Murder and Manslaughter: What Are the Possible Sentences?
Murder and manslaughter are, obviously, very serious crimes, and the sentences that follow a conviction reflect that. But “homicide” is not a single charge. Louisiana divides unlawful killings into several grades—first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter, and negligent homicide—and the gap between one grade and the next can be measured in decades. That is why a good defense often focuses not only on whether a killing happened, but on which grade the evidence actually supports. Moving a case down one grade can shave years, or even a life sentence, off the outcome.
More on this below from our Louisiana homicide attorney at the Law Offices of Philip B. Adams.
First Degree Murder
Like most states, Louisiana grades murder by degree, and first-degree murder (La. R.S. 14:30) is the most serious homicide charge on the books. Contrary to what many people assume, it does not turn on “premeditation” or planning. Louisiana law does not use that concept at all. Instead, first-degree murder is a killing committed with the specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm, plus at least one aggravating circumstance listed in the statute. Those circumstances include killing during the commission of certain felonies (such as armed robbery, aggravated burglary, aggravated kidnapping, or rape); killing a peace officer or firefighter engaged in official duties; killing a victim who is under 12 or who is 65 or older; killing more than one person; killing for hire; and killing a witness to prevent testimony, among others.
The possible penalties are death or life imprisonment at hard labor without the possibility of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. If the district attorney does not seek a capital verdict, the sentence is life without parole. And the death penalty in Louisiana is not a hypothetical: after a fifteen-year pause, the State resumed carrying out executions in March 2025. A first-degree murder charge carries the most severe exposure the law allows, and it is the clearest case for getting yourself the best defense possible.
Second Degree Murder
Second degree murder in Louisiana (La. R.S. 14:30.1) covers three situations. The first is any killing committed with the specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm that does not involve one of the first-degree aggravating circumstances. Planning is irrelevant here: a carefully plotted killing and a killing decided on in the moment are both second-degree murder if the intent was there. The second is “felony murder”—a killing that occurs while the offender is committing or attempting one of the felonies listed in the statute (for example, armed robbery, aggravated burglary, assault by drive-by shooting, or resisting a police officer with force or violence), even if the offender never intended to kill anyone. The third is the unlawful distribution of a controlled dangerous substance that is the direct cause of the user’s death.
Note what is missing from that list. Louisiana does not have a “depraved heart” murder category like some states, where extreme recklessness alone can be charged as murder. A killing committed without the intent to kill or seriously harm is murder in Louisiana only under the felony-murder or drug-death provisions; otherwise, reckless conduct that causes a death is charged as manslaughter or negligent homicide. That said, prosecutors will argue that specific intent can be inferred from the circumstances, and a jury is allowed to draw that inference from conduct such as firing a gun into a crowd. Whether the State can actually prove intent is often the central battleground in these cases.
Second-degree murder does not carry the death penalty, but it carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The one exception is for defendants who were under 18 at the time of the offense, who may become eligible for parole consideration after serving 25 years.
Manslaughter
Manslaughter (La. R.S. 14:31) is often thought of as a “lesser murder” crime, and to some extent it is. But the penalties are nonetheless severe.
The best-known form is the “heat of blood” killing: a homicide that would otherwise be murder, but was committed in sudden passion or heat of blood immediately caused by provocation sufficient to deprive an average person of self-control and cool reflection. Two limits apply. The provocation is measured against an average person, not against how this particular defendant happened to react. And it does not reduce the charge if the jury finds that the defendant’s blood had actually cooled—or that an average person’s would have cooled—by the time of the killing.
Manslaughter also covers several kinds of unintentional killings: a death caused while committing a felony that is not on the murder statutes’ lists, or an intentional misdemeanor directly affecting the person (a simple battery, for example); a death caused while resisting a lawful arrest in a manner that is not inherently dangerous; a death that is the foreseeable result of a crime of violence, even without any intent to kill; and a drug distribution that significantly contributes to a death.
The sentence is imprisonment at hard labor for up to 40 years. Because there is no minimum for most manslaughter convictions, the judge has wide discretion, and the actual sentence can be far less than 40 years. If the victim was under the age of 10, however, the sentence must be at least 10 years without the benefit of probation or suspension of sentence. This is where good lawyering comes into play: showing a judge or jury that the killing arose from provocation that would have overwhelmed a reasonable person can be the difference between a life sentence for murder and a term of years for manslaughter.
Negligent Homicide
Negligent homicide (La. R.S. 14:32) is the killing of a human being by criminal negligence. Under Louisiana law, criminal negligence is much more than an ordinary mistake. It is a gross deviation below the standard of care a reasonably careful person would use in the same circumstances.
The penalties for negligent homicide have been increased twice in recent years. Until 2024, the maximum was five years. The Legislature raised it to 10 years effective August 1, 2024, and raised it again (Acts 2026, No. 466) to 15 years, with or without hard labor, plus a fine of up to $5,000, effective August 1, 2026. If the victim was under the age of 13, the sentence is now 2 to 20 years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.
Because the line between civil negligence and criminal negligence is the whole case, this is also where a defense can succeed outright. A simple accident is not a crime. If the jury finds that the death resulted from ordinary carelessness rather than a gross deviation from reasonable care, the verdict is not guilty.
Contact a Louisiana Criminal Defense Lawyer Today
Contact me today at the Law Offices of Philip B. Adams. I am a dedicated Louisiana criminal defense attorney who defends my clients’ rights at every stage of the case. Complete my “Contact Us” page here. You may significantly benefit by having an attorney with legal competence and experience assist you with your Louisiana criminal case. My office is in Shreveport, and I handle criminal defense cases throughout Louisiana.
