Murder in Kentucky law constitutes the intentional killing, under circumstances defined by law, of people within or under the jurisdiction of the U.S. state of Kentucky.
The Kentucky General Assembly abolished the felony murder rule with the enactment of Kentucky Revised Statutes § 507.020. Recognizing that an automatic application of the rule could result in conviction of murder without a culpable mindset, the Kentucky Legislature instead allowed the circumstances of a case, like the commission of a felony, to be considered separately. The facts of each case would be used to show the mental state of the defendant instead of using an automatic rule.[3]
