Pennsylvania judge accused of shooting her ex-boyfriend as he slept is convicted of attempted homicide

A magistrate judge in Pennsylvania accused of shooting and wounding her ex-boyfriend in the head as he slept was convicted Wednesday of attempted homicide and aggravated assault charges.

Sonya McKnight was taken away in handcuffs after the trial judge rejected a defense request that she be released. She faces up to 60 years in prison when she’s sentenced May 28.

The shooting occurred on February 10, 2024 at the home of her ex-boyfriend, Michael McCoy, CBS affiliate WHP-TV reported. McKnight had lived there, but McCoy repeatedly asked her to leave when their relationship ended, authorities said.

McCoy testified that the last thing he heard McKnight say to him before the shooting was, “oh, so you’re serious,” in regards to his pleas for McKnight to move out, WHP-TV reported.

Prosecutors argued at trial that McKnight was a jealous partner who “didn’t like” that she had been asked to leave, but her attorney said the ex-boyfriend couldn’t identify the shooter. McCoy testified that he couldn’t see after the shooting, but that McKnight was the only other person in the home at the time.

“I thought I was having a brain aneurysm,” McCoy testified, according to WHP-TV.

The station reported that several other witnesses testified, including Dr. Steven Allen, who treated McCoy’s gunshot wound. Allen testified that if the bullet had a different trajectory by a matter of centimeters, there would have been a very different outcome.

The jury, comprised of Delaware County residents who were bused to Harrisburg for the trial, deliberated for two hours before convicting McKnight on both counts she faced.

McKnight, an elected judge in Dauphin County since 2016, was suspended without pay in mid-November 2023 by the Court of Judicial Discipline, which handles misconduct allegations against judges. The Judicial Conduct Board, which investigates and charges misconduct cases against Pennsylvania judges, alleged in a September filing that McKnight violated judicial probation from a previous misconduct case centered on her actions regarding a 2020 traffic stop involving her son. She was acquitted of criminal charges in that matter.

McKnight was not charged when she shot her estranged husband in 2019 after inviting him over to help her move furniture, Pennlive.com reported. Prosecutors didn’t charge her, citing self-defense.