As a result of the shooting, he was left blind in one eye
A Pennsylvania judge has been charged with first-degree attempted murder and aggravated assault for allegedly shooting her ex-boyfriend in the head while he slept, New York Post reported. According to a case affidavit, the incident happened on February 9 at a home in Harrisburg after the victim, Michael McCoy, attempted to end his one-year relationship with Magisterial District Judge Sonya McKnight.
Police wrote that McCoy, 54, had tried ”numerous times” to get McKnight to move out after he ended their one-year relationship. On February 9, he came home from a restaurant and told her he planned to get McKnight’s mother’s help to get her out of the home.
”Michael McCoy stated that it was like she finally understood that it was over,” police said. He then went to bed at about 11 p.m. but was awoken by a ”massive head pain” which left him screaming and panicking. His shouts alerted McKnight to his room who asked him, ”Mike, what did you do to yourself?”
She then called 911 to report McCoy’s injury. Police said that during the call she ”could not explain what happened and stated that she was sleeping and heard him screaming.”
Doctors at the hospital said he had suffered a gunshot wound to the right temple that exited his left temple, police said. As a result of the shooting, he was left blind in one eye.
McCoy also told police at the scene and later at the hospital that he did not shoot himself. Police later said that physical evidence showed that the victim had been shot about a foot away and that McKnight tested positive for gunshot residue on her hands within an hour of the shooting. She was arrested on February 15 and charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault.
She has since been suspended from her duties as an elected judge in Dauphin County, a position she’s held since 2016. Previously, McKnight was also suspended without pay by the Court of Judicial Discipline, which handles misconduct allegations against judges.
She’s currently locked up in the Dauphin County Prison as of Friday and her bail set at $300,000.
