming the actor had been killed in a homophobic attack.
A few days on Gonzalez has spoken about Joss’ final moments, claiming his accused killer ‘cackled’ as the actor lay dying.
‘While I’m holding him, he has the gun pointed over me, and he’s laughing, saying, “Oh, you love him? Joto”,’ he told The Independent, explaining the word is a Spanish slur against gay people.
Recalling the devastating last minutes of Joss’ life, he continued: ‘Everything was really close range. It was in the head.
‘I held his face together while I told him how much I loved him.
‘He could still hear me, he looked up at me and he wasn’t able to talk because of the extent [of his injuries], but I could tell he was trying to say, “I love you”,’ he added.
While waiting for paramedics to arrive, Joss died at the scene, with an incident report from the San Antonio Police Department stating that Ceja immediately confessed to the murder, telling officers: ‘I shot him’.
Although Gonzales has said his husband’s death was due to anti-LGBT+ sentiment, police have said there is ‘no evidence Joss’ murder was related to his sexual orientation’.
‘We take such allegations very seriously and have thoroughly reviewed all available information,’ it said.
‘Should any new evidence come to light, we will charge the suspect accordingly.’
The fatal incident was the culmination of years of feuding between the couple and the suspect.
When coming home to find the skull of one of their dogs, who was killed when their house burned down over the winter, displayed on their mailbox, Joss began screaming at Ceja, who then allegedly began shouting ‘violent homophobic slurs’ before opening fire.
Gonzales, who describes himself as a transgender man, has hit back at the police’s statement that the couple’s sexual orientation wasn’t relevant to the murder.
‘They ignored us, refused to file police reports for about two years [over the couple’s complaints of harassment], and now they’re trying to say it wasn’t a hate crime,’ he added.
Over the past few days, the couple’s neighbours have given interviews saying that Joss could be ‘really sweet’ but also be seen ‘ranting and raving’.
Meanwhile the police department said it responded to more than 40 calls last year involving Joss, which included welfare checks, mental health issues and disagreements with neighbours.
Addressing these past incidents, Gonzales said Joss had mental health issues but was never violent.
He also said his husband had faced racist verbal attacks in their neighbourhood for years and when they moved in together ‘the homophobia started’.
Now in the process of planning his Joss’ funeral, Gonzales is turning to humour to cope with his loss, quoting a line from It’s Always Sunny.
‘He used to love to tell people, “When I die, I don’t care what you do with me. Cut me up and make a soup out of me, I don’t care.” It makes me laugh now because I know Jonathan’s laughing too.’
In his original statement Gonzales said Joss had ‘saved my life’ by pushing him out of the way when Ceja began firing.
‘He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other. 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,’ he wrote.
Gonzales has said his focus now is on ‘protecting Jonathan’s legacy and honouring the life we built together’.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.