Considered one of the most serious crimes that human beings can commit, homicide is based on the murder of one person at the hands of another. Both the causes and the reasons why a homicide is carried out can be extremely varied and it is here that the law establishes different types of penalties and punishments depending on each particular case.
Coming from Latin, the term homicide means "to kill a human being" (homo: man; caedere: kill). A homicide always implies the use of violence and the methods to carry out this task may vary, although in general, certain patterns of methodologies are seen according to the situation in which the crime occurs (in general, and very broadly, homicides of passion are solved with knives while those that are the result of robbery or assault are carried out with firearms).
For the law, homicide is one of the most serious crimes that human beings can carry out since it directly threatens the safety and well-being of the individuals that make up the community or society. The legislation of each country then establishes the appropriate penalties and punishments for each type of situation, lightening or aggravating them in each case.
According to the way the murder was carried out, we can find different designations. Among the most common, we must point out wrongful and intentional homicide. The culpable homicide can be described as homicide as a result of accident or negligence (for example, when a person is killed by a car), while the homicide implies knowledge and intent to murder (for example, in the case of an armed robbery in which an attacked person is killed).
On the other hand, there is also the simple homicide, which is one in which no elements of premeditation have been found (the consideration of killing prior to the fact), treachery (or the perverse and aggravating attitude at the time of committing the crime), advantage (putting the individual to kill in inferiority ) and betrayal. When any of these aggravating factors is present, one should then talk about qualified homicide. Finally, a pre-intentional homicide It is one in which the death of an individual is the result of an uncontrolled situation in which the intention to kill was not in the initial plans (for example, after a fight in a bar).
Finally, we must add that the law considers certain elements as aggravating when establishing the penalty and among them we must mention the existence of family or blood ties, torture, mutilation, rape or sexual abuse, etc. In the same way, the penalty may be less if it is proven that the homicide was committed in legitimate defense, for the prevention of a greater crime, due to a state of unconsciousness, coercion or insanity.
