Suspended judge’s attorney rebukes attempted murder allegations against client

• Cory Leshner, the attorney for suspended Magistrate District Judge Sonya McKnight, maintained his client’s innocence Monday.
• McKnight, 57, is charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault after she allegedly shot her estranged boyfriend, Michael McCoy, in the head. McCoy survived the attack.
• “Judge McKnight is innocent of the charges. She did not shoot Mr. McCoy,” Leshner said, adding that McKnight “looks forward to hearing the full story.”

The attorney representing a suspended Pennsylvania magistrate judge says his client is not guilty of charges that her estranged boyfriend shot her in the head while she slept earlier this month.

Magistrate Judge Sonya McKnight, 57, was charged last week in Dauphin County with attempted murder and aggravated assault. Susquehanna County police said in his arrest affidavit that McKnight had gunshot residue on his hands an hour after Michael McCoy was shot Feb. 10 in the bed of his Harrisburg-area home. claimed to have done so.

“Judge McKnight is innocent of the charges. She did not shoot Mr. McCoy,” attorney Corey Leshner said in a statement Monday. Leshner said his client “looks forward to hearing the full story” and “will vigorously defend this case.”

Pennsylvania judge charged with shooting estranged boyfriend in the head

“She believes in the criminal justice system and is confident that once all the facts in this matter come to light, she will be cleared of any wrongdoing,” Lesher said, urging the public to “open up.” “We reserve judgment.” In this case, until all the facts are revealed. ”

McKnight was unable to post bail of $300,000 and was taken to the Dauphin County Jail, according to court records.

Police wrote that McCoy, 54, made “numerous” attempts to get McKnight to leave the house after their one-year relationship ended. Authorities said McCoy came home on Feb. 9 to find McKnight sitting on the couch in her pajamas and, with the help of her mother, ran her out of the house before going to bed around 11 p.m. He reportedly told her he was going to take her out.

She later told police that she woke up with a “severe headache,” lost her vision, and started screaming when McKnight said to her, “Mike, what did you do to me?” The man told police at the scene and at the hospital that the gunshot wound to his right temple was not self-inflicted.

When McKnight called 911 shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday, she “could not explain what happened and stated that she was asleep and heard a man screaming,” police said in the affidavit. . A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for February 26th.

McKnight, who has been an elected judge in Dauphin County since 2016, was suspended without pay in mid-November by the Judicial Discipline Court, which handles allegations of misconduct against judges. The Commission on Judicial Conduct, which investigates and prosecutes cases of misconduct against judges in Pennsylvania, said in a September filing that McKnight’s conduct centered on a 2020 traffic stop involving her son. He claimed he violated his judicial probation in a past misconduct case. She was acquitted of her criminal charges in that case.

The Judicial Conduct Commission alleges that she granted excessive time off to court staff amid pending misconduct allegations. She directed her aides to ignore a woman’s civil complaint alleging that McKnight owed her a $2,100 loan. and used her Facebook profile, which included a photo of her in legal dress, to promote sales of consumer products.

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Pennlive.com reported that McKnight was not charged with fatally shooting her estranged husband in 2019 after he invited her to his home to help move furniture. State prosecutors did not charge her, citing self-defense, PennLive said.