Pa. judge allegedly shot boyfriend in the face as he slept and told him he did it
02/19/2024 3:07 pm PST
HARRISBURG, Pa. (TCD) -- A suspended district judge was arrested over the weekend for allegedly shooting her boyfriend in the face while he was sleeping, then tried blaming it on him.
According to the Cumberland County District Attorney's Office, in the early morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 10, Susquehanna Township Police officers responded to the victim's home on Saddle Ridge Drive in Harrisburg after receiving a report about a shooting. The district attorney's office alleges Sonya McKnight shot the man in the head, and 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 shooting but is now blind in one eye.
According to McKnight's arrest affidavit cited by The Associated Press, the victim, Michael McCoy, broke up with McKnight and attempted "numerous times" to make her move out. On the night of Feb. 9, McCoy came home from dinner and reportedly found McKnight on his couch in her pajamas. He allegedly told her he was going to call her mother to help move her belongings, and he felt it "was like she finally understood that it was over."
At around 1 a.m., McCoy reportedly woke up with "massive head pain," and he started screaming because he couldn't see anything. McKnight allegedly said, "Mike, what did you do to yourself?"
McKnight called 911 and said she "could not explain what happened and stated that she was sleeping and heard him screaming."
The Associated Press reports McKnight told investigators she did not leave the house the night of the shooting, but doorbell video footage reportedly showed her outside. McCoy reportedly said he believed McKnight followed him to the restaurant where he went to dinner that night.
McKnight reportedly had gunshot residue on her hands.
McKnight was arrested Feb. 15 on charges of criminal attempted murder and aggravated assault. Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo recused himself from the investigation because McKnight is a magisterial district judge in the county, as did the Pennsylvania Attorney General due to a conflict of interest.
According to The Associated Press, McKnight was suspended in November due to several misconduct allegations.
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