{"id":373559,"date":"2016-04-11T01:22:34","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T06:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/state\/kentucky-law\/kentucky-involuntary-manslaughter-law.html"},"modified":"2016-06-20T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-06-20T19:00:00","slug":"kentucky-involuntary-manslaughter-law","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/state\/kentucky-law\/kentucky-involuntary-manslaughter-law.html","title":{"rendered":"Kentucky Involuntary Manslaughter Law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n \n
\n

Kentucky Involuntary Manslaughter Law<\/h1>\n
\n
\n

Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last updated\n

\n \n <\/i>\n Legally Reviewed\n <\/summary>\n\n
\n

This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n\n

\n \n <\/i>\n Fact-Checked\n <\/summary>\n\n
\n

The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n<\/section>\n

Manslaughter is a type of criminal homicide<\/a> (or a crime where one person is illegally killed by another). In Kentucky, there are four types of criminal homicide: murder, first-degree manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, and reckless homicide. In all four of these crimes the offender illegally takes the life of another, but society views killing in some circumstances to be more offensive than in others so these degrees of criminal homicide have been developed.<\/p>\r\n

This article focuses on Kentucky’s second-degree manslaughter law (referred to as involuntary manslaughter<\/a> in many other states), but before outlining the specifics of this crime it’s important to understand where on the spectrum of criminal homicides manslaughter falls. Here is a brief outline of how homicide crimes are generally defined in descending order of severity:<\/p>\r\n