§ 11-23-1 - Murder.
SECTION 11-23-1
§ 11-23-1 Murder. – The unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought is murder. Everymurder perpetrated by poison, lying in wait, or any other kind of willful,deliberate, malicious, and premeditated killing, or committed in theperpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, any arson or any violation of §11-4-2, 11-4-3, or 11-4-4, rape, any degree of sexual assault or childmolestation, burglary or breaking and entering, robbery, kidnapping, orcommitted during the course of the perpetration, or attempted perpetration, offelony manufacture, sale, delivery, or other distribution of a controlledsubstance otherwise prohibited by the provisions of chapter 28 of title 21, orcommitted against any law enforcement officer in the performance of his or herduty or committed against an assistant attorney general or special assistantattorney general in the performance of his or her duty, or perpetrated from apremeditated design unlawfully and maliciously to effect the death of any humanbeing other than him or her who is killed, is murder in the first degree. Anyother murder is murder in the second degree. The degree of murder may becharged in the indictment or information, and the jury may find the degree ofmurder, whether the murder is charged in the indictment or information or not,or may find the defendant guilty of a lesser offense than that charged in theindictment or information, in accordance with the provisions of § 12-17-14.