There’s no worse crime than murder, but not all murders get judged equally. In fact, there are a few different types of murder, and each one comes with a unique set of charges and considerations. It’s important to familiarize yourself with every type of murder so you can better understand the charges given to certain individuals.
Keep reading for a complete guide to the different types of murder.
The Different Types of Murder: Murder Definitions
Three of the most common forms of murder are first degree, second degree, and felony murder. Beyond these, there is also the related charge of manslaughter. Let’s explore each in more detail.
First Degree Murder
First degree murder is any premeditated, purposeful killing of another person.
If the murder is planned in any way, that’s considered first degree. The method doesn’t matter; whether it’s a poisoning or a shooting, as long as it was planned it’s first degree murder. First degree murder charges rely heavily on intent.
For example, if someone goes into a neighbor’s home and shoots them because they don’t like the neighbor, that’s first degree murder. They thought their actions through before performing them.
Second Degree Murder
Second degree murder happens when a person kills someone without planning to do so.
For example, if two people are having a hand-to-hand street brawl and one fighter ends up killing the other by accident, that might be second degree murder. They killed the person, but it wasn’t premeditated.
If someone is assaulted in public and they kill their assaulter, that too could be considered a second degree murder. How it’s charged, however, differs from state to state regarding self-defense laws. This is why the George Zimmerman case was such a hot topic when it happened.
Felony Murder
Felony murder is a murder that happens during another crime.
For example, if you’re driving drunk and you hit and kill someone, that’s felony murder. The crime you’re knowingly committing is drunk driving — you didn’t have the intent to kill the pedestrian. Because the pedestrian died at your hands, however, this is felony murder.
Felony murder happens when you’re intentionally committing a crime and murder someone in the process. If you’re not intentionally committing a crime, that may fall under manslaughter.
Another example can be seen in robberies. Say a criminal goes and robs a convenience store, but they end up shooting and killing the convenience store owner in the commission. They went in with the intention to rob, not murder, meaning they are guilty of felony murder.
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is very closely related to murder, since it also results in the loss of life. The difference between murder and manslaughter is malice and intent. There is no malice in manslaughter charges, and the circumstances are often accidental.
There are a few different types of manslaughter.
Voluntary Manslaughter
Voluntary manslaughter is a tricky one. Many people believe voluntary must mean intent, but sometimes that’s not the case.
For example, someone accused of first degree murder might get their charge reduced to voluntary manslaughter if they plead diminished capacity. Diminished capacity means the person was intoxicated at the time of the murder. They weren’t in their right mind, and could not control themselves enough to think it through.
The “heat of passion” is sometimes used to reduce sentences to voluntary manslaughter, as well.
Involuntary Manslaughter
Involuntary manslaughter involves a death due to reckless conduct or criminal negligence. One example of involuntary manslaughter happens in the medical field.
Say there’s a doctor treating a patient for a breathing condition. The patient needs a tube to breathe, and the doctor is responsible for making sure that tube is installed correctly. However, one day, the doctor connects the tube wrong — the patient ends up dying as they’re not getting the air they need.
This is involuntary manslaughter as the doctor didn’t mean to kill their patient. They acted negligently, not ensuring they put the tube in correctly.
Vehicular Manslaughter
Many times, accidental murders that happen in vehicles are charged under vehicular manslaughter.
Vehicular manslaughter covers accidental deaths by things like drunk driving accidents. If another crime is intentionally going down at the time (transporting drugs, for example) this charge is more likely felony murder. Texting and driving cases may also fall under vehicular manslaughter.
If you’re facing manslaughter or murder charges of any kind, contact a Matt Alford lawyer today.
The Penalties for Murder & Manslaughter
Murder and manslaughter are split into these categories to help judges and juries make decisions. First degree murder punishments, for example, are much different than involuntary manslaughter is for good reason.
Punishments for Murder
The exact punishments for any level of murder differ highly from case-to-case. However, there are some general guidelines you can expect charges to follow.
First degree murder charges usually involve life in prison without any parole possibility. Sometimes parole hearings are granted, but they’re always years down the road and usually go unfulfilled.
Second degree murder charges don’t often result in life sentences but do result in many years in prison. Parole is more likely, but is often put years ahead of the initial sentence.
Punishments for Manslaughter
Manslaughter charges are understandably lesser than the charges for any type of murder.
Involuntary manslaughter, for example, doesn’t always lead to a prison sentence. Sometimes it gets the guilty party house arrest, community service, or another type of punishment.
Voluntary manslaughter, however, usually involves prison time. It is often for a shorter amount of time than second degree murder, though.
The Different Forms of Murder
There are a lot of different types of murder, and it’s important to know the differences between them. These different types of murder help our legal system fairly determine punishments for the guilty. If you ever end up on a jury, you’ll be happy you know the different types of murder.
For more articles on business, and related topics to this, check out the rest of our blog.
