negligent homicide

Negligent homicide is a US legal term for a death caused by gross negligence or irresponsible conduct, without the perpetrator having intended to kill. The concept belongs to American law and does not exist as a separate category in Danish criminal law.

In US federal law there is no separate provision carrying the label negligent homicide. The closest federal parallel is involuntary manslaughter under 18 U.S.C. § 1112, which defines unlawful killing without malice, committed through careless or reckless conduct. In practice, negligent homicide is used primarily as a concept in the legislation of the individual states, where the definition and the sentencing range vary considerably.

In Louisiana, where the Anthony Templet case took place, negligent homicide is a distinct offence under the state's criminal code. The case concerned a teenager who shot and killed his father in 2019. He was originally charged with second-degree murder, but later pleaded guilty to negligent homicide as part of an agreement with the prosecution.

The central distinction in negligent homicide is the absence of malice aforethought — that is, the prior and conscious intention to kill that characterises murder in the first or second degree. Instead, the decisive assessment is whether the perpetrator displayed a degree of negligence that departed grossly from what a reasonable person would have done in the same situation.

The concept therefore sits at the milder end of the homicide hierarchy in American law: above lawful killings such as self-defence, but below voluntary manslaughter and murder proper. The sentencing range is correspondingly lower, and cases involving a negligent homicide charge often end in shorter custodial sentences or suspended sentences compared with intentional killing cases.