MOUNT HOLLY, N.C. — Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against Joshua Funk, the man accused of shooting and killing Mount Holly police officer Tyler Herndon in December of last year.
Funk appeared in court Thursday morning for the first time since mid-December.
Herndon was shot and killed in the line of duty while responding to a reported break-in at the Mount Holly Car Wash around 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 11. Multiple officers were called to the scene when they encountered an armed suspect. Multiple shots were fired between the suspect, identified as Funk, and responding police. Two other Mount Holly officers and one Gaston County officer were involved in the incident.
According to search warrants in the case, a surveillance camera captured Funk smoking a cigarette near the front door when officers arrived. When police ordered him to stop, Funk allegedly ran to the back of the building, pulled out a handgun and shot Herndon.
Funk last appeared in court on Dec. 18 for a hearing that lasted just 76 seconds. He was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair due to injuries that required him to be hospitalized, deputies said. He has remained in jail without bond since that hearing.
Court records showed that Funk had several pending cases last year, including an arrest for felony larceny in Mooresville in October.
Mount Holly Police Chief Don Roper and more than a dozen police officers sat in court show support for Officer Tyler Herndon and his family.
"I hired Tyler. I signed him, and I definitely feel responsible for him and all of our folks," Roper said. "The best way for this to end is for people to never forget Tyler Herndon."
Herndon spent two years on the Mount Holly force and was killed just two days before his 26th birthday.
"I've been along for a long time and one of the things I can do is read potential in young police officers, and Tyler had that potential," Roper said.