Murder in Ohio constitutes the unlawful killing, under circumstances defined by law, of people within or under the jurisdiction of the U.S. state of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. The United States

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

reported that in the year 2021, the state had a murder rate somewhat above the median for the entire country.

Definitions

Murder

Standard murder in Ohio is the second-most serious homicide offense, which constitutes when someone purposely causes the death of another person without justification, or the unlawful termination of another person's pregnancy. Ohio's

felony murder rule The rule of felony murder is a legal doctrine in some common law jurisdictions that broadens the crime of murder: when someone is killed (regardless of intent to kill) in the commission of a dangerous or enumerated crime (called a felony in so ...

constitutes when someone commits a first- or second-degree felony, besides voluntary or

involuntary manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th c ...

, in the course of or causing another person's death. Standard murder in Ohio has a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, and a maximum sentence of

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

with the possibility of

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

after 25 years.

Aggravated murder

Aggravated murder in Ohio is the most serious homicide offense in Ohio, which constitutes when someone purposely causes the death of another person or an unlawful termination of another's pregnancy under one of the following aggravated circumstances: * The murder was committed with prior calculation and design * The murder was committed during or as a result of the commission or attempted commission of the crime of

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

, aggravated

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

, arson, aggravated

robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

, robbery, aggravated

burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...

, burglary, trespass in a habitation when a person is present or likely to be present,

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

, or

prison escape A prison escape (referred as a bust out, breakout, jailbreak, or prison break) is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture the ...

* The victim was under the age of 13 * The murder was committed while the perpetrator was already imprisoned for another felony * The victim at the time of the murder was engaged in their duties * The victim was specifically targeted as a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

first responder A first responder is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance or incident resolution at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, disaster, medical emergency, structure fire, crime, or terr ...

, or military member Aggravated murder in Ohio is punishable for adult offenders by either life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

, though incumbent governor Mike DeWine has put a moratorium on the death penalty in Ohio until the state can institute an execution method other than

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

. For juvenile offenders, it is punishable only by life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 25 to 30 years.

Penalties

The penalties for homicide offenses in Ohio are listed below.

Notes

References

{{Murder in the United States by jurisdiction U.S. state criminal law Murder in Ohio Ohio law