Photo: Dauphin County Prison
A Pennsylvania judge has been arrested after she allegedly shot her ex-boyfriend in the head while he slept.
Harrisburg Magisterial District Judge Sonya McKnight has been charged with attempted murder after prosecutors said she shot her ex-boyfriend Michael McCoy in his bed on Saturday (February 10).
McKnight then called 911, telling the dispatcher that she was sleeping and awoke to McCoy's screaming.
McCoy was rushed to the hospital and told investigators that he did not shoot himself. He survived the shooting but is now blind in his right eye.
McCoy said that he recently ended his one-year relationship with McKnight and had tried several times to get her to leave his house.
Investigators found that McKnight was "deceptive" when they interviewed her about what happened. They also found gunshot residue on her hand about an hour after the shooting.
McKnight was taken to the Dauphin County Prison. A judge set her bail at $300,000.
This isn't the first time that McKnight has shot a former lover. In 2019, she shot her estranged husband in the groin. The shooting was determined to be self-defense, and the charges against her were dropped.
She was also suspended twice by the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline. Her first suspension came in 2021 for interfering with her son's arrest. In November 2023, she was suspended without pay for multiple violations, including failing to show up to court dates.