Murder & Homicide
Homicide charges including murder in all degrees, manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide.
12
Filings This Month
7
Counties Affected
Understanding Murder & Homicide
Murder - 1st Degree
The most serious homicide charge in Minnesota. Depending on the count, prosecutors allege a premeditated intentional killing or another killing the law punishes the same way, such as an intentional killing during certain felonies, the intentional killing of an on-duty peace officer or a killing while committing child or domestic abuse after a past pattern of such abuse.
Max penalty: Life in prison (without possibility of release for premeditated murder and some other first-degree counts; for the rest only with a qualifying prior heinous-crime conviction; never for someone under 18 at the time of the offense; § 609.106)Minn. Stat. § 609.185
Murder - 2nd Degree
A killing the law treats as second-degree murder. Depending on the count, prosecutors allege an intentional killing without premeditation, a death caused during a drive-by shooting, an unintentional death caused while committing most other felonies or an unintentional death caused while inflicting or attempting to inflict harm on someone protected by an order for protection.
Max penalty: Up to 40 years in prisonMinn. Stat. § 609.19
Murder - 3rd Degree
A death the law treats as third-degree murder. One route is a death caused by an act that was eminently dangerous to others and showed a depraved mind with no regard for human life, taken without intent to kill anyone. The other is a death caused by unlawfully selling or giving away a Schedule I or II controlled substance.
Max penalty: Up to 25 years in prison and/or $40,000 fine (a controlled-substance death); up to 25 years (a depraved-mind death)Minn. Stat. § 609.195
Manslaughter - 1st Degree
A death the law treats as first-degree manslaughter. Depending on the count, prosecutors allege an intentional killing in the heat of passion on adequate provocation, a death caused by a fifth-degree assault or by another misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor committed with such force that death or great bodily harm was reasonably foreseeable, an intentional killing under coercion by threats of imminent death, a death caused by unlawfully providing a Schedule III, IV or V controlled substance or a death caused while maliciously punishing a child.
Max penalty: Up to 15 years in prison and/or $30,000 fineMinn. Stat. § 609.20
Manslaughter - 2nd Degree
A death the law treats as second-degree manslaughter. Depending on the count, prosecutors allege a death caused by culpable negligence in which the person created an unreasonable risk and consciously took chances of causing death or great bodily harm, a shooting of a person mistaken for an animal, a death caused by a spring gun or similar device, a death caused by letting a known dangerous animal run loose or a death caused while neglecting or endangering a child.
Max penalty: Up to 10 years in prison and/or $20,000 fineMinn. Stat. § 609.205
Criminal Vehicular Homicide
A death caused by driving while impaired, in a grossly negligent manner, or while fleeing police.
Max penalty: Up to 15 years in prison (an impaired-driving death with a qualified prior driving offense within ten years); up to 10 years and/or $20,000Minn. Stat. § 609.2112
Top Counties This Month
Recent Murder & Homicide Filings
5 recent murder & homicide filings across 7 counties. Sign up free to see case details.