When one human kills another human unlawfully it is called murder.
There are other words that also describe murder. If you hear words like homicide or manslaughter they basically mean the same thing with slight variations. Manslaughter is when someone kills but it lacks malice. As where when someone murders someone it contains malice.
When someone commits a homicide it is considered to be one of the most serious offenses in terms of talking about a crime. Committing a homicide within the United States will lead to harsh punishments of lengthy prison terms. In some states, it can be punished by death or life in prison without the potential of parole.
With malice is important to understand. This means that it was a deliberate and or premeditated act with an ill will intent. There are four states of mind when talking about malice. Intent to kill, intent to harm or inflict terrible bodily harm, intent to commit a felony (Act of murder) and reckless indifference to the risk of human life.
Murders have different degrees to them.
1st degree is one of the most common and carries with it the harshest sentence. First-degree is the aggravated form or the intent to kill with premeditation. First-degree killings can be that of strangulation, and lying in wait for someone to kill. These are just examples and killing of first degree can fall into this category by other ways of killing. Second-degree murder is an intentional killing but that does not have any premeditated or planned to it. It is more of a heat of the moment homicide.
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