A woman in Catawba County recently plead guilty to manslaughter. The charge resulted from a domestic dispute which escalated to the point of the woman shooting her husband. The woman then tried to cover up the death by setting the body on fire.
The police learned of the incident when they were called to do a well-being check on the woman. The woman’s daughter called the police after she knocked on her mother’s door but did not get a response.
The woman had been in trouble before this because of several DWI charges. It is believed that the mother left the home in her vehicle after shooting her husband then came back approximately 30 minutes later. When police arrived at the home they saw smoke and flames.
They found the woman in the home suffering from smoke inhalation and excessive alcohol consumption. She was taking to the hospital for treatment and her BAC was a 0.36 at the time.
According to North Carolina’s Statute 14-16, voluntary mansluaghter is punishable by ” as a Class D felony, and involuntary manslaughter shall be punishable as a Class F felony.”
So this begs the question, what is voluntary manslaughter? The answer is: this crime usually arises whena person is suddenly proviked, and then during the” heat of passion,” the commit the crime of murder with no malice aforethought. Without malice aforethought, there is no first degree murder, and the charges are listed above, as oppossed to a first degree murder conviction. N.C. Gen Stat 14-16 (2012.)
