A Pennsylvania judge faces a potential lengthy prison sentence after being convicted on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, for shooting her ex-boyfriend in the head while he was asleep. In just two hours, a jury found Sonya M. McKnight, 58, guilty of attempted murder and aggravated assault.
McKnight, who has served as a magisterial district judge in Dauphin County since 2016, was taken into custody immediately after the trial judge denied a defense request for her release. Given her position of sending defendants to Dauphin County Prison during her tenure, authorities transported her to a facility outside the county.
The shooting took place in February 2024 after McKnight’s former boyfriend, Michael McCoy, 54, attempted to end their one-year relationship and requested that she move out of his residence in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. According to testimony, McKnight initially consented to leave.
Prosecutors from the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office, managing the case due to conflicts of interest in Dauphin County, argued that McKnight was a jealous partner and was displeased with the request to vacate. The prosecution presented evidence indicating that on February 10, 2024, McKnight shot McCoy while he slept in his Susquehanna Township home.
McCoy testified that he awoke to a “massive head pain” and realized he was suddenly blind. The bullet penetrated the right side of his face, passed through his head, and exited on the left, causing permanent blindness in his right eye.
During his testimony, McCoy stated that despite his inability to see after the shooting, McKnight was the only other person present in the home. He recalled her asking, “Oh, so you’re serious?” in response to his request for her to move out.
Police reports indicate that McKnight called 911 following the shooting, claiming she had been asleep and was awakened by McCoy’s screams. She reportedly could not explain the circumstances of his injury.
The investigation, led by Detective Sergeant Lee Tarasi of the Susquehanna Police Department, uncovered substantial evidence against McKnight. Authorities discovered a gun registered to McKnight at the scene, and forensic tests showed gunshot residue on her hands shortly after the shooting. Evidence presented at trial suggested the shot was fired from about one foot away from McCoy’s head.
Both McCoy and McKnight confirmed to investigators that they were alone in the home when the incident occurred. McCoy explicitly stated that he did not attempt to harm himself and had no suicidal thoughts.
McKnight’s defense attorney argued that the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she was the shooter, highlighting that McCoy could not visually identify her as the assailant. However, after two days of testimony, the jury dismissed these arguments.
Cumberland County District Attorney Seán McCormack, who prosecuted the case alongside First Assistant District Attorney Courtney Hair LaRue, expressed satisfaction with the outcome. “The jury saw the truth and found her guilty,” McCormack stated following the verdict.
This is not McKnight’s first involvement in a shooting incident. In 2019, she shot her estranged husband, Enoch McKnight, in the groin after asking for help with moving furniture. The couple, married in 2014, had filed for divorce two years later, though the divorce was unresolved at the time. That incident was ruled self-defense during a domestic dispute.
McKnight had been suspended without pay since November 2023 by the Court of Judicial Discipline for a separate misconduct case. Following the verdict, Judge Howard F. Knisely, who presided over the trial, increased McKnight’s bail to $3 million.
McKnight now faces up to 60 years in prison for her convictions on attempted murder and aggravated assault. Her sentencing is set for May 28, 2025, and her attorney has indicated plans to appeal the verdict.
The case has drawn significant attention in Pennsylvania’s legal community, where McKnight had served as an elected judicial official for nearly a decade prior to her suspension and conviction.
