Gaston man gets life sentence in killing of Mount Holly police officer

Tyler Avery Herndon's childhood bedroom still holds his video games, sports uniforms and graduation gowns, evidence of a young man only a few years into his adult life. In December of 2020, another item was added to the room: the portrait used in his funeral.

Herndon, a 25-year-old Mount Holly police officer, was killed by Joshua Tyler Funk, 25, who was fleeing from police when he fired a handgun at Herndon and other officers. Herndon died just days from his 26th birthday.

On Tuesday, more than a year after Herndon's death, Funk took responsibility for his crime, pleading guilty to first-degree murder. Superior Court Judge David Phillips sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

"The pain is unimaginable," said Herndon's father, Mark Herndon, speaking through tears during the court hearing.

"In October 2020, … Tyler and I had a conversation, and he told me, he said, 'Dad, I love working for Mount Holly Police Department. I'm going to retire there,'" he said. "He had so much to look forward to in life. I will never see him progress in his career, get married, and most of all, have children, my grandchildren, I'll never see."

Funk answered Phillips' questions during the court hearing but did not otherwise make a statement. He listened in silence, with a bowed head, as Mark Herndon and Tyler Herndon's younger sister tearfully spoke.

Herndon encountered Funk at a video game arcade on Beatty Drive in the early morning hours of Dec. 11, 2020. Funk had broken in, and the owner, whose surveillance footage from the arcade streamed video directly to his cell phone, was watching and had called the police, Assistant District Attorney Deborah Gulledge said.

When police arrived, Herndon and another officer positioned themselves near the front door of the business, while another officer stood by the back door. A Gastonia police officer who happened to be nearby also showed up to help, making his way toward the back of the building.

Before the Gastonia police officer reached the back door, Funk exited the building, initially putting his hands in the air and seeming to obey police. Then he ran, and police began pursuing him.

As Funk ran toward a neighborhood behind the building, he pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and fired at police, shooting Herndon, Gulledge said.

Herndon fell to the ground. Other officers returned fire, shooting Funk.

Once Funk had been shot, police handcuffed him, and an officer went to Herndon and called for an ambulance.

At CaroMont, doctors tried to save Herndon, "but ultimately he succumbed to his injuries," Gulledge said.

Funk, who officers treated at the scene, had non life-threatening injuries.

Police retrieved multiple shell casings from where Herndon had been shot, as well as over $3,000 in cash that was identified as money stolen from the arcade.

Reading from a written statement in court, Mark Herndon said that he awoke that Friday morning to police at his door, and officers told him that his first-born, his only son, had been shot and was at CaroMont Regional Medical Center

At the hospital, doctors said they had done everything they could, "but he did not make it," Herndon said.

"At that moment, my entire world had fallen apart. My wife wasn't even at the hospital to properly receive the news," he said. "She was out of state with her mother and sister. In just a matter of hours, my family had suffered its greatest heartache."

Herndon's sister, Lindsey Herndon, said in court she was 24 when her brother was shot. Now, nearly two years later, she has been forced to plan a future without her older brother in it.

She said that his death has had a "lasting impact" on her.

"Endless nights have I begged to see Tyler in my dreams, only to have jumped to the recurring nightmare of somehow witnessing Tyler be shot in the head and stomach," she said. "I have begged to hear Tyler's voice in the quietness of waking up in the morning. I have begged, and I have become angry at God and the world around me."

"I'm angry at Tyler's murderer. Why do I have to live longer on this earth without him than I did with him here," she said. "This emptiness I have felt has led me to start taking medication recommended by my grief counselor to help cope with the unbearable grief, anxiety, anger, and other secondary PTSD symptoms Joshua's actions have caused me."

She said that she was told in counseling that grief never goes away, but people become more accustomed to it over time. This often makes her feel worse.

"I would like for the court to know that I am now an only child," she said. "I have struggled with navigating this new part of my identity since December of 2020."

Phillips briefly addressed Herndon's family at the end of the hearing, saying that Herndon's death "was a life cut short by senseless gun violence."

"It is running rampant in Gaston County," he said. "Today and every day, we need to thank Tyler Herndon for his dedication and service."

Remembering: Gaston County honors fallen officers for National Police Week

Sharing memories: Memories of Officer Tyler Herndon at memorial service a year after his death

Reporter Kara Fohner can be reached at 704-869-1850 or kfohner@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gaston man sentenced in death of Mount Holly police officer Tyler Herndon