Kills a witness in a criminal case to prevent the witness from giving testimony or performing any other duties as a witness.Kills a judge to interfere with the judge’s performance of his/her official duties, or.Kills anyone during an act of terrorism (see Section 18.2-46.4) or during an attempted act of terrorism.Kills anyone under 14 when the individual is over 21 years old.Kills a pregnant woman when the individual knows the woman is pregnant and intends to kill the unborn child.Kills someone because the individual was ordered to by the individual’s boss, and the boss is part of a drug-related criminal organization (see Section 18.2-248(I)).Kills someone during a drug-related (see Section 18.2-248) crime involving a Schedule I or II controlled substance (see list of controlled substance Schedules here).Kills at least two people within a three-year period.Kills more than one person as part of the same act or transaction.Kills a law enforcement officer, a firefighter acting with police powers (see Section 27-34.2), or a deputy/auxiliary police officer, when the killing is in order to stop the officer from performing the officer’s official duties.Kills anyone while or after a rape, forcible sodomy, object sexual penetration, or an attempt at any of those three sexual crimes.Kills anyone during a robbery or attempting to rob someone.Kills anyone when the individual is a prisoner, or in the custody of an employee of a state or local correctional facility.Hires another to kill any person, and the person is successfully killed.Kills anyone while in the middle of an abduction or kidnapping (as under Section 18.2-48) with the intent of the abduction to extort money or to defile the victim of the abduction.An individual is guilty of capital murder if the individual intentionally, deliberately, and with premeditation: There are 15 different offenses that qualify as capital murder. Capital Murder ( Section 18.2-31)Ĭapital murder is a Class 1 felony, and encompasses specific circumstances surrounding murder that are deemed to be the most heinous felonies one can commit in Virginia.

Visit the following link for more information about how a lawyer can help with homicide charges. With the exception of manslaughter, which, unlike many jurisdictions, is still a common law crime in Virginia, the following murder crimes fall under Title 18.2, Chapter 4 (crimes against the person). In the state of Virginia, capital murder, murder in the first degree, murder in the second degree, voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter are all felonies.

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