Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen turned a family feud into murder
By Daniel Okafor · Reporting from New York ·
Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen shot their son-in-law in a public park to end a custody battle, proving that family dysfunction is no excuse for premeditated murder.
Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen are wrong. They chose a public parking lot to execute their son-in-law. They turned a custody dispute into a massacre. They did not protect their family. They endangered the public.
A public execution
The shooting happened on a Saturday afternoon. The location was the parking lot of the Dublin Sports Grounds in Dublin, California. Jonathan McKinsey, 40, was the target. Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, were the shooters. The Los Angeles Times said that police obtained surveillance video of the couple shooting McKinsey.
Shouyong Zhang admitted to the shooting during a police interview. A witness, Assad Razawi, heard gunshots. He saw McKinsey drop to the floor with blood on his head and chest. Razawi’s daughter said she saw the man and woman casually walk away from the scene. The Guardian said a police sergeant found McKinsey dead. Prosecutors charged the couple with murder and lying in wait.
A domestic war collapsed the family
The violence followed years of family collapse. McKinsey and his estranged wife, Candice Jang, married and had children. By December 2025, they were in a contentious divorce. Both sides traded claims of horror.
Jang sought a domestic violence prevention order in October 2025. She alleged McKinsey slapped their son across the face. She wrote that she found the boy cowering by a wall with a handprint bruise on his face. She alleged McKinsey told her, "I hope you drop dead. I hate you so much," during an argument in 2020.
McKinsey fought back in court. He alleged Jang abused him for years. People.com said that McKinsey claimed Jang tried to pull medical tubes from his body after a gender transition procedure. He alleged she hit him with a frying pan. He claimed she struck him with a mirror and severed a tendon in his hand.
The in-laws joined the fight. McKinsey alleged Shili Chen called him and one of the children a "disgusting queer" and a "pervert." He alleged Shouyong Zhang punched him in the chest while he recovered from mastectomy surgery. In December 2021, Jang stated in court that she slept with scissors for protection.
Can domestic dysfunction justify murder?
This killing shares the mechanism of the Menendez brothers murder case. In both, family members commit murder to end a cycle of long-term physical and psychological abuse. Zhang and Chen likely believed they were cutting out a cancer to save their daughter and grandchildren. They viewed the gun as a tool for family preservation.
But the facts destroy that logic. This was not a desperate act of survival. It was a planned ambush. The couple waited for McKinsey in a crowded park. A police declaration states they showed blatant disregard for public safety where several children were present. They did not end a cycle of abuse. They started a new one of blood and prison.
The timing reveals the motive. The killing occurred one week before a scheduled custody hearing. Zhang and Chen did not act to stop abuse. They acted to win a legal battle. They replaced a judge with a firearm.
The defense will likely seek a change of venue out of Alameda County. They will argue that the prominence of McKinsey as a New York Times executive prejudices the jury. This is a tactic to avoid the local outrage of a public execution.
Prosecutors will use the family court records to prove premeditation. The mutual restraining orders and the history of transphobic harassment provide the map of the motive. The "lying in wait" charge rests on this documented animus.
The facts lead to one verdict. No amount of domestic dysfunction justifies a public ambush. Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen did not save their family. They destroyed it. They are not protectors. They are murderers.