Also known as: abandoned & malignant heart murder · depraved heart murder · depraved-heart murder
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A category of common-law murder arising from conduct that manifests reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life. This standard requires a greater degree of risk and indifference than the criminal negligence or recklessness that supports involuntary manslaughter.
Ava Adebayo authorized a low-altitude prototype drone flight over a suburban jogging path despite knowing the emergency software remained incomplete and unpatched. The drone lost control and struck a runner, causing death. Prosecutors charged involuntary manslaughter because the risk level, though serious, did not reach the extreme indifference required for abandoned and malignant heart murder.
Adam Anderson locked the sole emergency exit of a packed store during a sale to deter theft, violating fire rules. An electrical fire later trapped customers, and one died in the resulting stampede. The conduct supported only involuntary manslaughter because it reflected criminal negligence rather than the higher reckless indifference to human life needed for abandoned and malignant heart murder.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Abandoned and malignant heart murder requires reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life. Involuntary manslaughter requires only a gross deviation from reasonable care that creates a high risk of death or serious bodily harm, a lower threshold.
Supporting sources
The defendant must act with reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life. This exceeds the level of risk that supports a finding of involuntary manslaughter.
Supporting sources
No. Such conduct falls short of the unjustifiably high risk and extreme indifference required. It instead supports only involuntary manslaughter under the criminal negligence theory.
Supporting sources
…today in most jurisdictions: "(1) intent-to-kill murder; "(2) intent-to-do-serious-bodily-injury murder; "(3) depraved-heart murder [wanton and willful disregard that the natural tendency of the defendant's behavior is to cause death or great bodily harm]; and "(4) felony murder."[^maj-101] Under the common law,…