IWorkspace workspace = workspaceFactory.Open(connectionProps, 0);
ISqlWorkspace sqlWorkspace = (ISqlWorkspace)workspace;
IQueryDescription desc = sqlWorkspace.GetQueryDescription("select * from " + tblName);
ITable queryClass = sqlWorkspace.OpenQueryClass("MyQuery", desc);
IFeatureClass fc = (IFeatureClass)queryClass;
//assign the new fc to an existing map layer, this is where the exception happens
mapLayer.FeatureClass = fc;