Holding a pitchfork and shouting about deportations, King of the Hill actor Jonathan Joss can be seen in newly surfaced video in a confrontation with neighbors moments before he was shot and killed.
Residents of the south San Antonio area where Joss lived appeared to question him for wildly waving a pitchfork as he was walking down the street in footage obtained by local TV station KSAT.
‘I’m walking down the street. I’m rehearsing. I’m in movies, man. I’m rehearsing a scene,’ responded the man best known for voicing the character John Redcorn in the animated show.
Joss, 59, died after being shot by his neighbor, Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, Sunday in Texas, the local cops stated.
An arrest report from the San Antonio Police Department obtained by DailyMail.com states Alvarez uttered ‘I shot him’ as he was detained by arresting officers.
Prior to the shooting, Joss’ public spectacle attracted the attention of many residents, including the woman who shot the argument on her phone.
‘What’s it feel like bro,’ a man can be heard saying to Joss.
‘Pulling a gun on somebody- that’s reason for deportation, man,’ the actor replied.
The San Antonio Police Department had been called to Joss’ home 70 times over the two years, Chief William McManus told the media Thursday at a press conference.
In video filmed moments before his death, actor Jonathan Joss can be seen carrying a pitch fork down the street. The clip was obtained by San Antonio TV station KSAT
Residents of the south San Antonio area where Joss lived appeared to question him for wildly waving a pitchfork as he was walking down the street in footage obtained by local TV station KSAT
‘Sometimes he was the caller; other times the neighbors were calling on him,’ McManus shared.
A feud between Joss and Alvarez had gone on for some time, forcing the involvement of the San Antonio Fear Free Environment – a police unit tasked with crime prevention.
A police mental health unit had also had ‘extensive’ contact with Joss, the police chief said.
Joss’s husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, told the Independent that the couple had been the subject of harassment for years because of their sexuality.
While initially denying that Joss’s death was connected to his sexuality, McManus repeatedly said Thursday he ‘shouldn’t have done it.’
‘That was way, way, way premature,’ the chief stated. ‘We shouldn’t have done it. It was way too soon before we had any real information, and I will own that.’
McManus added what role of the actor’s sexuality may have played in his death is now a factor in the investigation, which is still on-going.
‘That is part of the investigation and whatever we find out, we will turn over to the package we give to the district attorney’s office,’ the top cop stated.
New details about the run-up to the violent crime have also emerged via the report, with a unnamed witness stating they drove Joss from Austin to his burned down San Antonio home around 7pm on June 1 to check his mail
Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, the man suspected of fatally shooting King of the Hill and Parks and Recreation actor Jonathan Joss, is out of jail on a $200,000 bail
On Monday, the star’s widow Tristan Kern de Gonzales – whom he wed on Valentine’s Day – claimed he was murdered after they were ‘harassed’ for two years by ‘openly homophobic’ individuals who ‘did not accept our relationship’
The issue of potential hate crime charges was also addressed by the chief, explaining his investigators would gather evidence of a hate crime, but ultimately, a district attorney would use the evidence in elevating charges if they were motivated by a person’s race, religion or sexual orientation.
‘In Texas hate crimes are not separate charges. Instead they are addressed through sentencing enhancements,’ McManus explained.
‘If a second-degree is eventually designated as a hate crime, then that would bump up to a first-degree felony.’
Alvarez bonded out of jail Wednesday on a $200,000 bond.
