A suspended Pennsylvania judge was arrested on Thursday and accused of shooting her ex-boyfriend in the head after he asked her to move out several times.
Dauphin County Magisterial District Judge Sonya M. McKnight, 57, is charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault of her ex, Michael McCoy, who was shot while in bed of his Harrisburg home on Feb. 10, according to an affidavit obtained by HuffPost.
According to the Associated Press, McKnight had been suspended in November for unrelated misconduct.
The affidavit states that McKnight called 911 to report her ex-boyfriend, McCoy, “couldn’t see” and asked if an ambulance could come and get him. Police said McKnight did not tell 911 dispatchers what happened and claimed she was sleeping and heard him scream.
Responding officers arrived on the scene and found McCoy was alive, but had sustained a gunshot wound to the face next to his right eye, the affidavit read. According to the document, neither McCoy nor McKnight told officers what exactly happened, besides McCoy stating, “I did not shoot myself.”
Investigators soon discovered that McCoy had recently broken up with McKnight, ending a one-year relationship. According to the affidavit, McKnight was living with McCoy full-time while they were together.
Police said McCoy removed his house keys from McKnight’s key ring on Feb. 4 after he “attempted numerous times” to get her to leave, but she refused.
The next day, McCoy was surprised when he found McKnight inside his home after returning from work.
“He immediately yells at her asking: What is she doing there? How did she get into the home? Why is she there?” the affidavit read.
McKnight told McCoy that she took his spare keys, according to the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, McCoy returned home from work again on Feb. 9 to find his ex sitting on his couch wearing pajamas. The two began to argue, and McCoy then left. McKnight called McCoy to ask where he was going, but he ignored most of her calls and texts because “they were broke up and he didn’t need to” respond, the affidavit read.
After McCoy rejected one attempt McKnight made to talk, she responded “Oh, you’re serious?” It was at this point, McCoy told police, “it was like she finally understood that it was over.” McKnight went to bed.
McCoy told police he never heard a gunshot or noise, but woke up with “massive head pain” and was unable to see. According to the document, McCoy began screaming and only heard McKnight say,“Mike, what did you do to yourself?”
McKnight then escorted McCoy to the bathroom because he could not see and he told her to call an ambulance, police said in the affidavit.
McCoy was “shocked” when emergency medical services informed him that he suffered a single gunshot wound, from a bullet that entered the right temple and exited the left temple, the affidavit read.
Forensic evidence later determined that McCoy sustained a gunshot wound to the head from a foot away and that gunshot residue was later found on McKnight’s hand.
An attorney listed as McKnight’s representation did not immediately respond to 360aproko request for a statement.
McCoy is not the first partner McKnight has been accused of shooting. In 2019, she shot her then-husband Enoch McKnight in the groin in 2019 after she asked him to move furniture, PennLive reported at the time.
No criminal charges were filed against McKnight in that case, after she said she was acting in self-defense.
