'King of the Hill' Creators Break Silence on Voice Actor's Shooting Death
Creators of the FOX hit animated series King of the Hill are speaking out for the first time since one of its voice actors, Jonathan Joss, was fatally shot over the weekend in San Antonio, TX.
Mike Judge, Greg Daniels and co-showrunner Saladin Patterson released a joint statement on King of the Hill's verified Instagram account and shared Joss' voice will be missed.
"Jonathan 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,” the trio said in the joint statement, which comes comes a month before King of the Hill premieres season 14.
Related: Details Emerge in Murder of 'King of the Hill' Voice Actor
As previously reported, Joss and his neighbor got into a heated argument that led to the fatal shooting on Sunday. Joss was 59. Joss and the neighbor, Sigfredo Alvarez-Cega, had been at each other's throats for years, and things reached a boiling point when, on the night in question, Joss saw the skeleton of one of his three dogs killed in a fire that had destroyed his home just days earlier. The home burned down after Joss used a BBQ pit to heat the home.
As first reported by TMZ, Joss became hysterical after seeing his beloved dog's skeleton and screamed at anyone in his direction. That shouting apparently led to Joss and Alvarez-Cega to have a confrontation, which led to the neighbor allegedly going home to retrieve his gun to shoot Joss. The late actor's partner has spoken out, claiming the incident was a homophobic hate crime. Local police have disputed the characterization.
Alvarez-Cega was arrested and charged with murder.
Joss lent his voice for John Redcorn's character on King of the Hill. Redcorn was a Native American healer who has an affair with Dale Gribble's wife, Nancy Hicks-Gribble.