Also known as: depraved heart murder · depraved heart · extreme recklessness murder
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An unlawful killing of another human being committed with malice aforethought shown by extreme recklessness demonstrating a depraved heart. The conduct creates a very high degree of risk of death or serious bodily injury that a reasonable person would realize, accompanied by indifference to human life.
Damian Decker fires multiple shots from a rooftop into a busy street festival to scare off rivals. One bullet strikes and kills a bystander. The high degree of risk to many lives and Decker's indifference to that risk establish the mental state for depraved-heart murder rather than the lower threshold for involuntary manslaughter.
Diego Duarte leads police on a high-speed chase through a residential neighborhood at night while intoxicated. He ignores stop signs and weaves through traffic at over one hundred miles per hour. When his car strikes and kills a pedestrian, the extreme recklessness and disregard for human life support a depraved-heart murder conviction.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Depraved-heart murder requires a higher degree of risk and indifference than involuntary manslaughter. The conduct must create a very high degree of risk of death or serious bodily injury that a reasonable person would realize, paired with extreme recklessness showing a depraved heart.
Supporting sources
Malice aforethought exists when the defendant acts with intent to kill, intent to inflict serious bodily harm, extreme recklessness demonstrating a depraved heart, or intent to commit a felony under the felony-murder rule.
Supporting sources
Some jurisdictions require that the defendant subjectively realize the high risk of death or serious injury. Others apply an objective standard under which it is enough that a reasonable person would have realized the risk created by the conduct.
Supporting sources
No. The mental state is satisfied by extreme recklessness without any intent to kill or inflict serious bodily injury, so long as the conduct shows a depraved heart through wanton disregard for human life.
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,…