Jonathan Joss' Husband Reveals His Heartbreaking Last Words to the Actor as He 'Held' His 'Face Together' After Shooting (Exclusive)

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Tristan Kern de Gonzales (Left) and Jonathan Joss (Right). Credit :

Tristan Kern de Gonzales/Facebook

NEED TO KNOW

  • The hubby of character Jonathan Joss opens up to PEOPLE astir nan last words he told the Parks and Recreation character aft he was fatally changeable connected Sunday, June 1
  • Tristan Kern de Gonzales says that arsenic Joss laic dying, “I held my husband's look together arsenic champion I could”
  • Kern de Gonzales claims nan alleged gunman “mocked” him and was “laughing” astatine him arsenic he said his last goodbye to Joss

Jonathan Joss’ hubby is sharing heart-wrenching specifications astir nan King of nan Hill actor’s last moments.

In an exclusive question and reply pinch PEOPLE, Tristan Kern de Gonzales fights backmost tears arsenic he recalls nan last words he told Joss conscionable earlier he died astatine nan property of 59.

“Everything happened very quickly,” Kern de Gonzales, 32, says of the fatal shooting astatine their San Antonio, Texas, location connected Sunday, June 1, that allegedly resulted from a conflict pinch 1 of their neighbors.

“Everything was very adjacent scope and owed to nan severity and nan trauma of nan various caput wounds, I knew that location was nary dream of redeeming Jonathan's beingness form, and he was struggling truthful hard, trying to enactment alive,” he notes. 

Jonathan Joss (Left) and his husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales (Right),.

Tristan Kern de Gonzales/Facebook

“It was conscionable really, really adjacent range,” Kern de Gonzales remembers. “I held my husband's look together arsenic champion I could, and I told him really overmuch I loved him, and that nary of this was his fault. I told him he needed to transverse complete easy. He didn't request to support fighting.”

Kern de Gonzales continues, “I told him that nary matter what, and successful immoderate way, shape, aliases form, we’ll ever beryllium together, and he'll ever beryllium my husband.”

He claims that while his hubby laic dying, “the [alleged] gunman was still successful [his] car” and “still had nan weapon pointed complete me.”

“He was laughing,” Kern de Gonzales alleges. “He mocked maine for telling my hubby that I loved him and utilized nan aforesaid homophobic slurs” that nan gunman allegedly utilized earlier shooting Joss.

Jonathan Joss connected Season 3 of "Parks and Recreation.".

NBC

“I was conscionable really looking down astatine my husband, focused connected him, making judge that he had wholly crossed over,” Kern de Gonzales says.

San Antonio Police arrested 1 of Joss’ neighbors, Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, soon aft nan character was fatally changeable and charged him pinch first-degree murder. Police person said Alvarez, ​​56, admitted to shooting and sidesplitting nan Parks and Recreation actor. He was released connected Monday, June 2, connected a $200,000 bond.

The shooting has near Kern de Gonzales successful a authorities of “shock.”

“The flashbacks are very, very intense, and they impact my full body,” he tells PEOPLE.

Kern de Gonzales, who antecedently wrote on Facebook that Joss pushed him retired of nan measurement and saved his life, says his precocious husband’s last enactment of self-sacrifice has fixed him spot arsenic he grieves. 

Jonathan Joss (Left) and his husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales (Right),.

Tristan Kern de Gonzales/Facebook

“I cognize that I person to support going and not fto spell of this because he saved my life, and I can’t conscionable fto that go,” he explains. “I person to usage nan gift that he gave maine wisely.”

Kern de Gonzales adds of Joss, who he met successful 2023 and joined connected Valentine's Day 2025: “He will ever beryllium my hubby and nan emotion of my life. He really gave maine a lifetime's worthy of emotion successful nan short clip that we sewage together.”

Kern de Gonzales has maintained that Joss was the unfortunate of a dislike crime and that they suffered repeated harassment and homophobic maltreatment from their neighbors anterior to his husband’s murder. 

“It does wounded whenever group effort to opportunity that it wasn't a dislike crime,” he says. 

Candles, flowers, and notes are placed astatine a makeshift memorial successful San Antonio, Texas, connected Thursday, June 5, for character Jonathan Joss, who was killed connected Sunday, June 1.

AP Photo/Eric Gay

The time aft Joss died, nan San Antonio Police Department said their investigation had “found nary grounds to bespeak that Mr. Joss’s execution was related to his intersexual orientation."

However, astatine a Thursday property conference, SAPD constabulary main William McManus walked backmost that statement.

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“That was way, way, way, premature,” McManus said. “We shouldn’t person done it. It was measurement excessively soon earlier we had immoderate existent information. And I will ain that.”

He added, “I want to apologize to nan LGBTQ+ organization for nan tragic nonaccomplishment of Mr. Joss, which has been heavy felt."

McManus continued, "Our homicide detectives are continuing to prosecute each lead successful this lawsuit to guarantee that we understand nan afloat image of what led up to nan senseless execution of Mr. Joss."