A Pennsylvania judge faced a reckoning on Wednesday. Sonya McKnight, a magistrate in Dauphin County, was convicted of attempted homicide. She shot her ex-boyfriend in the head as he slept.
McKnight is a registered Democrat. Ballotpedia lists her as a Democrat in her 2015 election record. This detail has been largely glossed over in reports of the incident, including the one from Fox News.
The shooting took place in February 2024. McKnight, 58, shot Michael McCoy at his Harrisburg home. The couple had ended their one-year relationship.
McCoy survived the attack. The gunshot left him blind in one eye. He testified that he did not shoot himself.
McKnight denied the charges. Her attorney, Cory Leshner, argued McCoy couldn’t identify the shooter. Prosecutors countered that only two people were in the house.
Cumberland County District Attorney Sean McCormack weighed in: “The logical conclusion is the other person did it,” he said, according to WGAL-TV.
The jury convicted McKnight of attempted murder and aggravated assault, according to the news outlet.
McKnight could receive up to 60 years in prison for the crime. Her sentencing is set for May 28, 2025, per the Associated Press — which also made no mention of the judge’s political affiliation.
Will the establishment media gloss over the fact that she’s a Democrat?
She was ultimately taken into custody. The trial judge denied a defense request for release. McKnight left the courtroom in handcuffs, according to the New York Post.
Pennsylvania judge Sonya McKnight convicted of shooting sleeping boyfriend in the head https://t.co/swemk5QSeL pic.twitter.com/nsjy75aAdz
— New York Post (@nypost) April 10, 2025
Bizarrely enough, this wasn’t McKnight’s first violent encounter involving a gun and an ex. In 2019, she shot her estranged then-husband. Prosecutors did not charge her then, citing self-defense, according to the AP.
That earlier incident did raise a number of concerns, including the fact that McKnight had invited her husband over to “help move furniture.” The shooting occurred shortly after.
McKnight’s judicial record is currently marred, even removing all shooting incidents.
Elected in 2016, she was suspended without pay in November 2023.
The Court of Judicial Discipline — which oversees misconduct allegations against judges — was ultimately forced to intervene, ordering her suspension.
The suspension followed ethical violations tied to a 2020 traffic stop involving her son, Fox noted.
Prosecutors highlighted McKnight’s motives in the most recent incident. They described her as a jealous partner. The AP reported that she “didn’t like” being asked to leave McCoy’s home after their breakup.
McCoy had apparently ended the relationship and taken his apartment key back from McKnight. She returned using a spare key, according to the AP.
The shooting followed a conversation. McCoy told police McKnight finally understood the relationship was over. Hours later, he awoke with “massive head pain.”
McKnight called for an ambulance. She claimed McCoy was screaming and unable to see, NBC News reported. She provided no details on the shooting.
McCoy’s testimony was direct. He recalled McKnight asking, “Mike, what did you do to yourself?”
First responders confirmed the gunshot wound.
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