Man pleads guilty in 2020 fatal shooting of Mount Holly police officer

MOUNT HOLLY, N.C. (WBTV) - The man who shot and killed Mount Holly police officer Tyler Herndon in 2020, pleaded guilty on Tuesday and will receive a life sentence in prison without parole.

Joshua Funk, 24, who was arrested for the fatal shooting of the 25-year-old Tyler Herndon on Dec. 11, 2020, pleaded guilty at a superior court office. Funk had been charged with multiple crimes, including first-degree murder.

“I’m just glad it’s over now me and my wife can move on as part of our closure seeing justice was done for Tyler,” Tyler’s father, Mark Herndon, told WBTV.

Mark Herndon says Tuesday was the first time he had seen Funk in person.

He had one question on his mind.

“Why did you do this to my son?” Mark Herndon said.

The eldest Herndon says the judge also asked Funk, in court, if he had anything to say.

“The judge asked him, ‘Do you have any words for the family. No, your honor.’ No remorse, I was blown away by that,” Mark Herndon said.

The shooting occurred around 3:30 a.m. near the Mount Holly Car Wash on Beatty Drive in Gaston County.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said officers tried to engage with an armed breaking and entering suspect when the shots were exchanged between Funk and several Mount Holly officers, including Tyler Herndon.

Funk and officer Tyler Herndon were both shot.

“I’m going to tell you Brandon, it did everything it could do for me to sit on that bench and not go after him,” Mark Herndon said. “I had to reach behind me, it was a Mount Holly police officer, who I know real good. I had to hold on to his knee and he held my hand for about five minutes.”

Tyler Herndon had been with the Mount Holly Police Department for less than two years and was only two days away from his 26th birthday.

In February 2022, Funk pleaded not guilty to eight new charges.

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