Wade Huffman sentenced to life without parole

Huffman shot Heritage in front of his then 12-year-old daughter – a particularly cruel act that caused a child in this community to witness the terrible instance of violence that forever robbed her of her father.

The murder trial started with jury selection on Monday, Feb. 24, and ended with a malice murder guilty verdict by a jury of his peers on Friday, Feb. 28, inside the Union County Courthouse.

Enotah Judicial Circuit Superior Court Chief Judge Joy Parks sentenced Huffman to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Thursday, March 6.

Huffman, 34, was transported the day after sentencing to his new home at Ware State Prison, which features the highest level of security for prisoners in the state: “These offenders never leave the prison and require supervision at all times by a correctional officer.”

Enotah District Attorney Jeff Langley and Assistant District Attorney Daniel Garrett prosecuted the case, and Langley said there was never any doubt whether Huffman shot Heritage; he admitted as much, though his defense attempted to argue that he did so out of a jealous rage.

If the defense had been successful in convincing the jury to believe its “why and how” of Huffman’s actions, the convicted killer could have been found guilty of a lesser manslaughter charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years and is parolable, Langley said.

“It was not a question of, ‘Did he pull the trigger?’” Langley said. “It was a question of proving it was in no way self-defense and proving it was not in the sudden heat of passion out of jealousy, which is essentially what the defense was.”

But the overwhelming amount of evidence in the trial – 141 physical pieces and 12 witnesses, including a 911 operator and state and local law enforcement officials, plus Huffman’s own testimony to investigators – painted a clear picture for the jury: he planned to kill Heritage.

According to Langley, Huffman entered Heritage’s life after starting to date the latter’s ex-girlfriend, Amber Moreno. Heritage lived in a camper in Moreno’s yard at the time, and his daughter was staying inside the Fortenberry Road home with Moreno, who had served as the child’s other caretaker for years.

In Fall of 2022, Moreno entered a relationship with Huffman, subsequently allowing him to move in with her and the girl despite knowing he was a convicted sex offender, Langley said.

Huffman got out of prison three months before the murder, having served six years of a 20-year sentence for twice failing to register as a sex offender upon moving to Union County. His sex offender status came by way of an Ohio conviction for a sexual offense against a 13-year-old girl.

He lied to Moreno, however, downplaying the severity of his sex crime by telling her that he had been 19 and the girl in Ohio 16, which Moreno apparently accepted, Langley said.

“What happened then is, she had moved this man in with this young girl,” Langley said. “Then there was an outcry on Dec. 7 (2022) that he had inappropriately come into the child’s room and made some inappropriate comments to her.

“Amber Moreno did kick him out of the house and reported him to the father and reported him to law enforcement. At that point, law enforcement knew we had a sex offender that had moved into the house with a minor.

“A probation revocation warrant was issued for him, and an investigation began concerning his conduct.”

Langley said Huffman caught wind he was going to be arrested, but his whereabouts remained unknown to law enforcement because Moreno had dropped him off somewhere on the side of the road after making him leave the house Dec. 7.

“He had made his way back to the residence on Dec. 8 and was basically prowling around (the property),” Langley said. “Law enforcement was called out; he was not found. Investigators then took the child to an interview as part of the investigation on Mr. Huffman’s conduct.

“After returning, they had been advised that it would be better for them not to stay there that night, so they were in the middle of packing up their things to go to a relative’s house when, suddenly, Mr. Huffman broke through the door with a pistol in his hand.”

Huffman had stolen the pistol from Moreno, who had loaned him the firearm to carry before she decided to kick him out, but he never returned it, Langley said.

“With the child, Eric Heritage and Amber Moreno standing in the house, he broke through the door, reached around Amber Moreno, and shot Eric Heritage twice – once in the chest and once in the stomach,” Langley said.

Continuing, “We don’t know which shot was fired first, but he remained standing after the first shot. He then shot him a second time, and he fell to the floor. The child ran to a bedroom.”

Moreno began begging Huffman to leave the property, but he refused, instead “ranting and raving” about incorrect assumptions that Moreno had moved Heritage back into the house, Langley said.

Meanwhile, Moreno dialed 911 without Huffman seeing, put the phone down with an open line, and repeatedly pleaded with Huffman to let her call an ambulance – a clear signal to the listening 911 operator, who immediately sent law enforcement and medical assistance to the scene.

The recorded call was placed around 7:20 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 8, with the next eight or nine minutes serving as Heritage’s last moments on earth.

During the 911 call, Huffman could be heard expressing that he had no regrets and was glad he shot Heritage, who “didn’t deserve an open casket.” He even threatened to “shoot him again if I need to” while checking to see if Heritage was still breathing.

The recording also included Huffman denying he was a child molester – a charge eventually brought against him, but not tried, regarding the Dec. 7 encounter with the child in the home – and despite his previous conviction and sex offender status.

Union County Sheriff’s Deputies arrived at 7:28 p.m. and immediately drew their firearms to take him into custody.

Langley said Huffman’s behavior completely changed; his supposed fit of passion had transitioned to total compliance as he answered deputies’ questions with hands in the air, admitted to shooting Heritage and even added “sir” to responses.

Sadly, Heritage could not be resuscitated by the time help arrived, and first responders escorted his daughter, who had been cowering in a closet when discovered, out of the home in a way that avoided her seeing her father’s body.

Members of the jury heard this testimony as well as the 911 tape, which proved to be compelling evidence countering Heritage’s claim that he had snapped in the moment due to jealousy. And the jury heard other damning evidence of premeditation, Langley said.

In the leadup to the murder, Huffman erected what Langley described as a makeshift hunting blind of sorts, stacking limbs and other natural debris in a creek near the house to hide in the water and avoid being seen by law enforcement and the residents of the home he was watching.

“He described having built it in his statement to the GBI, and we found some of his things down there,” Langley said. “The evidence showed that he’d been out in that creek for hours stalking them, and, therefore, I argued strongly in closing that this was not a sudden fit of jealousy.

“He had traveled back there with gun in hand with the intention of doing Eric Heritage harm. He broke through the door with gun in hand and immediately shot Eric Heritage. No discussion. No words. Nothing. This was not a sudden fit of jealousy about a boyfriend/girlfriend situation.

“This was a decision he made hours earlier that he would kill Eric Heritage. They had called law enforcement about him – he knew that – and he was enraged about their prior calls to law enforcement about him, therefore he lost his hiding place (of Moreno’s home).

“He knew he was going to go to jail on the Sex Offender Registry violations, and he was angry they had contacted law enforcement as well as being angry about whatever relationship issues they had.

“And, therefore, he had stewed over this for a period of time. He admitted in his statement that he’d taken methamphetamine while waiting on an opportunity to kill Eric Heritage.”

Langley said the trial ended dramatically with Heritage’s daughter taking the witness stand to point out her father’s killer.

Ultimately, jurors found Huffman guilty of murdering Heritage with malice, as well as committing aggravated assault against Moreno and the child, and being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun.

Given the nature of the tried crime, Huffman’s history as a child sexual predator, his recidivism and even violence in the county jail, Langley argued for – and won – the maximum sentence of life without parole, with Judge Parks agreeing that Huffman was too much of a danger to society to ever walk free again.

“We also showed at sentencing that he was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood racist gang,” Langley said, citing recorded phone calls of him claiming to be in the gang and using terminology specific to the Aryan Brotherhood, and he had tattoos associated with the gang.

Huffman can appeal his case, but Langley is confident the verdict and sentence will stand. What Huffman cannot do is take back the murder of Eric Heritage.

“It’s very sad for this young lady, who had her father killed right in front of her,” Langley said. “A conviction in this case was very important for this family to show that they were valued and that Eric Heritage’s life had value, and therefore the sentence speaks to the value of human life.”

The child will be turning 15 this year. She is no longer in the care of Moreno but is staying with family, according to Langley, who added that Moreno ended up being fully cooperative in the case.

Prior to publication, the North Georgia News unsuccessfully attempted to reach Moreno for comment.

Assistant District Attorney Daniel Garrett deserves special recognition for the professionalism with which he conducted himself in the trial and the tremendous amount of hard work he put into prosecuting his first murder case, Langley said.

Additionally, Langley commended the work of all involved law enforcement as well as two other members of his staff: Victim Witness Assistant Devyn Duncan and Investigator Kyle Laramore.

“There was a lot of good evidence in this case, but we needed to make sure this individual got life without parole,” Langley said. “It was a high priority in our office to do that.”