565.003. Culpable mental state may exist though different person killed — transfer of intent, when — time between act and death no defense.
Intent to kill still counts even if the wrong person dies or death happens later
If someone meant to kill but a different person dies, or the death happens later, they can still be charged with homicide.
1. (1) If someone meant to kill a certain person but accidentally killed someone else instead, the law still treats it as if they meant to kill the person who died.
(2) It doesn’t matter if the person the offender meant to kill can’t be identified. As long as the prosecutor proves the person had the intent to kill someone—even a certain group—the law treats that intent as if it applied to whoever was actually killed.
2. It doesn’t matter how much time passes between someone’s actions and the person’s death—there’s still no defense against a homicide charge just because the death happened later.
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