---
title: O.C.G.A. § 16-5-3. Involuntary manslaughter.
collection: code
id: 16-5-3
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 16-5-3 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-5-3
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text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-5-3/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t16-ch1-6-(v14)-2019-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=af47a366_0#page=576
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: CRIMES AND OFFENSES / CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON / HOMICIDE
---

# O.C.G.A. § 16-5-3. Involuntary manslaughter.

(a) A person commits the offense of involuntary manslaughter in the commission of an unlawful act when he causes the death of another human being without any intention to do so by the commission of an unlawful act other than a felony. A person who commits the offense of involuntary manslaughter in the commission of an unlawful act, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than ten years.

(b) A person commits the offense of involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act in an unlawful manner when he causes the death of another human being without any intention to do so, by the commission of a lawful act in an unlawful manner likely to cause death or great bodily harm. A person who commits the offense of involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act in an unlawful manner, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as for a misdemeanor.

## History

Laws 1833, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 784; Code 1863, §§ 4224, 4225, 4226; Code 1868, §§ 4261, 4262, 4263; Code 1873, §§ 4327, 4328, 4329; Code 1882, §§ 4327, 4328, 4329; Penal Code 1895, §§ 67, 68, 69; Penal Code 1910, §§ 67, 68, 69; Code 1933, §§ 26-1009, 26-1010; Ga. L. 1951, p. 737, § 1; Code 1933, § 26-1103, enacted by Ga. L. 1968, p. 1249, § 1; Ga. L. 1984, p. 397, § 1.

## Law Reviews

For survey article on criminal law and procedure, see 34 Mercer L. Rev. 89 (1982). For annual survey on criminal law and procedure, 42 Mercer L. Rev. 141 (1990). For article, ‘‘New Challenges for the Georgia General Assembly: Survey of Child Endangerment Statutes,’’ see 7 Ga. St. B. J. 8 (2001).

For note discussing the felony-murder rule, and proposing legislation to place limitations on Georgia’s felony-murder statute, see 9 Ga. St. B. J. 462 (1973).