Delaware Manslaughter and Vehicular Homicide Laws (2026)

Delaware has a single manslaughter offense, 11 Del. C. 632, a class B felony punishable by not less than 2 years up to 25 years at Level V. It covers four forms: recklessly causing a death; causing a death with intent to cause serious physical injury by means that would seem likely to cause death; intentionally causing a death under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance; and intentionally causing another person to commit suicide.

Below manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide (11 Del. C. 631) is a class D felony punishable by up to 8 years, and deaths caused by driving can be charged as vehicular homicide in the first degree (630A, a class C felony) or the second degree (630, a class D felony), or as operation of a vehicle causing death (21 Del. C. 4176A), an unclassified misdemeanor. For how other states grade the same conduct, see our guide to manslaughter laws by state.

Information last verified on October 17, 2026. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Delaware criminal statutes on homicide below murder: manslaughter (11 Del. C. 632), criminally negligent homicide (631), vehicular homicide in the first and second degree (630A and 630), extreme emotional distress (641), the mitigation limit in 472, promoting suicide (645), abuse of a pregnant female (605 and 606), drug dealing resulting in death (16 Del. C. 4752B), operation of a vehicle causing death (21 Del. C. 4176A), leaving the scene of a fatal collision (21 Del. C. 4202), other offenses graded by a resulting death, the state-of-mind definitions in 11 Del. C. 231, the sentencing provisions in 11 Del. C. 4201 and 4205, and license revocation under 21 Del. C. 2732. It does not cover murder (see how long a life sentence is in Delaware and murder sentencing guidelines), self-defense (see Delaware self-defense laws), civil lawsuits over a death (see Delaware wrongful death), or federal offenses (see the manslaughter laws hub).

What is manslaughter in Delaware?

Section 632 of Title 11 defines the offense in one sentence with numbered forms:

"A person is guilty of manslaughter when: (1) The person recklessly causes the death of another person; or (2) With intent to cause serious physical injury to another person the person causes the death of such person, employing means which would to a reasonable person in the defendant's situation, knowing the facts known to the defendant, seem likely to cause death; or (3) The person intentionally causes the death of another person under circumstances which do not constitute murder because the person acts under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance; or (4) [Repealed.] (5) The person intentionally causes another person to commit suicide. Manslaughter is a class B felony."

Delaware does not divide manslaughter into voluntary and involuntary offenses or into degrees. A reckless killing under 632(1) and an extreme-emotional-disturbance killing under 632(3) are the same class B felony. What other states call "voluntary manslaughter" corresponds most closely to 632(3) and section 641 in Delaware; "involuntary manslaughter" maps most closely to the reckless form in 632(1) and to criminally negligent homicide in section 631.

The main homicide offenses below murder in Delaware are:

• Manslaughter (11 Del. C. 632), class B felony.
• Criminally negligent homicide (11 Del. C. 631), class D felony.
• Vehicular homicide in the first degree (11 Del. C. 630A), class C felony.
• Vehicular homicide in the second degree (11 Del. C. 630), class D felony.
• Drug dealing resulting in death (16 Del. C. 4752B), class B felony, a stand-alone offense in the controlled-substances title.
• Operation of a vehicle causing death (21 Del. C. 4176A), an unclassified misdemeanor in the Motor Vehicles title.
• Abuse of a pregnant female in the first and second degree (11 Del. C. 606 and 605), class B and class C felonies, covering the unlawful termination of a pregnancy.

The line above manslaughter is murder in the second degree, which section 635 defines to include a person who "recklessly causes the death of another person under circumstances which manifest a cruel, wicked and depraved indifference to human life," and a person who, while committing or attempting a felony or in flight, "with criminal negligence, causes the death of another person." Murder in the second degree is a class A felony and is outside this article.

Is manslaughter a felony in Delaware? Offenses and penalties

Every offense in this table is a felony except operation of a vehicle causing death (21 Del. C. 4176A), an unclassified misdemeanor. No manslaughter or vehicular homicide form in Delaware is a misdemeanor.

The ranges come from 11 Del. C. 4205(b): "(2) For a class B felony not less than 2 years up to 25 years to be served at Level V. (3) For a class C felony up to 15 years to be served at Level V. (4) For a class D felony up to 8 years to be served at Level V." Three other parts of section 4205 matter here. Subsection (d) provides that where a minimum sentence "is required by subsection (b) of this section, such sentence shall not be subject to suspension by the court." Subsection (j) provides: "No sentence to Level V incarceration imposed pursuant to this section is subject to parole." And subsection (k) lets the court impose "such fines and penalties as it deems appropriate" in addition. For how Delaware sentences each felony class more generally, see Delaware felony and misdemeanor classes.

Section 4201(c) designates "630 Vehicular Homicide in the Second Degree," "630A Vehicular Homicide in the First Degree," "631 Criminally Negligent Homicide" and "632 Manslaughter" as violent felonies.

The designation matters for repeat offenders. Under 11 Del. C. 4214(d), on the State's petition to declare a person a habitual criminal, a person twice convicted of a Title 11 violent felony who is then convicted of a third receives "a minimum sentence of the statutory maximum statutory penalty provided elsewhere in this title" for that offense, up to life imprisonment. Under 4214(e), that minimum may not be suspended and is served in its entirety at Level V "without the benefit of probation or parole," subject to the exceptions in sections 4205(h), 4381 and 4382.

Extreme emotional disturbance: Delaware's provocation rule

Delaware does not use "heat of passion" in its manslaughter statute. Its mitigation concept is extreme emotional disturbance, which appears in two places. Section 632(3) makes an intentional killing manslaughter when it does not constitute murder "because the person acts under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance." Section 641 sets out how that works as a mitigating circumstance:

"The fact that the accused intentionally caused the death of another person under the influence of extreme emotional distress is a mitigating circumstance, reducing the crime of murder in the first degree as defined by § 636 of this title to the crime of manslaughter as defined by § 632 of this title. The fact that the accused acted under the influence of extreme emotional distress must be proved by a preponderance of the evidence. The accused must further prove by a preponderance of the evidence that there is a reasonable explanation or excuse for the existence of the extreme emotional distress. The reasonableness of the explanation or excuse shall be determined from the viewpoint of a reasonable person in the accused's situation under the circumstances as the accused believed them to be."

Section 641 then lists when the distress is not reasonably explained or excused: "when it is caused or occasioned by the accused's own mental disturbance for which the accused was culpably responsible, or by any provocation, event or situation for which the accused was culpably responsible, or when there is no causal relationship between the provocation, event or situation which caused the extreme emotional distress and the victim of the murder." It closes: "Evidence of voluntary intoxication shall not be admissible for the purpose of showing that the accused was acting under the influence of extreme emotional distress."

Two features stand out. The burden is on the accused, by a preponderance of the evidence, both for the distress and for its reasonable explanation. And the reasonableness test is judged from the viewpoint of a reasonable person in the accused's situation, under the circumstances as the accused believed them to be.

Victim's sexual orientation or gender identity (11 Del. C. 472)

Section 472(b), in Chapter 4 of the Criminal Code, limits what can count as a reasonable explanation:

"(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Criminal Code, in any prosecution or sentencing for an offense, for the purposes of determining whether there is a reasonable explanation or excuse for the existence of extreme emotional disturbance or other asserted mitigating factor or circumstance, such explanation or excuse is not reasonable if it is based on the discovery of, knowledge or belief about, or the potential or actual disclosure of the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or sex assigned at birth."

Section 472 was enacted in 2023 (84 Del. Laws c. 215, approved September 21, 2023). Subsection (a) also provides that a defendant is not justified in using force against another on that basis, and subsection (c) provides that a defendant does not, on that basis, suffer from a mental illness or other impairment affecting the defendant's mental state as to intent, knowledge and related questions.

Justification and self-defense are covered on the Delaware self-defense laws page.

Reckless and criminally negligent killings

Section 231 of Title 11 defines the mental states the homicide statutes use. Section 231(a) defines criminal negligence:

"A person acts with criminal negligence with respect to an element of an offense when the person fails to perceive a risk that the element exists or will result from the conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the situation."

Section 231(e) defines recklessly:

"A person acts recklessly with respect to an element of an offense when the person is aware of and consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the element exists or will result from the conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that disregard thereof constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the situation. A person who creates such a risk but is unaware thereof solely by reason of voluntary intoxication also acts recklessly with respect thereto."

Section 231(d) separately defines plain "negligence" as failing "to exercise the standard of care which a reasonable person would observe in the situation," a lower standard that matters for second-degree vehicular homicide.

The three standards line up with three grades. A reckless killing, where the person was aware of the risk and consciously disregarded it, is manslaughter under 632(1), a class B felony. A killing with criminal negligence, where the person failed to perceive a risk in a way that is a gross deviation from reasonable conduct, is criminally negligent homicide under section 631: "A person is guilty of criminally negligent homicide when, with criminal negligence, the person causes the death of another person. Criminally negligent homicide is a class D felony." Under the recklessness definition, a person unaware of a risk solely because of voluntary intoxication still acts recklessly.

Vehicular homicide and DUI deaths in Delaware

Delaware's vehicular homicide statutes cover driving deaths in two degrees. The degrees turn on the driver's mental state and on impairment.

Vehicular homicide in the second degree (11 Del. C. 630)

"(a) A person is guilty of vehicular homicide in the second degree when: (1) While in the course of driving or operating a motor vehicle, the person's criminally negligent driving or operation of said vehicle causes the death of another person; or (2) While in the course of driving or operating a motor vehicle, under the influence of alcohol or drugs or with a prohibited alcohol or drug content, as defined by § 4177 of Title 21, the person's negligent driving or operation of said vehicle causes the death of another person. Vehicular homicide in the second degree is a class D felony."

Second-degree vehicular homicide therefore has a sober form, which requires criminal negligence, and an impaired form, which requires only negligence. For the impaired form, section 630(b) sets a minimum sentence of 1 year that "shall not be subject to suspension," and "no person convicted under this section shall be eligible for probation, parole, furlough, work release or supervised custody during the first year of such sentence."

Vehicular homicide in the first degree (11 Del. C. 630A)

"(a) A person is guilty of vehicular homicide in the first degree when while in the course of driving or operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs or with a prohibited alcohol or drug content, as defined by § 4177 of Title 21, the person's criminally negligent driving or operation of said vehicle causes the death of another person. Vehicular homicide in the first degree is a class C felony."

First-degree vehicular homicide is the higher offense: the driver was impaired and the driving was criminally negligent, not merely negligent. Section 630A(b) sets a minimum sentence of 2 years that "shall not be subject to suspension," with no eligibility for "probation, parole, furlough, work release or supervised custody during the first 18 months of such sentence." The class C maximum is 15 years (4205(b)(3)).

Operation of a vehicle causing death (21 Del. C. 4176A)

"(a) A person is guilty of operation of a vehicle causing death when, in the course of driving or operating a motor vehicle or OHV in violation of any provision of this chapter other than § 4177 of this title, the person's driving or operation of the vehicle or OHV causes the death of another person. (b) Operation of a vehicle causing death is an unclassified misdemeanor."

It requires no proof of criminal negligence, only a death caused while driving in violation of a Chapter 41 traffic provision other than the DUI statute. Under 4176A(c), a first offense carries a fine of not more than $1,150 and imprisonment of not more than 30 months; each subsequent conviction carries not more than $2,300 and not more than 60 months.

Juveniles, other charges and license revocation

Sections 630(c) and 630A(c) provide that a person charged after reaching his or her sixteenth birthday is treated as an adult for trial and sentencing, "except that the mandatory minimum sentencing provisions of subsection (b) of this section and § 630A(b) of this title shall not apply to juveniles."

A death caused by a motor vehicle can also be prosecuted as manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide: the license-revocation statute expressly addresses a conviction "of manslaughter, under § 632 of Title 11, if the manslaughter resulted directly from the use of a motor vehicle." Under 21 Del. C. 2732(a)(1):

• a conviction of vehicle-caused manslaughter or of first-degree vehicular homicide means the license or driving privileges "shall be revoked for a period of 4 years"; and
• a conviction of second-degree vehicular homicide, or of criminally negligent homicide "if the homicide resulted directly from the use of a motor vehicle," means revocation "for a period of 3 years."

The impaired forms depend on "a prohibited alcohol or drug content, as defined by § 4177 of Title 21," Delaware's DUI statute. For the DUI thresholds and the penalties for a DUI that does not cause a death, see Delaware DUI laws.

A driver involved in a collision resulting in a death who fails to stop and give the information and assistance 21 Del. C. 4202(a) requires commits a class E felony (up to 5 years at Level V, 11 Del. C. 4205(b)(5)); the sentence must include at least 1 year of incarceration, and the first 6 months may not be suspended (4202(c)). The license is revoked for 2 years (4202(d)). See Delaware hit-and-run laws.

Other homicide offenses below murder

Drug dealing resulting in death (16 Del. C. 4752B). "A person is guilty of drug dealing resulting in death when the person delivers a Schedule I or II controlled substance in Tier 1 or greater quantity to another person in violation of this chapter, and said controlled substance thereafter causes the death of another person who uses or consumes it." Under subsection (b), it is not a defense that the defendant did not directly deliver the substance to the person who died. Subsection (c) makes it an affirmative defense that the defendant "made a good faith effort to promptly seek, provide, or obtain emergency medical or law-enforcement assistance." It is a class B felony (4752B(d)).

Murder by abuse or neglect in the second degree (11 Del. C. 633), causing the death of a child with criminal negligence through abuse or neglect, is graded as murder, a class B felony with a 10-year Level V minimum; see murder laws in the United States.

Abuse of a pregnant female (11 Del. C. 605 and 606). A person who, in the course of an assault in the third degree or any violent felony against a pregnant female (or in immediate flight), causes the unlawful termination of her pregnancy without her consent commits abuse of a pregnant female in the second degree if done recklessly, a class C felony (up to 15 years), or in the first degree if done intentionally, a class B felony (2 to 25 years). Under subsection (b) of each section, "It is no defense to a prosecution under this section that the person was unaware that the victim was pregnant." Both are violent felonies under 4201(c).

Other offenses graded by a resulting death

• Promoting suicide, 11 Del. C. 645: intentionally causing or aiding another person to attempt suicide, or intentionally aiding another person to commit suicide; class F felony. Intentionally causing another person to commit suicide is manslaughter under 632(5).
• Endangering the welfare of a child, 11 Del. C. 1102(b)(1) and (c)(1): a class E felony when a child dies while the child's welfare was endangered; a class B felony when the death follows the person intentionally, knowingly or recklessly making available to the child a controlled substance not prescribed to the child or a prescription drug (1102(a)(7)).
• Maintaining a dangerous animal, 11 Del. C. 1327(d)(1): a class E felony when the animal causes the death of a person.
• Abuse, mistreatment or neglect of a patient or resident, 16 Del. C. 1136(a)(3): a class A felony if it results in death.

Statute history

• Manslaughter (632): subsection (4) now reads "[Repealed.]" It was repealed in 2021 by 83 Del. Laws c. 200 (approved September 17, 2021), an act repealing Title 11's provisions relating to abortion. The section's history note ends with 74 Del. Laws, c. 106, § 2, and 83 Del. Laws, c. 200, § 1.
• Victim-identity mitigation limit (472): added in 2023 by 84 Del. Laws c. 215 (approved September 21, 2023); the section's history note cites 84 Del. Laws, c. 215, § 2, and 84 Del. Laws, c. 514, § 14.
• License revocation (21 Del. C. 2732): the history note ends with 83 Del. Laws, c. 441, § 11, and 84 Del. Laws, c. 292, § 1.
• Vehicular homicide (630, 630A) and criminally negligent homicide (631): the history notes end with 78 Del. Laws, c. 168.

Federal law

Federal law separately punishes manslaughter within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States under 18 U.S.C. 1112: up to 15 years for voluntary manslaughter and up to 8 years for involuntary manslaughter. The manslaughter laws hub covers the federal statute.

Related pages

• Manslaughter laws by state
• Delaware felony and misdemeanor classes
• Delaware DUI laws
• Delaware hit-and-run laws
• Delaware self-defense laws
• Pennsylvania manslaughter laws
• New Jersey manslaughter laws

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about Delaware law as of October 17, 2026. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Delaware.

Last updated: October 17, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is manslaughter a felony in Delaware?

Yes. Manslaughter under 11 Del. C. 632 is a class B felony, punishable by not less than 2 years up to 25 years at Level V (11 Del. C. 4205(b)(2)). Criminally negligent homicide (631) is a class D felony, and both degrees of vehicular homicide are felonies.

What is the sentence for manslaughter in Delaware?

As a class B felony, manslaughter carries not less than 2 years up to 25 years to be served at Level V under 11 Del. C. 4205(b)(2), and the court may also impose fines and penalties it deems appropriate (4205(k)). Level V sentences imposed under section 4205 are not subject to parole (4205(j)).

Does Delaware have voluntary and involuntary manslaughter?

Not by those names. Delaware's single manslaughter offense (11 Del. C. 632) covers both a reckless killing and an intentional killing under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance, with the same class B grade. A death caused with criminal negligence is the separate offense of criminally negligent homicide (631).

What is vehicular homicide in Delaware?

Vehicular homicide in the first degree (11 Del. C. 630A, class C felony) is a death caused by criminally negligent driving while under the influence or with a prohibited alcohol or drug content. Vehicular homicide in the second degree (630, class D felony) is a death caused by criminally negligent driving, or by negligent driving while impaired.

Is there a mandatory minimum for a DUI death in Delaware?

Yes, for vehicular homicide. The impaired form of second-degree vehicular homicide (11 Del. C. 630(a)(2)) carries a 1-year minimum, and first-degree vehicular homicide (630A) a 2-year minimum. Neither minimum may be suspended, and the statutes bar probation, parole, furlough, work release and supervised custody during the first year or the first 18 months of the sentence. Those minimums do not apply to juveniles.

Can extreme emotional distress reduce murder to manslaughter in Delaware?

Under 11 Del. C. 641, extreme emotional distress is a mitigating circumstance that reduces first-degree murder to manslaughter. The accused must prove the distress, and a reasonable explanation or excuse for it, by a preponderance of the evidence, and 11 Del. C. 472(b) bars treating a victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity or sex assigned at birth as a reasonable explanation.

What is criminal negligence in Delaware?

Under 11 Del. C. 231(a), a person acts with criminal negligence when the person fails to perceive a risk that an element of an offense exists or will result from the conduct, and the failure to perceive it is a gross deviation from the standard of conduct a reasonable person would observe.