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Home » Consumer Information » Crime

Criminal Homicide

Anytime one person kills another it is a Criminal Homicide, unless the killing was planned in advance, which makes it a murder and a more serious crime. There are many different form of Homicide.

Negligent Homicide

A person who unintentionally allows another person to die while the victim is in their care is guilty of Negligent Homicide. This type of death usually happens with very young children, elderly people or individuals who are not capable of taking care of themselves.

Infanticide

This term describes the killing of an infant. The killing itself is done intentionally and not as an accidental or negligent act.

Fratricide

This is the intentional killing of a person's brother. In military terms, it is also used to describe the act of friendly fire, which is any incident in which a solider accidentally kills members of their own troops.

Sororicide

When a person kills their own sister, it is known as Sororicide. It is most commonly the result of a physical confrontation that was inadvertently taken too far.

Parricide

This involves the murder of a person's parents. In some states it may also be the murder of a person who is in a parental role, such as an employer or supervisor.

Patricide

Similar to Parricide, this form of homicide is the killing of a person's father.

Matricide

Also similar to Parricide, Matricide is the killing of a person's mother.

Mariticide

A person who kills their spouse is guilty of Mariticide. This term is used both for a wife who kills her husband, and a husband who kills his wife. Most often it does refer to a wife killing her husband, as the opposite is generally known as Uxoricide.

Filicide

Parents who kill their own children have committed Filicide. This is true whether the child who is killed is male or female.

Justifiable Homicide

Certain types of Homicide are thought to be justifiable, and therefore excusable from punishment. The most common example of this is a person who kills a criminal while they are in the act of committing a felony, in particular one that will result in great bodily harm or even death.

Other forms of Homicide which are considered to be justifiable include any killing that is done by a solider in the line of duty during a time of war, state officials who are involved in the act of Capital Punishment, or when a police officer uses lethal force while attempting to protect citizens who may be harmed by a criminal.