On the fourteenth day of November, Anthony James Marston ran over two children, but was this an act of murder or manslaughter? Marston was speeding near Cambridge when he ran over two small children, Lucy and John Combes. Due to his implied history of drunken driving, he may have been drunk as well. As of August 2017, the Missouri statute on manslaughter is “...if he or she recklessly causes the death of another person” and the Missouri statute on murder is “...if he or she knowingly causes the death of another person after deliberation upon the matter” (Missouri Revisor of Statutes). The difference between the charges comes down to a simple matter: intent. With manslaughter, the perpetrator causes the death of another due to dangerous and/or …show more content…
His behavior can oftentimes be classified as reckless and/or dangerous, with little regard for the safety of others. Anthony Marston, while he did cause the death of John and Lucy Combes, did not do so intentionally. Marston should have been cautious and aware that his reckless and illegal driving could endanger others, but he did not kill on purpose. It is undeniable that Anthony Marston is guilty of homicide, but murder implies an intent to kill. Marston committed an act of vehicular manslaughter, but not murder. Marston did not commit the crime of murder, but rather manslaughter as he had no intent to kill anyone. Marston described the incident as a result of “‘...Beastly bad luck’” (Page number). He meant himself as the one having bad luck, but either way, the fact he considers the deaths as bad luck means that he did not intend for anyone to die. If there was any sort of intention to harm the children (or anyone else for that matter) it is unlikely that Marston would have referred to the deaths as bad luck, for him or the deceased. Marston’s lack of guilt and sympathy when it comes to the death of the two children could easily imply the deaths were much more intentional than he