Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, 57, has been indicted on a murder charge in connection with the June 1 shooting death of LGBTQ+ actor Jonathan Joss, 59, in San Antonio, according to The Associated Press as reported in Dallas Morning News.
It is, however, unclear whether the shooting will be considered as a hate crime, and the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office today (Wednesday, Nov. 19) declined to comment.
Ceja Alvarez remains free on a $200,000 bond.
Joss’ husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, has said that the shooting was definitely an anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime, claiming that Ceja Alvarez was telling “violent homophobic slurs” before opening fire. Gonzales has also said Joss saved his life by shielding him from the gunfire at the expense of Joss’ own life.
Under Texas Law, if the defendant is convicted and if it is determined the murder was a hate crime, that would be handled as an enhancement during sentencing rather than as a separate charge, AP explains.
Complaints were ignored, victim’s husband says
At the time of the shooting, Gonzalez said he and Joss had gone to the site of their former home, which “was burned down after over two years of threats from people in the area who repeatedly told us they would set it on fire,” to check for mail. He also said he had Joss had been “harassed regularly by individuals who made it clear they did not accept our relationship. Much of the harassment was openly homophobic.”
Although they had reported the threats “to law enforcement multiple times,” Gonzales said, “nothing was done.”
Gonzalez said in June that on the day of the shooting, a Sunday, he and Joss “discovered the skull of one of our dogs and its harness placed in clear view. This caused both of us severe emotional distress. We began yelling and crying in response to the pain of what we saw.”
That’s when, he said, a man approached, yelling “violent homophobic slurs” at the couple before he “raised a gun from his lap and fired.”
Gonzalez said he and Joss were standing side-by-side when the shooting started, and that his husband pushed him out of the way and saved his life.
While Joss was best known as the voice of John Red Corn in the long-running animated series King of the Hill, he also had a recurring role as Chief Ken Hotate in Parks & Recreation and he appeared in other films and shows including Tulsa King, Ray Donovan, True Grit, The Magnificent Seven and more.
