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The married couple accused of gunning down their son-in-law in front of several bystanders last weekend at the Dublin Sports Grounds made their first court appearance at the East County Hall of Justice Wednesday.
Dublin residents Shili Chen and Shouyong Zhang, both 77, were charged with murder, with Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson alleging the couple lay in wait to kill Jonathan McKinsey, a New York Times employee who had reportedly been in the midst of contentious divorce proceedings with their daughter. Â
If convicted of first-degree murder with the special enhancement, Chen and Zhang could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The two also face gun charges, with a probably cause declaration stating the two killed their son-in-law “in concert.”
Witnesses pointed Dublin Police Services officers to a black Honda Civic leaving the sports grounds, according to the District Attorney’s office. Officers stopped the vehicle and detained Chen, who was driving, and Zhang, who was in the passenger seat.Â
Police said that they found one gun in Chen’s possession and a second in the vehicle that was identified by Zhang as the one used in the attack. They also said surveillance video corroborated witness accounts.
“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,” police wrote in the probable cause declaration made public by the District Attorney’s office Wednesday.
The charges filed Wednesday differ in some ways from those recommended by police, which had included child abuse/endangerment and conspiracy to commit fraud.
The killing has drawn national attention, and dozens of local and national reporters attended Wednesday’s arraignment at the East County Hall of Justice, located about 2 miles from the site of the shooting.The suspects’ court appearance Wednesday was brief; Zhang was flanked by his appointed attorney but did not speak.
Chen, who had invoked her Miranda Rights at the police station following her arrest, said through a Mandarin language interpreter that she did not have the means to afford an attorney. She was set to be appointed a public defender and return to court Thursday morning.
While police allege that Zhang confessed to shooting McKinsey, neither suspect had entered a plea on the charges as of Wednesday. Both Zhang and Chen were ordered to be held without bail at Santa Rita Jail.
McKinsey, 40, was embroiled in a bitter divorce with Zhang and Chen’s daughter, Candice Jang, which included competing allegations of abuse. Jang accused McKinsey of abusing their children, while McKinsey, who was transgender, alleged that Jang and her parents had abused him and used anti-LGBTQ+ slurs.
McKinsey and Jang had each obtained restraining orders against the other, with McKinsey having said in court filings months before his death that he believed his wife was “capable of great harm.”
While he did not seek restraining orders against Chen and Zhang, McKinsey alleged that the pair frequently kicked him out of the Dublin home he owned with Jang; that Zhang had punched him in the chest as he was recovering from a double mastectomy; and that Chen had verbally abused him.
McKinsey filed for divorce shortly after Jang went to police last year with allegations that he had hit one of their children and left another unattended to go shopping. McKinsey was charged with two misdemeanors and pleaded not guilty. He had completed parenting classes and was seeking diversion in the case at the time of his death according to court records.
Finances had been one source of strife for the couple, according to local family court records, with both requesting in their dual restraining orders that the other refrain from locking them out of their financial accounts. McKinsey also requested access to their joint savings account. Jang said that she was a homemaker who had worked since 2010 and that she was financially dependent on McKinsey in order to raise their three children.
Court records reveal abuse allegations before fatal shooting in Dublin parkSeptember 30, 2026 9:17 am
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