What Is Homicide?

In certain cases, a homicide will have a legal justification, such as self-defense or some other reason. In those cases, homicide is not a crime.

This FindLaw article discusses types of homicide, criminal and non-criminal. It also addresses when one could face civil liability for a wrongful death.

Types of Homicide

Murder and manslaughter are two types of homicide.

Murder represents a form of criminal homicide.  The State may pursue a murder charge for the unlawful taking of a human life. It often involves a specific intent to end the life of a human being or to commit a felony under circumstances where another person's death results. 

Murder is the most serious type of criminal homicide. It carries the most severe penalties, including the death penalty. Other forms of criminal homicide demonstrate a reduced level of intent. These include manslaughter, reckless homicide, negligent homicide, and vehicular homicide. 

Murder

Murder is the most serious form of criminal homicide. State statutes typically divide murder into different degrees of wrongfulness. The typical legal definition of first-degree murder is an unlawful killing with malice aforethought. This means the killing is both intentional and premeditated. In states that have the death penalty, a first-degree murder case may be pursued as a capital murder case.

In first-degree murder, the premeditation requirement does not require evidence of elaborate or lengthy planning. Courts have ruled that premeditation can occur after only a few seconds of reflection and consideration.

Intent

The requirement of intent can also be elastic. A jury does not need to find that the defendant intended to cause death to convict them of first-degree murder. Instead, the prosecutors can show that the defendant intended to cause serious bodily injury or kill while attempting to commit some other felony. The latter is called the felony murder rule.

Intent also does not need to be directed at a specific person. If someone planned to kill one person, but accidentally killed someone else, the murder was still intentional and premeditated. A killer who delivers a poisoned meal to his victim, only for it to be eaten by someone else, could still face first-degree murder charges.

Lack of Premeditation

When there is a lack of premeditation, the defendant could face charges of second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter, depending on the laws of the state. First-degree murder convictions likely result in a sentence of death or life imprisonment. Second-degree murder convictions may result in a term of years in prison or a life sentence with the possibility of parole. It depends on the circumstances and the state or federal law at issue.

Manslaughter

The crime of manslaughter can be voluntary or involuntary. The primary difference between manslaughter and murder is the killer's state of mind, or mens rea. Some states, like New York, provide that in certain cases of voluntary manslaughter, the defendant acted "under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance" or distress. This distress is often due to provocation by the victim. Texas Penal Code Section 19.04 defines manslaughter as "recklessly" causing the death of a person.

Voluntary Manslaughter

Voluntary manslaughter means the offender commits an intentional killing without a prior intent to kill. At common law, the killing happened "in the heat of passion" or "sudden quarrel" and without forethought. An example of this could be a road rage incident on the highway. The offender believes the other driver cut them off in traffic and then, shortly after that, forces the other driver's car off the highway, causing their death. These cases often turn on the unique facts present in a situation.

Each state's laws are different. In some states, this crime could be charged as second-degree murder.

Involuntary Manslaughter

In some states, statutes refer to an unintentional killing as involuntary manslaughter or negligent homicide. In these cases, the perpetrator engages in behavior that is risky or demonstrates criminal negligence and death results. The defendant had no specific intent to kill anyone. Yet, they should have known that their actions were risky or negligent. Sometimes these cases arise from persons who had a special duty of care toward the victim, such as parents, who ignore the risks and cause a death.

Examples of involuntary manslaughter or negligent homicide include deaths that result from:

• Operating a dangerous amusement park ride with defective safety equipment

• Failing to provide medical care to a child who is clearly sick and suffering

• Leaving a loaded gun unsecured in the home within reach of a child

• Driving while intoxicated (in some states - other states create a specific definition for these crimes)

Reckless or Negligent Homicide

Some states moved away from using the common law crime of manslaughter. In these jurisdictions, the legislature may use the title reckless or negligent homicide to describe the mental state of the killer better. These charges require either the defendant show a reckless or negligent state of mind.

The definition of recklessness is to engage in conduct you know is dangerous, disregarding the likely consequences.  Some describe it as acting in a way that ignores known risks related to serious harm. Criminal negligence occurs when you fail to abide by a duty of care or special responsibility toward the victim and this leads to harm. Depending on the state, reckless or negligent homicide may be a felony or misdemeanor crime.

Vehicular Homicide

When the operator of a vehicle or watercraft - a car, boat, jet ski, snowmobile, or ATV — causes the death of another, they could face a charge of vehicular homicide or an equivalent offense. States define and subcategorize this crime in different ways.

In general, deaths from automobile crashes are not charged as first-degree or second-degree murder because the vehicle operator had no intent to kill anyone. Many fatal car accidents are just that - accidents. No criminal charges follow those incidents, however tragic. The deaths that draw criminal charges tend to result from the dangerously reckless or negligent operation of a vehicle. In Florida, vehicular homicide occurs when someone operates a motor vehicle in a "reckless manner likely to cause the death of, or great bodily harm to, another." Examples of vehicular homicide include causing a death while:

• Committing a misdemeanor traffic violation, such as driving through a stop sign or engaging in reckless driving

• Driving at an unreasonable speed, such as street racing

• Operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol (DUI)

• Eluding police or causing a high-speed chase

• Failing to stop and render aid after a crash (a "hit and run")

Justifiable Homicide

Some killings that may lead to criminal investigations into manslaughter or murder are not crimes. Law enforcement or courts may determine these cases amount to "justifiable homicide." A prime example is when a person kills to protect human life, in self-defense or in defense of someone else. Most state laws permit a justified homicide to defend oneself or another when faced with a credible threat of serious bodily harm or death. This may occur during crimes like rape, armed robbery, or attempted murder.

Justifiable homicide is not a common phenomenon. For 2019, the FBI reported 726 cases. Nearly half related to officer-involved killings.  The other half involved private citizens. Inquiries into killings by police officers in the line of duty often result in findings of justified homicide. There have been a few high-profile cases of police killings leading to criminal charges (such as the conviction of Derek Chauvin and others in the George Floyd case).  Still, these prosecutions represent a tiny fraction of the cases of civilians killed by police each year. 

Intentional Homicide Using a Vehicle

Although vehicular homicides are usually unintentional and not charged as murder, some killers use their vehicles as their weapon of choice for intentional killings.

Recent years have seen a number of high-profile cases in which drivers intentionally drove into pedestrians on the sidewalk or protestors at a demonstration. The intentional use of a vehicle to cause injury can result in murder charges.  In such cases, the motor vehicle amounts to a deadly weapon used by the defendant to cause the death.

One notorious example is the case against Nicholas Kraus. Protests erupted in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis after officers from the U.S. Marshals Task Force attempted to arrest Winston Smith on outstanding warrants in 2021.  Smith died in the confrontation.  During further demonstrations days later, Kraus drove into a crowd of protestors in Minneapolis, killing Deona Knajdek and injuring three others. Police found Kraus' actions to be intentional but not premeditated. They charged him with second-degree murder because he sped up as he approached a barricade separating vehicles from the protestors. Kraus, intoxicated at the time, admitted he intentionally drove into the barricade and toward the protesters.  He pled guilty and received a sentence of 20 years in state prison.  

In an earlier incident, James Alex Fields, Jr., a white nationalist, drove his car into a crowd of peaceful protesters during the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The rally, organized by white supremacist groups, objected to the vote by the city council to remove a public statue of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general during the U.S. Civil War.  Fields killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injured 30 other persons.  At a state court trial in 2018, the jury convicted him of first-degree murder, eight counts of malicious wounding, and hit-and-run crimes.  They sentenced him to life imprisonment.  Federal prosecutors also charged Fields with federal hate crimes.  In 2019, he pled guilty to 29 of the 30 federal charges to avoid the death penalty.  He received a second life sentence.    

Do You Have More Questions About Homicide? Talk to a Lawyer

If you or someone you love is facing criminal homicide charges, you need to speak to a criminal defense attorney. They are criminal law experts who prepare legal defenses in homicide cases. To learn more, meet with an experienced criminal defense attorney today.