Sonya M McKnight: Pennsylvania judge arrested for allegedly shooting boyfriend in the face while he slept

HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA: A Pennsylvania magistrate judge is accused of murdering her boyfriend, reportedly shooting him in the face while he was asleep last weekend.

Magisterial District Judge Sonya M McKnight , 57, was taken into custody on Friday afternoon, February 16, and charged with one count of criminal attempted murder and one count of aggravated assault in the alleged attack on 54-year-old Michael McCoy.

When did the incident occur?

According to a news release from the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office, the charges come from an incident in the early morning of February 10 at McCoy’s home in the 200 block of Saddle Ridge Drive in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

What did the prosecutors write?

“It is alleged that McKnight shot the victim in the head while the victim was sleeping in bed,” prosecutors wrote, adding “The bullet entered the right side of the victim’s face, traversed through his head in a straight line behind and slightly below his eyes and exited the left side of his face. The victim survived the gunshot wound but is blind in one eye as a result.”

Although the shooting took place in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, the Cumberland County DA’s Office assumed jurisdiction of the investigation at the request of Dauphin County DA Fran Chardo. Chardo explained that his office had a conflict of interest and could not prosecute the case because McKnight was a magisterial district judge in the county.

Chardo had initially requested that the state Attorney General’s Office take jurisdiction over the case, but the AG’s office also said it had a conflict of interest in prosecuting McKnight.

Sonya M McKnight and Michael McCoy had been dating for about a year

According to the report by Harrisburg CBS affiliate WHP-TV, McKnight and McCoy had been dating for about a year. McKnight had already moved into McCoy’s home when, on February 4, McCoy decided to end their relationship. Despite asking McKnight several times to leave his home, she reportedly refused.

Also on that same day, McCoy reportedly removed the key to his home from McKnight’s key ring even though most of her clothing and personal items were in the house. When McCoy awoke the following morning, McKnight was gone, WHP reported. However, when he returned from work, McKnight had returned, telling him she had let herself in using the spare key.

Michael McCoy believed Sonya M McKnight was following him

The next few days were uneventful until McCoy went out to dinner at a restaurant on the evening of February 9. He reportedly told police that he believed McKnight was following him, a suspicion police were allegedly able to confirm.

When he arrived home, McKnight was sleeping on the couch, and McCoy told her he planned to call her mother to assist him in getting her to leave, The Associated Press reported. “Michael McCoy stated that it was like she finally understood that it was over,” police wrote in a probable cause affidavit.

Michael McCoy woke up shortly after he went to sleep

McCoy said he went to sleep at about 11 pm before waking up at 1 am with “massive head pain” and began screaming because he couldn’t see, as per the AP. McKnight repeatedly asked, “Mike, what did you do to yourself?”

McKnight reportedly called 911 from McCoy’s phone and said she needed an ambulance because her boyfriend could not see. When questioned by the dispatcher, McKnight “could not explain what happened and stated that she was sleeping and heard him screaming,” the affidavit states.

McCoy had been shot in the right temple, and the bullet exited his left temple. He repeatedly told police and medical personnel, “I did not shoot myself,” WHP reported.

What did the forensic report state?

Forensic evidence reportedly revealed the shot came from about a foot away from McCoy’s head. McKnight allegedly had gunshot residue on her hands and the firearm used in the shooting was registered to the judge. McCoy was reportedly released from the hospital on February 11.

Where is Sonya M McKnight now?

McKnight appeared before Dauphin County President Judge Scott Arthur Evans for her arraignment on Friday, Feburuary 16, who set her bond at $300,000. She was processed at the Dauphin County Central Booking Center and is scheduled to appear in court again for her preliminary hearing on February 26.