Background: David Huff (right) stands next to his attorney as he laughs in court on April 28 (Syracuse.com). Inset (left): Jeremiah Huff (Farone & Son Funeral Home). Inset (right): Yeraldith Tschudy (New Comer Cremations & Funerals).
A New York man has been handed his sentence after admitting to the brutal slaying of his girlfriend and young son.
David Huff, aged 44, received a sentence of 40 years to life in prison on Friday for the murder of his 11-year-old son, Jeremiah Huff, and his girlfriend, 32-year-old Yeraldith Tschudy. Huff confessed to shooting both victims on April 28 during a court session where he was seen laughing, claiming he had a “joke stuck in [his] head.”
According to a report by Syracuse.com, Judge Ted Limpert addressed Huff’s inappropriate demeanor in court, comparing him to a “petulant teenager.”
Several family members attended Friday’s proceedings to express their anger towards Huff. Among them was Jeremiah’s mother, Samantha Gallup Peltier, who shared a heart-wrenching memory of receiving a call from her son after he had been shot by his father. As reported by WSYR, she told the court, “That phone call is played over and over and over and over in my head, daily.”
Peltier left Huff with a chilling statement, saying, “You are destined for the seventh circle of hell.”
Onondaga County Chief Assistant District Attorney Robert Moran read a poignant statement from Tschudy’s mother, Judith Seoud. She wrote about her daughter’s resilience, noting, “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.”
As Law&Crime previously reported, Huff used a Remington 870 Express 12-gauge shotgun to kill Tschudy and then Jeremiah on March 17, 2025. Huff also allegedly fired the shotgun at his stepfather, but he ran out of bullets. Huff did not plead guilty to a charge of attempted murder in connection with the allegation involving his stepfather.
Huff fled his stepfather’s home after the fatal shootings, leading to an overnight manhunt that ended when a neighbor spotted Huff walking near the scene of the crime the following morning. Authorities said Huff had no known history of domestic violence before the double murder.
After handing down Huff’s sentence, Limpert told Huff, “Your actions are reprehensible, and you deserve to be incarcerated for the rest of your life. Even a sentence of life is not long enough for you.”
