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Crimes Against People
RSMo 565.024effective 28 Aug 2017

Involuntary manslaughter, first degree, penalty

In plain English

When someone acts recklessly and causes another person to die, that is called involuntary manslaughter in the first degree. This is normally a class C felony. If the person who died was a law enforcement officer who was targeted on purpose, or a close family member of a law enforcement officer who was targeted because of that connection, then it becomes a more serious class B felony.

Penalties named in this law
class C felony3–10 years in prison
class B felony5–15 years in prison

Classifications stated in the statute. Actual outcomes vary.

Word-for-word law

565.024. , first degree, . — 1. A person commits the of involuntary manslaughter in the first degree if he or she causes the death of another person.

2. The offense of involuntary manslaughter in the first degree is a , unless the victim is intentionally targeted as a , as defined in section 556.061, or the victim is targeted because he or she is a relative within the to a law enforcement officer, in which case it is a .

Tap any gold-underlined word to see what it means.

Source & history notes

(L. 1983 S.B. 276, A.L. 1984 S.B. 448 § A, A.L. 1986 H.B. 1596, A.L. 1999 S.B. 328, et al., A.L. 2005 H.B. 972 merged with S.B. 37, et al., A.L. 2005 1st Ex. Sess. H.B. 2, A.L. 2006 S.B. 872, et al., A.L. 2008 H.B. 1715, A.L. 2014 S.B. 491, A.L. 2017 S.B. 34) (1992) Definition of "person" in section 1.205, RSMo, which includes unborn children is applicable to other statutes and court concludes that it applies at least to this section, the involuntary manslaughter statute. State v. Knapp, 843 S.W.2d 345 (Mo. en banc). (2018) Amended version of section, which repealed provision requiring prisoner to serve a mandatory minimum of eighty-five percent of sentence before becoming parole eligible, was not retroactively applicable to prisoner entering Alford plea under prior version of section. Fields v. Missouri Bd. of Probation and Parole, 559 S.W.3d 12 (Mo.App. W.D.).

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Legal information, not legal advice. Always confirm with the official source at revisor.mo.gov.

RSMo 565.024: Involuntary manslaughter, first degree, penalty | KnowMo Laws