On January 23, 2025, Joss lost his San Antonio home, as well as three dogs (with a fourth missing) when his house caught fire.[8][9] Joss says he was using a propane heater and had left the house. “Mistakes happen, man. And it’s my fault for, I guess, leaving something on,” Joss said. “Or if somebody came in and did something, who knows?” [8] He attended the 2025 ATX TV Festival in Austin, Texas with other King of the Hill cast members on May 29, 2025.[7] However, he says he was not invited to the panel, and an attendee on the social media site Reddit says that Joss interrupted the King of the Hill panel, bringing up his house burning down which he felt was intentionally burned down because of his homosexuality.

On June 1, 2025, Joss was approached by a neighbor who allegedly yelled homophobic slurs at Joss before shooting and killing him. The suspect was arrested shortly afterward.[7][10][11][12] The two neighbors have been subject to a longstanding feud going back years with police being called multiple times.[13] His death occurred just hours after he uploaded an Instagram video of himself walking around Austin and noting how he already recorded lines for 4 King of the Hill episodes.

Kern de Gonzales stated on Instagram afterwards that various people in the area had for years verbally assaulted them with homophobic slurs and threats to burn down their home.[14] Kern de Gonzales went on to say that the house had burned down after years of threats from their neighbors, threats to which the police had not responded, even after the threats had been reported by Gonzales and Joss.[11] On Joss' Facebook page, Kern de Gonzales described the attack as a homophobic hate crime.

San Antonio Police Department released a statement saying "Our investigation has found no evidence whatsoever to indicate that the Mr. Joss's murder was related to his sexual orientation."

[–] Etterra@discuss.online 2 points 2 days ago

I always find it baffling when people do about like this. There's no thought behind it, no plan, no exit strategy - they just get angry and do something stupid, and it's just par for the course for humanity. It's amazing we ever made it past the stone age.