Yep.
Colloquially, **second-degree murder** is when someone kills another person without planning it ahead of time, but with a reckless or intentional act that shows they didn’t care about the serious harm they could cause. It’s not as calculated as first-degree murder (which involves premeditation, like plotting a killing), but it’s worse than manslaughter because there’s still some level of intent or extreme disregard for life.
Think of it like this: if someone gets so angry they swing a baseball bat at another person’s head, not specifically trying to kill them but knowing it could be deadly, and the person dies—that’s often second-degree murder. It’s the “you knew this could end badly but did it anyway” charge. For example, in the case of a student beating a teacher over a confiscated gaming system, if the student kept attacking viciously, aware the blows could kill, a prosecutor might argue second-degree murder instead of manslaughter.
First degree is planned, even if it’s just in the last ten seconds.
Second degree is unplanned, but you didn’t care about doing the diligence to ensure you didn’t kill them.
Third degree is where you take the life in the course of an action that you knew could kill but did not take the diligence to ensure that people were safe from what you were doing.
“Think of it like this: if someone gets so angry they swing a baseball bat at another person’s head, not specifically trying to kill them but knowing it could be deadly, and the person dies—that’s often second-degree murder.”
Second degree MURDER requires INTENT to kill. Except in cases of felony murder.
I suggest you refrain from posting opinions on the law.