As stated by Calvan & Khalil, police had arrested a man suspected of having shot and stalked homeless individuals in Washington and New York (2022). During the incident on March 12, 2022, the suspect killed two people and wounded three more (Calvan & Khalil, 2022). On March 4, 2022, the firefighters and police found a dead man who tends to have suffered some fatal burn. However, the autopsy revealed that the victim had been stabbed and had gunshots wounds. On March 5, a 38-year-old man sleeping in Manhattan street was shot on the right while sleeping. The victim screamed, and the victim ran away. Within 90 minutes, the offender shot another person in SOHO (Calvan & Khalil, 2022 His body was found on the sleeping bag and was shot on his neck and head. The victims were homeless individuals, and there was no genuine reason for shooting or injuring them. After committing the two crimes, he escaped, and police had to release several surveillance photographs to help people identify and report him. Among the crime that the suspect committed, they were intentional since the victims were innocent.
Under chapter 19 and Section 19.01 (a) of Texas Law, a person is said to have committed a unlawful homicide if he recklessly, knowingly intentionally, or with criminal negligence causing death. Under section 19.01, the criminal homicide committed in the incident described was murder. Under section 19.2 (b) (1), the suspect had committed the murder intentionally, causing two individuals’ death. Under section 19.2 (b) (2), he caused severe bodily injuries, an action considered dangerous to human beings and can lead to death. Under section 19.02 (b) (3), the suspect in the incident had committed a felony, unsafe to human life since it caused the death of two homeless individuals. Without the offender declaring that he committed the offense under the influence of a abrupt passion, developing from the adequate case, the felony will be of the first degree.
As a prosecutor, I would charge the suspect with murder. The reason is, under sec.19.01 (a) of Texas law, the suspect has committed a criminal homicide that is murder. Under section 19.01 (b) (1), the crime committed by the suspect was intentional, known, and reckless, and it led to the death of two homeless individuals. The victims shot during the incident had not done anything to deserve death. Under section 19.02 (b) (2), people charged with murder offenses tend to have caused injury to the victim. From the police report, the victim shot within 90 minutes in SOHO was injured on his neck and head.
The suspect would be charged with murder and not capital murder since the victim was not a peace officer or fireman. Besides, the suspects had not met the criteria mentioned under section 19.03, such as murdering while committing burglary, robbery, or other forms of crime. Another criterion is that no statement showed that he served life incarceration or a term of 99 years for any offense indicated in sections 20.04, 22.021, or 29.0. These criteria and others mentioned in section 19.03 of the Texas Penal Code were not met. The suspect could not be charged with manslaughter since he intended to commit the crime. As stated by Calvan & Khalil, the suspect shot a man who was sleeping, and within 90, he shot another on a sleeping bag (2022). This implies that all the crime he committed was intentional. The crime committed by the suspect could not be criminally negligent homicide since it was not out of criminal negligence.
References
Calvan, B. C., & Khalil, A. (2022, March 15). A man has been arrested in connection with shootings of 5 homeless people. Time. https://time.com/6157408/homeless-killed-new-york-washington/
Penal code Chapter 19. Criminal homicide. (n.d.). Texas Constitution and Statutes. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.19.htm
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