Differences between manslaughter and murder

There is a difference between homicide and killing and it is important to understand which is which. Homicide is mostly thought of as murder because it is an unlawful killing so if that’s the case it is considered homicide. If someone is threatening your life and you kill them maybe before you, it is not counted as a homicide. In homicide, there are mainly two categories, murder and then manslaughter. There is first-degree murder, second-degree murder, depraved heart murder, voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter.

First-degree murder is also known as premeditated murder and it is when the murder is willful, premeditated, and deliberate. For some jurisdictions, the factor that determines whether it is 2nd-degree murder or 1st is how long the killer planned the attack. For example, did they plan it for an hour, a day, a week, a month, etc. Second degree is when a person has an intent to kill or cause serious bodily harm that results in death or knows that the harm they want to inflict upon a person can cause death. The main difference between 2nd-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter is that voluntary manslaughter has adequate provocation and 2nd-degree murder does not. Adequate provocation is also referred to as the heat of passion and is defined as “something that would cause a reasonable person to act without self-control and lose any premeditated state of mind”. In between 2nd-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter is depraved heart murder and it is when a person acts with a depraved difference in human life and when the act causes a death. Involuntary manslaughter has different types such as vehicular manslaughter, reckless behavior, and unlawful actions that can result in another person’s death. Voluntary manslaughter occurs when the unlawful killing was the result of adequate provocation. This is known to typically not be verbal except for specific threats or in the elucidation of adultery.