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 resident has been sentenced after confessing to the brutal murders of his partner and young son. David Huff, aged 44, received a sentence of 40 years to life in prison for the tragic killing of his 11-year-old son, Jeremiah Huff, and his girlfriend, 32-year-old Yeraldith Tschudy.
The grim events unfolded on April 28 when Huff fatally shot both victims. During his court hearing, Huff displayed a disturbing demeanor, laughing and telling the judge he had a “joke stuck in [his] head.” This unsettling behavior was met with stern words from Judge Ted Limpert, who likened Huff’s actions to that of a “petulant teenager,” as reported by Syracuse.com.
The courtroom scene was charged with emotion, particularly from the victim’s family members. Jeremiah’s mother, Samantha Gallup Peltier, was among those present. She recounted the harrowing moment she received a phone call from her son after he had been shot by Huff. In her heart-wrenching testimony, shared by local station WSYR, she expressed, “That phone call is played over and over and over and over in my head, daily.”
In closing her statements, Peltier delivered a powerful message to Huff, declaring, “You are destined for the seventh circle of hell,” underscoring the deep anguish and anger stemming from this senseless tragedy.
Peltier concluded her statements by telling Huff, “You are destined for the seventh circle of hell.”
Onondaga County Chief Assistant District Attorney Robert Moran read a statement from Tschudy’s mother, Judith Seoud, who wrote that her daughter “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.”