Douglasville Man Arrested After Bodies Discovered

Douglas County Courthouse

Douglasville, Ga. - According to reports out of Douglasville, a local man was arrested after police discovered the bodies of a woman and a young girl in a burning vehicle last night.

Authorities reported that the car was fully engulfed in fire behind a local residence. Investigators believe as of right now that the deaths of the woman and the girl were in connection to a domestic incident. The suspect has been arrested. His charges and his name have not been released.

As a Georgia Criminal Defense Lawyer, I will cover the different homicide offenses in today's post. There is no telling what charges the man is facing with so few details released but there is a large possibility that he is responsible for their deaths.

Homicide Offenses in Georgia

Homicide is defined as the act of one human killing another human. And, there are many offenses that are classified as homicide offenses. A homicide can result from purposeful, accidental, reckless or negligent acts.

I have listed below the different homicide laws and the definitions below.

Murder in Georgia is defined in O.C.G.A. §16-5-1 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. 

The penalty for a murder conviction in Georgia will be life in prison without parole, the death penalty, or life in prison.

Second degree murder in Georgia is also defined in the same statute, O.C.G.A. §16-5-1, as:

A person commits the offense of murder in the second degree when, in the commission of cruelty to children in the second degree, he or she causes the death of another human being irrespective of malice. 

The penalty for a second-degree murder conviction in Georgia will be a ten to thirty years in prison.

The same statute, O.C.G.A. §16-5-1, defines the offense of felony murder in Georgia as:

A person commits the offense of murder when, in the commission of a felony, he or she causes the death of another human being irrespective of malice. 

The penalty for a felony murder conviction in Georgia is either life in prison with or without parole or the death penalty.

Voluntary manslaughter in Georgia is defined in O.C.G.A. §16-5-2 as:

A person commits the offense of voluntary manslaughter when he or she causes the death of another human being under circumstances which would otherwise be murder and if he acts solely as a result of a sudden, violent, and irresistible passion resulting from serious provocation sufficient to excite such passion in a reasonable person; however, if there should have been an interval between the provocation and the killing sufficient for the voice of reason and humanity to be heard, of which the jury in all cases shall be the judge, the killing shall be attributed to deliberate revenge and be punished as murder. 

The penalty for a voluntary manslaughter conviction in Georgia is a prison term of one to twenty years.

Involuntary manslaughter in Georgia is defined in O.C.G.A. §16-5-3 as:

A person commits the offense of involuntary manslaughter in the commission of an unlawful act when he causes the death of another human being without any intention to do so: by the commission of an unlawful act other than a felony; or by the commission of a lawful act in an unlawful manner likely to cause death or great bodily harm. 

The penalty for an involuntary manslaughter conviction in Georgia is a prison term of one to ten years.

Practice Note

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