A slain the outlet tech executive attempted suicide twice during a turbulent stretch of his relationship with the woman who would become his wife, according to court records.
Jonathan McKinsey, who was transitioning from female to male and formerly went by Dawn Finney, endured both crises in 2009 and 2010 before marrying Candice Jang in Harris County, Texas, in 2011. The documents surfaced as the former couple waged bitter custody and divorce battles, and months before McKinsey was gunned down in a park allegedly by Jang’s parents.
McKinsey referenced the first suicide attempt in a December 2009 email to Jang that was later included in a declaration submitted by a psychiatrist who backed Jang in court proceedings. “Who were the f–king a–hole parents that wouldn’t call their daughter who just wanted space who also by the way attempted suicide and ended up in a mental hospital just two months before? Right. Mom and Dad,” McKinsey wrote, according to the court documents. The circumstances of that 2009 attempt remain unclear from the papers.
Three months later, in February 2010, McKinsey alleged Jang launched vicious middle-of-the-night fights that deprived him of sleep, he wrote in his restraining order against her. During one of these confrontations, McKinsey said, Jang delivered a devastating message.
“Because no one would want to be with someone as ‘f–ked up and transgender’ like” him, McKinsey claimed Jang told him, adding that he should kill himself. McKinsey stated he attempted suicide following the remark “as a direct result of Candice’s abuse,” but managed to call 911 before blacking out and survived.
Both Jang and McKinsey traded allegations of verbal and physical abuse throughout their protracted legal wars over their three children. The mutual accusations escalated into criminal territory last year when Jang called police and accused McKinsey of hitting their six-year-old son in the face with an open hand.
Alameda prosecutors charged McKinsey with two counts of misdemeanor child abuse. He pleaded not guilty to both crimes and secured release from jail on the condition that he complete parenting classes.
The custody fight was still raging when McKinsey, 37, was fatally shot at a park. Jang’s parents, Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, allegedly ambushed him and have been charged with murder. One of McKinsey’s family members told The Post on Tuesday they believed Zhang and Chen attacked McKinsey so their daughter could obtain sole custody of the children.
McKinsey had clashed repeatedly with both in-laws. During one falling out over one of his children’s clothing choices, Chen called him a “disgusting queer” and a “pervert,” according to the records.
The slain executive’s final months were consumed by the child abuse case and the ongoing custody dispute. The restraining order he filed years earlier had painted a portrait of a relationship punctuated by late-night torment and a spouse who, he claimed, weaponized his gender identity against him during his most vulnerable moments.
Jang has not publicly addressed the allegations from the court documents since her parents’ arrest.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.