Jonathan Joss has been murdered. The voice actor of John Redcorn has been killed in a hate crime. He and his husband had been targeted over the past three years by various threats from individuals in their community. Someone walked up to this man—this treasure of American culture—and killed him on the second day of Pride Month, 2025.
He was recently married, on Valentine's Day of this year. He was murdered. To quote his husband, Tristan: "He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other."
This man approached Jonathan, pulled out a gun, and shot him dead—cold blood—because he was gay. This reveals a deep level of rot in this country, in this society. Jonathan, the voice of John Redcorn in King of the Hill, is a figure almost every American is familiar with. That show, in many ways, was the last piece of culture that connected us, that gave us a common thread. There are few Americans who don't have fond memories of King of the Hill, of the character John Redcorn.
Joss wasn't just a voice actor—he was a symbol. A Native American actor who brought dignity, humor, and humanity to a character that could have easily been a stereotype. He turned John Redcorn into a quiet icon of cultural resilience, layered masculinity, and emotional depth. He was one of the few Indigenous actors working regularly in Hollywood. One of the few whose work reached across generations, homes, and political divides. And now he's gone. Taken by the same virulent hatred that for centuries has attempted to erase queer people, Indigenous people, anyone who exists outside the narrow, suffocating vision of white Christian Nationalist America.
We have been pushed to dehumanize each other by the capitalists. We have been driven to brutalize one another, and the capitalists have had no problem weaponizing right-wing rhetoric to fuel this violence. The fact that the state of Texas has no intent on treating this like the hate crime that it is only adds insult to injury. Truly disgusting.
Make no mistake: an attack on any member of the King of the Hill cast is an attack on the real America—an attack on American culture that rejects the brutalization of the other, it is an attack on the best of us, on those moments of family gathering, of peace, of humanity. This attack on Jonathan is further proof of how this reactionary, regressive regime divides and brutalizes the best of us.
Houdini Magazine wishes a peaceful time of mourning for Tristan, Jonathan's husband. Furthermore, we condemn all who advocate for hate. If a new future is to be built, there can be no tolerance for intolerance.
Rest in power, Jonathan Joss.
Read the statement from his husband below:
My husband Jonathan Joss and I were involved in a shooting while checking the mail at the site of our former home. That 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.
Throughout that time we were harassed regularly by individuals who made it clear they did not accept our relationship. Much of the harassment was openly homophobic.
When we returned to the site to check our mail we 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.
While we were doing this a man approached us. He started yelling violent homophobic slurs at us. He then raised a gun from his lap and fired.
Jonathan and I had no weapons. We were not threatening anyone. We were grieving. We were standing side by side. When the man fired Jonathan pushed me out of the way. He saved my life.
Jonathan is my husband. He gave me more love in our time together than most people ever get. We were newlyweds. We picked Valentines Day. We were in the process of looking for a trailer and planning our future.
He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other. I was with him when he passed. I told him how much he was loved.
To everyone who supported him, his fans, his friends, know that he valued you deeply. He saw you as family.
My focus now is on protecting Jonathan's legacy and honoring the life we built together.
If your concern is how someone coped with trauma or how loudly they speak when recounting injustice and being ignored by authorities then you never truly cared about my husband. Jonathan saved my life. I will carry that forward. I will protect what he built.
- Tristan Kern de Gonzales