Zhang and Chen were charged with murder and a lying-in-wait special circumstance.

A murder charge and a special-circumstance allegation are accusations. They are not a conviction, and they are not the same as a weekend booking on suspicion. On Wednesday, prosecutors and charging documents alleged Zhang and Chen lied in wait before the killing of Jonathan McKinsey at Dublin Sports Grounds. A formal charge replaces an open investigation with a filed theory.

McKinsey, head of engineering for games player experience at The New York Times, was found with gunshot wounds Saturday, Sept. 26, in the parking lot of Dublin Sports Grounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses described two masked assailants who took turns shooting. Zhang and Chen were detained nearby and booked into Santa Rita Jail. Those facts were reported with the weekend arrest. They are not a finding of guilt on Wednesday’s charging papers.

The New York Post, citing charging documents, reported that Zhang and Chen were charged with murder early Wednesday and that prosecutors added a lying-in-wait special circumstance — an allegation that they timed the attack. Other firearm and great-bodily-injury special allegations were also reported. The Post said Zhang later admitted killing McKinsey in an interview, while Chen invoked Miranda rights. An alleged post-arrest statement in a charging narrative is still evidence the state must prove. It is not a guilty plea in open court.

NBC Bay Area reported the pair were due for arraignment Wednesday in Dublin on first-degree murder charges. Relationship context from divorce and custody filings is background reporting. It is not a motive finding by a jury. Zhang and Chen are presumed innocent.