The Manner of Death Can Be Classified into 5 Categories
In a death investigation, determining the manner of death is a crucial part of the investigation. Different types of investigations are used in the aftermath to determine if a death is suspicious or not and then the classifications of death’s manner. To provide more context, we have broken down each of the classifications: Natural death, accidental death, homicide, suicide, and undermined.
Natural Death
Besides infectious diseases, any external forces do not directly cause a death that occurs due to an illness or an internal failure in the body. In society, the term natural death has often been used as a synonym for “dying of old age.”
Examples of natural deaths include heart attack, stroke, illness, or infection. A death that is the result of complications from a current illness is also considered to be a natural death.
Accidental Death
Accidental death occurs due to many reasons besides natural causes, as in death that occurs due to some type of accident. For a death to be determined an accidental death, it cannot have been suicide, expected, or foreseeable due to an illness. Accidental Death is a category that includes an extensive range of ways that loss of life can occur.
The most common cause of accidental deaths in the United States is motor vehicle accidents. Other types include, but are not limited to, falling, poisoning by gases and vapors, poisoning by solids and liquids, drowning, fire-related injuries, suffocation, firearms, industrial accidents, drug overdoses and medical accidents.
It is best to turn to law enforcement and Private Investigators to determine if the death was accidental. Due to the expansive variety in causes, homicides can be made to look accidental.
[RELATED: Accidental Death or Homicide?]
Homicide
When another person intentionally takes a person’s life. This manner of death is more often than not premeditated; most murders are committed by someone the victim has a relationship with. Relationship types can range from a significant other, coworker, to someones neighbor or acquaintance.
Based on FBI research and statistics, it is concluded that the most common method of murder is via handgun, with males being the most like to be the victim and murderer. Examples of methods of murder include suffocation, strangulation, gunshot, forced drowning, and deliberate poisoning.
Within the American legal system, there are two classifications for murder types: First-degree and Second-degree. First-degree murder is an intentional murder that is premeditated with malice aforethought. Second-degree murder is an intentional murder with malice aforethought but is not planned in advance or premeditated. Included under second-degree murder is voluntary and involuntary manslaughter.
Voluntary manslaughter, also called a crime of passion murder, is an intentional murder with no prior intent to kill. This type of murder is committed under circumstances that would “cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed.”
Involuntary manslaughter is when the killing is not the result of an intention to cause death but an intentional or negligent act leading to death. The most common type of involuntary manslaughter that is discussed in the news is vehicular homicide.
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one’s own death. Many different factors can contribute to a person wanting to take their own life, but the most common factors are physical and mental disorders. However, not all suicides are a result of a specific type of disorder. Other external influences may push a person to take their own life.
Those who have attempted suicide previously are at a higher risk for future attempts. The most common methods of suicide are hanging, poisoning, drug overdoses and firearms. The usual age groups that attempt suicide are those over seventy and those between fifteen and thirty years old. Suicides are often used to “cover up” a homicide such as in “mercy killings.”
Undetermined
An undetermined cause of death is a manner in which death can be recorded if there is not enough evidence to reach a firm conclusion, i.e. decomposition, skeletonization, etc.. Undetermined deaths can include deaths where the coroner was able to determine the cause of death, such as a drug overdose, but is unable to determine the manner of the death, in a drug overdose situation.
This means that the coroner has determined the person overdosed but cannot determine if the overdose resulted from a third party, suicide, or accidental overdose.
[RELATED: What Is Considered a Suspicious Death?]
When a family member or friend dies of an undetermined cause, it can cause a lot of fear and anxiety for their loved ones. It leaves unanswered questions about what happened and could the outcome have been different. If you or someone you know relate to this feeling of longing due to premature death and want more information, contact Chilton Gibbs & Associates today for a consultation.
