Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 14, Section 29 defines homicide as “the killing of a human being by the act, procurement, or culpable omission of another,” and separates it into 5 “grades”:

• First Degree Murder (La. R.S. 14:30),

• Second Degree Murder (La. R.S. 14:30.1),

• Manslaughter (La. R.S. 14:31),

• Negligent Homicide (La. R.S. 14:32), and

• Vehicular Homicide (La. R.S. 14:32.1).

First Degree Murder is the killing of a human being when the offender has specific intent to kill and or to inflict great bodily harm:

1. “and is engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of aggravated kidnapping, second degree kidnapping, aggravated escape, aggravated arson, aggravated or first degree rape, forcible or second degree rape, aggravated burglary, armed robbery, assault by drive-by shooting, first degree robbery, second degree robbery, simple robbery, terrorism, cruelty to juveniles, or second degree cruelty to juveniles.”

2. on a fireman, peace officer, crime lab employee engaged in the performance of their duties or because of his status.

3. on more than one person.

4. for money.

5. on a victim who is younger than 12 or older than 65.

6. when engaged in drug distribution.

7. when engaged in “ritualistic acts.”

8. when the offender has been served with a protective order protecting the victim.

9. when the victim is a witness to a crime or a family member of a witness and the killing was done to influence or prevent his testimony or in retribution for his testimony.

10. when the victim is a taxi driver engaged in his work duties.

11. “and the offender has previously acted with a specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm that resulted in the killing of one or more persons.”

12. on a correctional center employee.

The penalty for first degree murder is death or life imprisonment without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.

Second degree murder is the killing of a human being when:

1. the offender has specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm.

2. the offender is engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of aggravated kidnapping, second degree kidnapping, aggravated escape, aggravated arson, aggravated or first degree rape, forcible or second degree rape, aggravated burglary, armed robbery, assault by drive-by shooting, first degree robbery, second degree robbery, simple robbery, terrorism, cruelty to juveniles, or second degree cruelty to juveniles, but has no specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm.

3. the offender distributes drugs and the purchaser dies as a result of consuming those drugs.

4. the offender distributes drugs and the purchaser provides them to another person who dies as a result of consuming the drugs.

The penalty for second degree murder is life imprisonment without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.

Manslaughter is a homicide:

1. which would be a first or second degree murder except it was committed in “sudden passion or heat of blood immediately caused by provocation sufficient to deprive an average person of his self-control and cool reflection.” But not if the offender’s blood had cooled or an average person’s blood would have cooled prior to the killing.

2. a homicide committed without specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm if the offender is engaged in a felony not listed in the first or second degree murder statute or when resisting arrest under circumstances that do not rise to the level of first or second degree murder.

The penalty for manslaughter is imprisonment at hard labor for not more than 40 years, unless the victim was under the age of 10 at the time of his death, in which case the penalty is imprisonment for not less than 10 years nor more than 40 years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.

Negligent homicide is the killing of a human by criminal negligence or by a dog or other animal when the owner is reckless and criminally negligent in confining or restraining it. The general penalty for negligent homicide is imprisonment with or without hard labor for not more than 5 years and/or a fine of up to $5,000. If the victim was under the age of 10 at the time of his death, the penalty is imprisonment at hard labor for not less than two nor more than 5 years, without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. If the victim was killed by a dog, the penalty shall be imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than 5 years and/or fined up to $5,000.

Vehicular homicide is the statute which covers deaths caused by offenders who are operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The penalty is a fine of not less than $2,000 nor more than $15,000 and/or imprisonment with or without hard labor for not less than 5 years nor more than 30 years. At least 3 years of the term of imprisonment must be without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. If the driver’s BAC is above .15 or he has a prior conviction for Driving While Intoxicated, then the minimum sentence is 5 years. If the accident results in the deaths of more than one person, each victim shall constitute a separate offense and the sentences must run consecutively to one another.

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