A New York father who admitted to killing his own child and girlfriend with a shotgun was seen smirking and laughing as the charges were read aloud, before offering a callous reason for his outburst.
David Huff, 43, pleaded guilty to murdering his 11-year-old son, Jeremiah Huff, and his girlfriend, Yeraldith Tschudy, 32, in a brutal shooting inside a Syracuse home in March 2025. As Onondaga County Judge Theodore H. Limpert detailed the killings, Huff smiled and chuckled to himself. The judge abruptly stopped proceedings to confront him.
'You find this funny?' Limpert asked. Huff, still laughing, replied: 'No, no, it's a joke stuck in my head… Go on.'
The disturbing exchange set the tone in which Huff appeared cavalier throughout. Huff ultimately admitted to using a 12-gauge shotgun to kill both victims at close range inside his stepfather's home on Roney Road on the night of March 17, 2025.
When pressed on the charges, his responses were blunt and detached. 'Sure,' Huff said when asked if he had killed Tschudy. 'That's what happened.' Moments later, he dismissed key details about his son's death, pushing back when the judge said the boy had been shot multiple times, including in the head.
'Jeremiah was not shot in the head by any means,' Huff insisted - even as prosecutors maintained that he was. Judge Limpert made clear during the hearing that Huff had the option to proceed to trial if he disputed the facts. 'No, we're not coming back,' Huff said. 'I'm guilty of all that. Whatever you guys say I'm guilty of.'
The emotional toll of the proceedings spilled into open anger from the courtroom gallery, where family members of the victims watched the man responsible for their loss laugh through his confession. At one point, Huff's older son, who was not present during the killings, shouted at him, 'You're f***ing embarrassing yourself. Just speak!' Huff turned toward him and responded that he loved him.
Prosecutors made clear they had little interest in Huff's courtroom behavior. 'I'm focused on the family. I'm focused on Jeremiah. I'm focused on Ms. Tschudy,' Onondaga County prosecutor Rob Moran told CNY Central. 'I could care less what his reaction to any of this is. I don't have enough bandwidth to put any time into worrying about his reaction to these things.'
Moran also underscored the brutality of the crime, stating that Jeremiah had indeed been shot in the head, suggesting Huff's denial may reflect the weight of that reality. The killings unfolded just after 9:30pm on March 17, when Huff opened fire inside the home, killing both victims and allegedly firing at his stepfather as well.
Jeremiah, a student at Gillette Road Middle School, was remembered in his obituary as an 'adventurous young boy' with 'a heart full of curiosity and a spirit of determination.' In the moments before the violence, the boy's mother received a disturbing phone call from him prompting her to dial 911. By the time police arrived, Huff had already fled.
Authorities launched an overnight manhunt. Prosecutors later revealed Huff had briefly hidden inside Upstate Community General Hospital before reemerging. He was arrested around 9:30am the following morning on West Seneca Turnpike, not far from the scene.
The case dragged on for months as Huff's legal team explored a potential mental health defense. Multiple experts evaluated him to determine whether he could be held criminally responsible. Defense attorney Shaun Chase acknowledged in court that any mental impairment Huff may have experienced was tied to voluntary intoxication from drugs or alcohol - not a qualifying legal defense. Huff was deemed competent to stand trial.
Prosecutors said they still do not know exactly what substances, if any, Huff had taken that night. Huff pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, securing a deal that spares him from a possible life sentence without parole tied to first-degree murder charges. He faces a sentence of 40 years to life in prison.
