A California couple has been arraigned on murder charges following allegations that they fatally shot their son-in-law on Saturday in a public park, mere days before he and the couple's daughter were scheduled to appear at a hearing in what had become a acrimonious divorce proceeding.

Shili Chen and Shouyong Zhang, both 77 years of age, were slated to appear in court on Wednesday for arraignment on the charges.

Reporters were unable to reach an attorney for the couple prior to the court appearance.

Their daughter, Candice Jang, could not be reached, although she appeared virtually at Wednesday's hearing.

Jonathan McKinsey, a 40-year-old gaming engineer for The New York Times, was shot to death in the parking lot of a sports complex in Dublin, east of San Francisco.

A police sergeant, driving nearby, espied him prostrate on the ground as witnesses commenced dialing 911 and indicating the couple, who remained in the vicinity of the scene, Dublin Police Services said in a news release.

Court records disclose that McKinsey’s killing transpired amid a contentious divorce from Jang and a custody dispute over the couple’s three young children.

In petitions for restraining orders filed the previous year, each spouse levelled accusations of physical, emotional and psychological abuse against the other, allegations reaching back more than a decade.

McKinsey, who is transgender, averred that both Jang and her parents had been verbally and physically abusive regarding a gender transition he had undergone years earlier.

In his petition seeking a protection order, McKinsey alleged that Chen had levelled anti-LGBTQ slurs at him and at his eldest child.

He further levelled against Jang the accusation that she had been physically and emotionally abusive throughout medical procedures pertaining to his transition.

He alleged that Zhang struck him in the chest whilst he was convalescing from double mastectomy surgery.

Last October, McKinsey was apprehended and charged with misdemeanor child abuse on allegations of having struck their eldest son.

According to police, he conceded to having slapped the child.

Court documents further indicate that prosecutors levied an additional charge of endangering their youngest child after deputies, responding to the family residence to speak with him, discovered that their 2-year-old had been left unattended at home.

McKinsey entered a plea of not guilty to the charges and asserted in court records that he had been framed by his wife, who had quitted the residence without apprising him that the child was slumbering in a crib upstairs.

He was released from custody on the stipulation that he complete 12 parenting classes.

At the juncture of his killing, McKinsey was at liberty on bail and had been endeavoring to gain admission to a mental health diversion program.

It was in October, no less, that Jang succeeded in securing a domestic violence protection order against McKinsey.

In her filing, Jang alleged that during a 2010 altercation, McKinsey had seized her by the forearms, precipitating her collision with the corner of a coffee table and resulting in a fractured vertebra in her upper back.

She further recounted that in 2023, she had summoned the police to their residence after McKinsey struck their eldest son forcefully upon the head.

Jang likewise accused McKinsey of subjecting her mother to emotional abuse.

In December, McKinsey lodged his own petition for protection against domestic violence vis-à-vis Jang, alleging years of abuse, among which was her striking him on the head with a frying pan.

He subsequently instituted divorce proceedings and petitioned for expanded time with the three children, observing that he had been confined to two hours of supervised visitation weekly since the previous autumn, as Alameda County court documents attest.

In late August, McKinsey was accorded the privilege of unsupervised public excursions twice weekly.

The homicide transpired a mere week prior to a scheduled hearing in the divorce proceedings of McKinsey and Jang, whose union had endured since July 2011.

McKinsey joined The New York Times in January 2023, assuming the directorship of engineering for New York Times Games and being based in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the paper.

A spokesperson declined to comment further.