KSU Athlete Arrested on Murder Charges

News headlines over the weekend covered the story of the KSU women's basketball team point guard who has been arrested for aggravated assault and murder in the City of Atlanta.

The woman and three others are suspected of a targeted murder in a parking deck in SW Atlanta. So far not a lot of information has been released to the media.

As a Georgia Criminal Defense Lawyer, I will outline the law behind murder in today's post.

Murder in Georgia

Murder in Georgia is defined by Georgia Law 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 voluntary 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.

It probably goes without saying that the criminal offense of murder is classified as a felony in the state of Georgia. 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

If you or a loved one has been arrested contact our offices now.