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Pennsylvania prosecutors have accused an elected Democratic judge of shooting her sleeping ex-boyfriend in the face after he abandoned her and asked her to move out of his apartment.
Judge Sonya McKnight has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault after police allegedly found gunshot residue on the 57-year-old man’s hands.
“The bullet entered the right side of the victim’s face, passed through his head in a straight line behind and slightly below his eyes and exited the left side of his face,” the County District Attorney’s Office said. Cumberland, Sean McCormack, in a statement. “The victim survived the gunshot wound, but as a result she was left blind in one eye.”
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The victim, Michael McCoy, 54, had broken up with the judge and repeatedly asked him to move out of his home, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by The Associated Press. But on February 9, he returned home from a restaurant and found her on her couch in her pajamas.
He told her he wanted her to go out again and then went to bed. The next thing he knew, according to the affidavit, he woke up blind and with a “massive headache,” as McKnight allegedly asked him, “Mike, what did you do to yourself?”
McKnight allegedly called 911 around 1 a.m. and “was unable to explain what happened and stated that he was sleeping and heard him screaming.” The victim reportedly told police and hospital workers that he did not shoot himself.
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McKnight’s attorney, Cory Leshner, said in a statement Monday that his client did not fire the gun and hoped to be acquitted of any wrongdoing.
“The investigation will probably show that it would have been impossible for him to shoot himself in the eye at that particular angle,” said David Gelman, a New Jersey-based defense attorney and former prosecutor who has no connection to the case. “How are you going to prove it when you have gunshot residue on your hands?”
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Doorbell videos from neighboring homes also contradicted part of his story, according to authorities.
The shooting could also bring new scrutiny to a 2019 incident in which she reportedly shot her ex-husband out of self-defense after she invited him to help move furniture, she said. Despite her role in the legal field, her ex-husband had a criminal record that included two convictions for armed robbery.
McKnight temporarily took voluntary paid leave in May 2019, but was cleared of wrongdoing by the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office, led at the time by Josh Shapiro, who is now governor. PennLive reported. The victim of that shooting also survived.
“I don’t know if they’ll reopen it, but this will definitely factor into the equation,” Gelman said. “That is sure.”
McKnight, who was elected in 2015 after defeating the incumbent in a Democratic primary, has been suspended on suspicion of unrelated ethics violations and corruption allegations since November.
In a flyer for her 2021 re-election campaign, slogans included “advocate for second changes” and stated that she “fights for justice and equity.”
She avoided conviction for allegedly intervening in a traffic stop involving her son and allegedly giving employees excessive vacation time and ignoring a civil claim against her for $2,100.
“When you’re a judge, you really have to be above everything, and you really have to, whether you like it or not, do everything honestly,” Gelam said. “She has to look and smell good, and she hasn’t done that.”
Although the incident occurred in Dauphin County, Cumberland County prosecutors are handling the case to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
McKnight was being held on $300,000 bail.
“I don’t foresee him taking the bench again,” Gelman added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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