Homicide & Violent Crimes

Homicide and violent crime charges in Texas carry the most serious penalties in the criminal code, up to life imprisonment, and in some cases the death penalty. They also carry the heaviest social weight: media attention, community pressure, and prosecutors under public scrutiny to win convictions.

If you or someone you love has been charged with a violent crime, the decisions made in the first 72 hours will shape everything that follows. This is not a case to face without experienced representation. Our guide to the first 48 hours after an arrest covers the early decisions that matter most.

Homicide Charges in Texas

Texas classifies the killing of another person into four categories under Chapter 19 of the Penal Code, each with very different penalty ranges and defense strategies.

Capital Murder (§ 19.03)

The most serious charge in Texas law. Capital murder requires the State to prove murder PLUS at least one aggravating factor under § 19.03(a). The aggravating categories most commonly charged include:

• Killing a peace officer or fireman acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty
• Killing during the commission or attempted commission of kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, obstruction or retaliation, or terroristic threat under § 22.07(a)(1), (3), (4), (5), or (6)
• Killing more than one person during the same criminal transaction
• Killing a victim under 6 years of age (§ 19.03(a)(8)), or, under “Lauren’s Law,” a victim 10 years of age or older but younger than 15 (§ 19.03(a)(9))
• Killing a judge or justice in retaliation for or on account of the service or status of the judge (§ 19.03(a)(10))
• Killing for remuneration or the promise of remuneration

Penalty: Death penalty or life without parole for most adult convictions. Two important exceptions matter for defense strategy:

1. Lauren’s Law cases. Where the only aggravating factor is § 19.03(a)(9) (victim 10 or older but younger than 15), prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty. The maximum sentence is life without parole.
2. Juvenile defendants. Under Roper v. Simmons and Miller v. Alabama, defendants under 18 at the time of the offense cannot receive the death penalty or mandatory life without parole. The sentence is life with parole eligibility after 40 years.

These distinctions matter. They’re the off-ramps a capital defense lawyer builds toward from the day a case is filed.

Murder (§ 19.02)

Texas charges murder under three theories:

• Intentional or knowing. Intentionally or knowingly causing the death of another (§ 19.02(b)(1)).
• Intent to injure. Intending to cause serious bodily injury and committing an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes death (§ 19.02(b)(2)).
• Felony murder. Committing or attempting a felony other than manslaughter and, in the course of or in immediate flight from it, committing an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes death (§ 19.02(b)(3)). This is how Texas often charges murder in drug overdose deaths and getaway-driver scenarios.

Penalty: First-degree felony: 5 to 99 years or life, plus a fine up to $10,000.

A “sudden passion” defense, shown by a preponderance of evidence at the punishment phase, reduces the offense to a second-degree felony for sentencing purposes, dropping the range to 2 to 20 years.

Manslaughter (§ 19.04)

Recklessly causing the death of another. Recklessness means conscious disregard of a substantial risk, a higher standard than negligence, lower than intent.

Penalty: Second-degree felony: 2 to 20 years and a fine up to $10,000.

Criminally Negligent Homicide (§ 19.05)

Causing death through criminal negligence, failing to perceive a substantial risk that a reasonable person would have perceived.

Penalty: State jail felony: 180 days to 2 years and a fine up to $10,000.

Other Violent Crimes We Defend

Beyond homicide, Texas’s violent crime statutes include several offenses that carry severe consequences.

Aggravated Assault (§ 22.02)

Causing serious bodily injury, OR using or exhibiting a deadly weapon during an assault. Second-degree felony: 2 to 20 years.

The offense is enhanced to a first-degree felony in several circumstances, including:

• Use of a deadly weapon AND causing serious bodily injury to a family member, household member, or person in a dating relationship (§ 22.02(b)(1))
• Assault by a public servant acting under color of office
• Assault against a public servant, witness, prospective witness, or informant in retaliation for or on account of their service or status
• Certain mass-shooting and persistent-vegetative-state scenarios (effective September 1, 2023)

A deadly-weapon assault against a family member without serious bodily injury stays a second-degree felony, because the enhancement requires both.

Aggravated Robbery (§ 29.03)

Robbery with serious bodily injury, with a deadly weapon, or against a victim 65 or older or disabled. First-degree felony: 5 to 99 years or life.

Aggravated Kidnapping (§ 20.04)

Kidnapping with intent to inflict bodily injury, terrorize, or commit certain other felonies. First-degree felony: 5 to 99 years or life.

At the punishment phase, the defendant may raise the issue of whether the victim was voluntarily released in a safe place, the statutory term of art under § 20.04(d). If proved by a preponderance of the evidence, the offense is reduced to a second-degree felony (2 to 20 years). “Safe place” is fact-specific and has been litigated extensively in Texas appellate courts.

Aggravated Sexual Assault (§ 22.021)

Sexual assault with one or more aggravating factors: use of a deadly weapon, serious bodily injury, victim under 14, or other circumstances enumerated in the statute.

First-degree felony: 5 to 99 years or life.

Mandatory-minimum and life-without-parole enhancements that can apply:

• For conduct before September 1, 2025, a 25-year mandatory minimum applies in certain enumerated cases including where the victim was under 6, or under 14 with circumstances described in § 22.021(a)(2)(A).
• For conduct on or after September 1, 2025 (under HB 1422 of the 89th Legislature), the age threshold for the 25-year mandatory minimum was raised from 6 to 10, standardizing the bracket with the capital-murder child-victim provision.
• A prior conviction for a “sexually violent offense” triggers mandatory life without parole under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 12.42(c)(4).

How These Cases Are Actually Defended

Violent crime cases are rarely won at trial through a single dramatic moment. They’re won, or lost, over months of careful preparation.

Forensic Challenge. Most violent crime cases turn on forensic evidence: DNA, ballistics, blood spatter, autopsy findings, digital records. Each can be challenged on chain of custody, methodology, interpretation, or contamination. Defense experts often arrive at very different conclusions than State experts.

Witness Examination. Eyewitness testimony is a leading cause of wrongful convictions in violent crime cases. Identifications made under stress, suggestive lineup procedures, and cross-racial identification all introduce error. Cross-examination prepared with the right research can substantially weaken eyewitness testimony.

Self-Defense and Defense of Others. Texas law recognizes the right to use force, including deadly force, to defend yourself or another person under specific conditions defined in Chapter 9 of the Penal Code. Building a self-defense case requires careful factual development from the very first interview.

Mental State. Many violent crime charges turn on the defendant’s mental state at the time of the offense. Was the act intentional, reckless, or negligent? Was there “sudden passion” arising from adequate cause? Was the defendant operating under a mistake of fact? These distinctions can mean the difference between life imprisonment and a much shorter sentence.

Sentencing Mitigation. For cases that proceed to a guilty plea or conviction, sentencing is its own battle. Mitigation evidence (family background, mental health, lack of prior record, community ties, evidence of remorse and rehabilitation potential) directly affects the sentence imposed.

Why Murphy & Baker

Joseph Murphy has tried cases ranging from misdemeanors to capital murder. His years as a Smith County prosecutor mean he knows how the State approaches these cases: which evidence they build their theory around, where the procedural pressure points are, and how to find weaknesses in their case.

Joel Baker served as an elected Smith County Court Judge from 2007 to 2016. He has presided over violent crime trials from both sides of the bench, and he knows what arguments judges find persuasive, what mitigation evidence actually moves a sentence, and which procedural mistakes by the State can lead to dismissal.

Together, that is a depth of trial experience built over decades of combined state and federal practice, including capital-eligible cases.

What To Do Right Now

If you or a family member has been charged with a violent crime, the most important things you can do today:

1. Stop talking to police. Even if you believe you’re innocent. Every statement creates material the State can use.
2. Preserve evidence. Photos, texts, location data, anything that supports your version of events. Do not delete anything from your phone or social media.
3. Identify witnesses now. Memory degrades within 72 hours. Anyone present, anyone who knows your character, anyone who can corroborate your alibi or state of mind.
4. Call us. The first call is free. Even if we don’t end up representing you, we can tell you what to do, and what not to do, in the first critical days.

(903) 533-9000. 24/7 line. Free consultation. No obligation.

Disclaimer

The information provided on this website is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. Viewing this website or communicating through it does not create an attorney-client relationship. An attorney-client relationship is established only through a signed agreement with Murphy & Baker Law Firm, PLLC.

Consultations are available by appointment only.