Pennsylvania judge charged with shooting ex-boyfriend – Law Officer

HARRISBURG, Pa. – A Pennsylvania judge is facing charges of first-degree attempted murder and aggravated assault after she allegedly shot her ex-boyfriend in the head before trying to convince him that he shot himself while sleeping, according to reports.

The criminal defendant was identified as Magisterial District Judge Sonya McKnight. She is accused of shooting Michael McCoy at his Harrisburg residence on Feb. 10, which left him blind in one eye. Prior to the shooting, McCoy, 54, tried to end a one-year relationship with McKnight, 57, according to a probable cause affidavit, NBC News reported.

McCoy told Susquehanna Township detectives that he returned home from work and found McKnight sitting on his couch in pajamas. Despite previously taking the house key from her, she apparently entered the home using another spare key. McCoy left the house and went to a nearby bar, the affidavit states.

When McCoy returned home, things were tense. McKnight asked if they could talk but McCoy did not wish to engage her in conversation. He also told her that he would solicit the assistance of her mother to get her out of his home, according to the affidavit.

Despite several attempts to end the relationship prior to Feb. 10, his efforts proved unsuccessful, McCoy told police.

“Oh, you’re serious?” McCoy recalled McKnight saying. Thinking she understood that it was truly over, reported The Root. 

Though it’s unclear how events progressed, McCoy apparently decided to go to bed. He was asleep for an hour or two before awaking to “massive head pain” and an inability to see, due to a gunshot wound to the head.

“He begins screaming and he hears Sonya McKnight say, ‘Mike what did you do to yourself,’” the affidavit says.

The Susquehanna Township Police said McKnight called 911 to report that her boyfriend could not see and requested to have an ambulance respond to the residence.

McKnight claimed she was unaware what transpired since she was asleep, and only woke up because McCoy was screaming, according to the affidavit.

Investigators determined that McKnight tried to convince McCoy that he shot himself. However, the victim was adamant that he did not cause a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police, NBC News reported. 

During an interview, detectives concluded that McKnight “was found to be deceptive” and the gun used was registered to her, police said.

Moreover, a gunshot residue test taken from McKnight’s hands proved positive, according to the affidavit.

McCoy sustained a single gunshot wound that entered near his right temple and exited near the left temple. As a result, he is now blind in his right eye, according to police, the Associated Press reported.

McKnight was elected judge in Dauphin County in 2016. However, her tenure has included some questionable circumstances.

McCoy is not the first man that McKnight is accused of shooting. In 2019, she reportedly asked her estranged husband to come to her home to assist moving furniture. During the encounter, she shot him in the groin but he survived. She took a voluntary leave of absence from the bench but was not charged in the case after it was ruled to be self-defense, according to Pennlive.com.

In November 2023, she was suspended without pay by the Court of Judicial Discipline. In that matter, she was accused of violating judicial probation due to a previous misconduct case that connected her to alleged interference with the 2020 arrest of her son following a traffic stop, the AP reported. She was acquitted of criminal charges in that incident.