A Pennsylvania judge was convicted of shooting her estranged boyfriend in the head while he slept at his Susquehanna Township residence, officials announced Wednesday.
Sonya McKnight was accused of shooting 55-year-old Michael McCoy in the early hours of Feb. 10, 2024, leaving him blind in one eye.
Prosecutors say the bullet entered the right side of McCoy’s face, “traversed through his head in a straight line behind and slightly below his eyes,” before exiting through the left side of his face.
On Wednesday, a jury convicted McKnight of attempted murder and aggravated assault following two days of testimony, the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release.
The jury, consisting of six women and six men from Delaware County, delivered the verdict after less than two hours of deliberation, according to the local ABC affiliate WHTM.
McKnight, a suspended magisterial district judge in Dauphin County, now faces up to 60 years in prison. She’s scheduled to be sentenced on May 28.
She was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, bound for Dauphin County Jail, after the trial judge rejected a defense request for her release.
According to a police report obtained by The Associated Press, the shooting occurred after McCoy attempted to end their one-year relationship.
He reportedly told police he had unsuccessfully tried “numerous times” to get McKnight to move out of his home. On the night of Feb. 9, hours before the shooting, McCoy arrived home and found McKnight in pajamas on the couch.
He went to bed around 11 p.m. thinking she had finally understood their relationship was over. However, he woke up just before 1 a.m. to “massive head pain” after being shot in his right temple, police said.
Wednesday’s conviction was not the first time the 55-year-old elected judge had run into trouble with the law.
In November 2023, she was suspended without pay by the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board over multiple misconduct allegations — including tampering with evidence and obstructing the administration of law, Fox 43 reported.
In 2019, McKnight was accused of shooting her estranged husband at her Harrisburg home. She was placed on leave during the investigation but prosecutors ultimately decided not to charge her, citing self-defense.
With News Wire Services
