Jonathan Joss, Voice Of John Redcorn On 'King Of The Hill', Shot Dead At 59

Read the statement from Joss’s husband about the incident

Tragedy has struck Arlen, Texas once again. While the primary cast of the hit Fox and soon-to-be-Hulu series King of the Hill celebrated its impending August return with an ATX Festival panel, the series has lost another family member. Jonathan Joss, the primary voice of John Redcorn on 13 of the series’s fourteen seasons, including the upcoming, was shot dead Sunday night by a neighbor at the age of 59.

San Antonio Police and eyewitnesses say Joss got into a heated argument with his neighbor at a house on the city's south side Sunday night, leading to a bloody confrontation. When officers were dispatched to a shooting in progress, they arrived to find Joss near the road and attempted live saving measures until medics arrived. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Sigfredo Alvarez-Cega was arrested a block away from the scene and charged with murder. Bond has been set at $200,000. The investigation is still ongoing.

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At about 2:30 PM Eastern, Joss’s husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, released a very detailed statement on Facebook, detailing the event. “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.”

The character of John Redcorn, always addressed or referred to as "John Redcorn" or "Mr. Redcorn" by every character in the series, never simply as "John", is Nancy Gribble’s former "healer" and adulterous lover, and Joseph's biological father. He also turned from rockstar wannabe to children’s performer. He was originally voiced in the first season by Victor Aaron, who died at the age of 39 in a September 1996 car accident, four months before the series premiered. The series’s revival had already faced loss, with writer and producer Johnny Hardwick, who voiced Nancy’s conspiracy theorist husband Dale, dying in August 2023 at the age of 64, with apparently six episodes of the new season recorded. In the years the show wasn’t in production, Brittany Murphy, voice of Hill niece Luanne Platter, died in December 2009 at the age of 32, and Tom Petty, voice of Luanne’s eventual husband Elroy "Lucky" Kleinschmidt, died in October 2017 at 66. The pair have been written out as having moved away. Joss’s last public appearance was indeed at the show’s ATX Television Festival panel in Austin. Midway through, as producers Mike Judge and Greg Daniels discussed Hardwick’s death, Joss approached an audience microphone unannounced and mentioned Hardwick before expressing displeasure at not being invited onstage, and alluded to the loss of his home through the fire to the audience. After a few moments, he returned to his seat and the panel resumed.

Upon news of his death, Judge, Daniels, and current showrunner Saladin K. Patterson released a statement of condolences “Jonathan Joss brought King of the Hill’s ‘John Redcorn’ to life for over a dozen seasons, including in the upcoming revival. His voice will be missed at King of the Hill, and we extend our deepest condolences to Jonathan’s friends and family.” It’s been revealed that John Redcorn will be making a speaking appearance in episode two. All ten episodes of season 14 release on August 4, so if nothing comes out about such before then, it won’t be long after premiere.

As a Native American actor, Joss was often utilized for those kinds of roles, even in live action. He was most prominently Chief Ken Hotate for five episodes of Parks and Recreation. His other television roles include four episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger, as well as Tulsa King and Ray Donovan, and films like Johnson Family Vacation, The Forever Purge and western remakes like True Grit and The Magnificent Seven.

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Sources: TMZ, Variety, Facebook