Just a few years after being acquitted of shooting and killing her ex-husband, a Pennsylvania judge has been charged with shooting her ex-girlfriend in the head while she slept.
Michael McCoy, 54, was shot in his Harrisburg-area home on February 9 and is now blind in one eye. report of new york post.
Dauphin County Magistrate Judge Sonya M. McKnight, 57, was arrested Thursday and charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault. court record show.
A Susquehanna County police arrest affidavit obtained by the outlet states that McCoy’s live-in girlfriend tried to kill him “on multiple occasions” in an attempt to end their year-long relationship. It is said that he tried.
“When McCoy returned home from the pub, he found McKnight lounging on the couch in his pajamas and told him he needed to leave again and that he would seek his mother’s help to get him out of the house if necessary. ” he said. post I reported what happened that Friday. “She is said to have agreed to her going.”
“Michael McCoy stated that he seemed to finally understand that it was over,” police said in the affidavit.
McCoy then went to bed around 11 p.m., but McKnight understood that he realized the two had broken up.
Later that night, he woke up with a “severe headache” and was unable to see.
As McKnight was screaming in pain, the suspect came into the bedroom and asked, “Mike, what did you do to me?”
The judge said McCoy called 911 shortly before 1 a.m. to say he was injured, but police said McCoy “couldn’t explain what happened and said he was asleep and could hear McCoy screaming.” Stated.
McCoy’s gunshot wound to his right temple, which exited from his left temple, was discovered after paramedics transported him to the hospital.
The bullet left him blind in his right eye.
The affidavit states that a gun registered to McKnight was found at the scene and gunshot residue was detected in her hand.
McCoy also repeatedly claimed he did not shoot.
The former lovers said no one was home at the time of the incident.
McKnight claimed to police that she did not leave the house that night, but a judge disputed this with footage from a neighbor’s surveillance camera that showed her leaving the house at one point.
McCoy said his ex-girlfriend may have followed him to the pub before he returned.
McKnight has since been suspended from practicing law and is being held in the Dauphin County Jail on $300,000 bail.
To avoid a conflict of interest for prosecutors, the case will be tried in neighboring Cumberland County.
In August 2019, McKnight was found not guilty of criminal intent in the shooting death of her estranged husband, Enoch McKnight. report pen live.
After a lengthy domestic dispute, police calls, and protection orders, a judge shot her husband in the groin while he was helping her move furniture in their home.
After reviewing the case, the Attorney General’s Office declined to file criminal charges, citing self-defense.
“We can confirm that the investigation has concluded and no charges have been filed,” said office spokeswoman Jacquelyn Rose.
“The Attorney General’s Office has conducted a careful review of the evidence in this case, including but not limited to interviews with all witnesses, analysis of telephone data and records, and review of crime scene evidence and surveillance and reconstruction video. It’s done,” she added.
“Our office did not press charges because we found Ms. McKnight acted in self-defense.”
If McKnight is convicted of the new attempted first-degree murder charge, he could be sentenced to up to 40 years in prison, the newspaper said. new york post.
