Authorities Investigate Double Murder Suicide in Georgia

Reports out of Douglas County show that investigators and authorities have discovered three people dead inside of a local apartment in Lithia Springs.

Officers showed up to the scene after receiving a 911 call regarding shots being fired in the complex. All three bodies were found in the same apartment. However, no details or reasons as to why the shooting occurred. Authorities are also unsure as to which of the three people was responsible for initiating the incident.

As a Georgia Criminal Defense Attorney, I will cover the law behind the offense of murder in the state of Georgia. Earlier this week, I posted about the law behind the offense of felony murder in Georgia. The two are both homicide offenses - however, the laws behind both crimes are significantly different.

Murder in Georgia

Murder in Georgia is defined by the Georgia Code in O.C.G.A. §16-5-1(a) as:

A person commits the offense of murder when he unlawfully and with malice aforethought, express or implied, causes the death of another human being.

There are a few very important terms that set murder apart from other homicide offenses in our state such as involuntary manslaughter in Georgia.

Our courts define malice as a wicked or corrupt motive or an intention to do evil and which the result is fatal and an unlawful objective to kill without justification or mitigation.

Express malice is the deliberate intention to unlawfully take the life of another human being, which is manifested by external circumstances capable of proof. Malice shall be implied where no considerable provocation appears and where all the circumstances of the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart.

Murder is classified as a felony in the state of Georgia. Regardless of the type of felony, Georgia Felony Punishments should not be taken lightly. The penalty if convicted of murder is either life in prison without the possibility of parole, a life sentence, or the death penalty.

Practice Note

Call our offices today if you have been accused of committing a crime in Georgia.