San Antonio Police Walk Back 'Premature' Insistence That Jonathan Joss' Killing Was Not A Hate Crime, Say Investigation Is Ongoing
Police Chief Bill McManus said Thursday that it had been 'way, way, way premature' for the department to issue a statement earlier this week dispelling the idea that the murder was a hate crime, after Joss' husband Tristan Kern de Gonzales detailed the events that preceded the shooting, saying it was the result of repeated and 'openly homophobic' harassment.
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'We understand that many in the LGBTQ+ community are feeling anxious and concerned. A lot of it has to do with that premature statement that we released, and again, I own that. We shouldn't have done it,' McManus said during a press conference Thursday. 'The loss of Jonathan Joss was tragic and most heavily felt by the LGBTQ+ community.'
Joss was shot and killed Sunday near his San Antonio home. A suspect, Sigfredo Alvarez Ceja, 56, was located and eventually booked for murder, according to the police.
McManus said the investigation is ongoing, and the department is taking the hate crime allegations seriously. In Texas, defendants are not charged separately for a hate crime. Instead, prosecutors can seek penalty enhancements if evidence can prove the defendant's actions were motivated by bias or prejudice against a protected class.
'Our homicide detectives are continuing to pursue every lead in this case to ensure that we understand the full picture of what led up to the senseless murder of Mr. Joss,' McManus continued. 'We're committed to delivering a thorough and complete investigation to file with the District Attorney's office for prosecution.'
The San Antonio Police Department is also working with the fire department to better understand the active investigation surrounding the fire at Joss' home in January, McManus said.
In his statement earlier this week, Kern de Gonzales wrote that their home 'was burned down after over two years of threats from people in the area who repeatedly told us they would set it on fire.'
'We reported these threats to law enforcement multiple times and nothing was done,' the statement read.
So far, police have not responded to that allegation, though McManus did also say Thursday that the department is investigating around 70 calls made to law enforcement over the last two years 'involving various neighborhood-type disturbances' between Joss and his neighbors.
Joss, a native of San Antonio, had worked steadily as an actor since the mid-1990s, first appearing in the Luke Perry rodeo movie 8 Seconds. He worked in several TV movies and had an six-episode arc in the series Walker, Texas Ranger. His later TV credits includes Friday Night Lights, The League, Ray Donovan, In Plain Sight and Parks & Recreation.
He appeared in 34 episodes of King of the Hill, according to IMDb, and also voiced the John Redcorn character in the King of the Hill video game. It was one of several video game credits that also included voice work in Red Dead Redemption, The Walking Dead: Michonne, Days Gone, Cyberpunk 2077 and Wasteland 3.
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