Kevin Kennedy began in the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office, where he spent three years handling criminal matters. He prosecuted serious violent-crime cases and understands how homicide cases are evaluated from the earliest investigation through trial. He knows how prosecutors use witness testimony, medical evidence, weapons evidence, digital records, statements, and circumstantial proof to argue that a killing was knowing.
Second degree murder is a Class A felony in Tennessee. Although it does not require the State to prove premeditation, the charge still requires proof of a qualifying knowing killing or another statutory form of second degree murder. The difference between murder and a lesser homicide offense can depend on closely disputed facts about intent, provocation, self-defense, causation, and what the accused actually understood at the time.
What Is Second Degree Murder in Tennessee?
Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-210, second degree murder includes a knowing killing of another. Tennessee law also recognizes second degree murder when a death results from certain unlawful distributions of Schedule I or Schedule II drugs and, under a separate provision, when unlawful distribution, delivery, or dispensing of fentanyl or carfentanil is the proximate cause of death.
In a traditional homicide prosecution, the State must prove that the accused acted knowingly with respect to the result. A person acts knowingly as to a result when the person is aware that the conduct is reasonably certain to cause that result. The State does not have to prove the reflection and judgment required for premeditated first degree murder.
Second Degree Murder Versus First Degree Murder
The central distinction in many cases is premeditation. First degree premeditated murder requires proof that the intent to kill was formed before the act after reflection and judgment. Second degree murder does not require that additional element. A killing may therefore be intentional or knowing without being premeditated.
This distinction can be outcome-determinative. Evidence of a sudden fight, rapidly escalating confrontation, emotional turmoil, intoxication, or lack of planning may weaken a first degree murder theory even if the State still argues that the accused knowingly caused the death.
Second Degree Murder Versus Voluntary Manslaughter
Voluntary manslaughter involves an intentional or knowing killing committed in a state of passion produced by adequate provocation sufficient to cause a reasonable person to act irrationally. In some homicide cases, the same core evidence can support arguments about whether the offense is second degree murder or voluntary manslaughter.
The defense should investigate the events immediately before the killing: threats, physical aggression, discoveries, insults combined with other circumstances, prior violence, weapons, injuries, and the time available to cool down. The legal sufficiency of provocation is highly fact-dependent.
Drug-Related Second Degree Murder
Tennessee’s statute also contains separate provisions for deaths caused by unlawful drug distribution. These cases can involve difficult causation issues. The State may rely on toxicology, autopsy findings, phone records, witness testimony, alleged sales, pill or powder testing, and expert opinions to prove both the distribution and that the substance was the proximate cause of death.
The defense should examine whether the State can reliably identify the substance, prove who supplied it, establish chain of custody, and rule out other causes or contributors to the death. In overdose prosecutions, medical and toxicological evidence can be especially important.
What Are the Penalties for Second Degree Murder?
Second degree murder is a Class A felony. Under Tennessee’s general felony statute, Class A felonies carry an authorized term of fifteen to sixty years, though the actual sentencing range depends on the defendant’s prior record and applicable sentencing provisions. Release eligibility rules for homicide offenses can also significantly affect how a sentence is served.
Because the sentencing consequences are severe, the exact offense date, statutory subsection, criminal history, and release-eligibility law should be reviewed before evaluating exposure or a proposed plea.
Common Defenses to Second Degree Murder
Second degree murder cases can involve challenges to mental state, identity, causation, justification, forensic evidence, and constitutional violations.
Lack of a Knowing Mental State
The State must prove the accused was aware the conduct was reasonably certain to cause death. Depending on the facts, the defense may argue that the event was accidental, reckless rather than knowing, or otherwise does not establish the mental state required for second degree murder.
Justified Use of Force
When a killing occurs during a confrontation, self-defense may be central. The defense should examine who was the aggressor, whether the alleged victim had a weapon, the seriousness and immediacy of the threat, injuries, 911 calls, surveillance video, prior threats, and whether the accused reasonably believed deadly force was necessary.
Challenge Identity, Causation, and Forensic Proof
Eyewitness accounts, gunshot-residue testing, firearms comparisons, DNA, fingerprints, cell-phone location evidence, and medical testimony can all be disputed. The defense should test the methodology, chain of custody, assumptions, and whether the evidence actually establishes that the accused caused the death.
How Kevin Kennedy Defends Second Degree Murder Cases
Kevin reviews homicide cases in detail, beginning with the client’s account and then testing it against the State’s evidence. That may include autopsy reports, toxicology, body-worn camera footage, surveillance video, firearms evidence, DNA, digital records, phone extractions, search warrants, witness statements, and recorded interviews.
His former-prosecutor experience helps him identify where the State’s theory may overstate intent, causation, or reliability. Depending on the evidence, the defense may pursue self-defense, challenge a knowing mental state, contest causation, seek suppression, attack unreliable forensic evidence, argue for a lesser-included offense, negotiate where appropriate, or prepare for trial. If you are facing a second degree murder charge in Nashville or Middle Tennessee, contact Kevin Kennedy Law Firm for a free, confidential consultation.
Legal references: Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-13-210, 39-11-302, 39-11-611, 39-13-211, and 40-35-111. This page is general information, not legal advice.