The daughter of an elderly California couple accused of fatally shooting their transgender former son-in-law in a Dublin parking lot has no direct connection to the killing, according to a defense attorney representing her mother. Candice Jang, a 47-year-old mother of three, was questioned by police following the Sept. 26 execution-style slaying of 40-year-old Jonathan McKinsey.
Curtis Briggs, who represents 77-year-old defendant Shili Chen, told The Post that he does not believe Jang was involved in the shooting, though she remains technically under investigation. Authorities searched Jang’s three-bedroom townhome three days after the killing, seizing her computer and Lexus SUV. Investigators have not released a formal motive for the attack, which occurred outside a Dublin sports complex where McKinsey had just finished a court-supervised custody visit with his children.
Custody Visit Preceded Parking Lot Shooting
The fatal encounter unfolded shortly after 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Dublin Sports Grounds located at 6700 Dublin Boulevard. A Dublin Police Services sergeant driving nearby discovered McKinsey lying behind the open trunk of an SUV with multiple gunshot wounds. Witnesses reported hearing eight or nine gunshots, and dispatchers flooded with 911 calls directed officers toward the scene.
According to defense attorney Briggs, Jang had dropped off the children for their court-supervised meeting with McKinsey and picked them back up just as the session was concluding. McKinsey, who worked as the director of engineering for New York Times Games, was walking back to his car when he was shot in front of shocked bystanders, including children.
Police detained two suspects minutes later near the scene. Chen and her 77-year-old husband, Shouyong Zhang, were arrested and booked into Santa Rita Jail without bail. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges including murder, willful discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, conspiracy, and child endangerment.
Bitter Divorce and Prior Abuse Allegations
The shooting followed an acrimonious legal battle and divorce proceedings initiated by McKinsey in December 2025, after more than a decade of marriage. Court records show the couple married in Texas in 2011 and had traded extensive abuse allegations and restraining order requests over the preceding year.
In October 2025, Jang filed for a domestic violence prevention order, alleging that McKinsey had abused her and their three children for years. Around the same time, McKinsey was charged with two misdemeanors—cruelty to a child and corporal injury to a child—after Jang reported that he struck their six-year-old son in the face. Deputies responding to the family home during that investigation also found the couple’s two-year-old child left home alone for over an hour, a probable cause declaration stated. McKinsey pleaded not guilty to those charges and was released on the condition that he complete parenting classes.
McKinsey, a transgender man, alleged in his own court filings that his estranged wife and in-laws subjected him to abuse because of his identity. He accused Chen of using anti-LGBTQ+ slurs against him and one of the children, and claimed that Jang pulled medical tubes from his body following transition-related procedures. Defense attorney Briggs countered these claims, asserting that McKinsey had exhibited a pattern of violence, threatened to hire a hitman to kill Chen, and previously broken Jang’s vertebrae during an argument.
Ongoing Investigation and Unanswered Questions
Law enforcement officials have not yet disclosed an official motive for the shooting, and the investigation remains active and ongoing. Prosecutors have turned over extensive evidence to the defense, including thousands of digital files and video recordings.
Briggs described Chen as elderly, forgetful, and overwhelmed, noting through a Mandarin interpreter that she carried a firearm out of fear for her grandchildren’s safety following alleged threats from McKinsey. While authorities continue to probe the exact sequence of events leading up to the gunfire, prosecutors and defense counsel are reviewing the substantial evidentiary record ahead of upcoming court proceedings.
