Onondaga County man sentenced to 40 years to life for killing girlfriend and 11-year-old son
SYRACUSE, NY – A man who admitted to fatally shooting his girlfriend and his 11-year-old son was sentenced Friday to 40 years to life in prison, closing a case that drew emotional testimony and sharp rebuke from the court.
David Huff, 44, pleaded guilty to killing 32-year-old Yeraldith Tschudy and his son, Jeremiah Huff, using a 12-gauge shotgun. The sentence was handed down after a proceeding marked by grief from family members and pointed remarks from the judge about Huff’s conduct.
The killings occurred March 17, when prosecutors said Huff used a Remington 870 Express shotgun to shoot Tschudy and then his son. He also allegedly fired at his stepfather but ran out of ammunition. Huff did not plead guilty to attempted murder in that incident.
Courtroom reactions and judge’s rebuke
During an earlier court appearance on April 28, Huff was seen laughing and told the judge he had a “joke stuck in [his] head,” according to courtroom reporting. At sentencing, Judge Ted Limpert referenced that behavior, saying Huff acted like a “petulant teenager.”
After issuing the sentence, Limpert addressed the defendant directly. “Your actions are reprehensible, and you deserve to be incarcerated for the rest of your life,” the judge said. “Even a sentence of life is not long enough for you.”
Family members of both victims delivered statements describing the lasting impact of the killings. Jeremiah’s mother, Samantha Gallup Peltier, recounted receiving a call from her son after he had been shot.
“That phone call is played over and over and over and over in my head, daily,” Peltier told the court.
She ended her statement with a direct message to Huff: “You are destined for the seventh circle of hell.”
Victim impact statements detail loss
Prosecutors also presented a statement from Tschudy’s mother, Judith Seoud, describing her daughter’s life and the loss to her family.
“She had crossed continents, buried her father, raised a child on her own and worked herself to the bone. That is who David Huff took from this world,” the statement read, as presented by Onondaga County Chief Assistant District Attorney Robert Moran.
Following the shootings, Huff fled the residence, prompting an overnight manhunt. He was located the next morning when a neighbor reported seeing him walking near the scene.
Authorities have said Huff had no known history of domestic violence prior to the killings.