Murder
There are different types of homicide classifications and they generally
fall into 3 general categories. These categories are: murder, manslaughter, and
justifiable homicide. Justifiable
homicide is for situations where an individual killed another in self-defense
of similar circumstances. This is really not a legal charge but a
classification for which authorities can register an event where a person died
but no crime was committed. The charge of manslaughter is reserved for
instances where the accused did not plan the crime nor did he or she intend for
the victim to die because of their actions. Manslaughter charges usually arise
out of accidental circumstances where a person died because of the event.
Murder is broken down into two categories: first degree and second degree
murder. First degree murder, the most serious of all homicide charges, is
reserved for situations where the person accused of the homicide planned the
killing and intended for the victim to die because of his or her actions.
Second degree murder is a charge reserved for cases where it cannot be proved
that the killer planned the killing but where the killer still intended that
the victim die because of his or her actions. Situations where second degree
murder charges arise are sometimes described as “crimes of passion” or
instances where the killing occurred in the “heat of passion.”
2. On March 21st, 2013 Sherry West was pushing her 13-month old
son, Antonio, in his stroller in Brunswick, Georgia on a Thursday morning when
two boys – described as about 10 and 15 years old – came up, demanded money and
shot them. Police announced Friday afternoon that they had arrested a 17 and a
14 year old and were charging them with murder. The arrests came after SWAT
teams had gone door to door, searching for clues and police had checked local
school attendance and absentee lists to see if there were any students who hadn't been at school that fit the description of the suspects. West had reported that
the older boy pointed a handgun at her during the encounter. “He said, ‘I’m gonna kill you if you don’t
give me your money,’ and I said, ‘I swear I don’t have any.” She also said that
they wouldn't accept no for an answer. “He says, ‘Well, I’m gonna kill your
baby,” she told crying. “I put my arms over my baby and he shoves. And then he
shot my baby right in the head.” West was shot in the leg, according to local
reports, but it was a non-life threatening gunshot wound from the handgun.
The offenders in this case are portrayed as monsters that all they wanted
was money and even if they didn't get any, they still took a life to sort of punish
the woman for not giving them any money. The killing is being portrayed in the
media as a tragedy and it is being dramatized because it involves the death of
an infant.
Media
In this PSA, celebrities are asking American leaders to stop gun violence
in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
RUPD
gives us the latest on the do’s and don’ts of campus safety! This can be
applied to any college campus!
