Usually, if someone accidentally kills another human being, there is some kind of investigation to determine if charges should be filed   But, when actor/director,  Alec Baldwin, accidentally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the sheriff  immediately stated it was an accident and there would be no charges filed.  This type of exoneration doesn’t usually happen to an ordinary person.  Here in Indiana, I know of at least two cases where accidental deaths resulted in someone going to jail.  I guess it depends on who you know, how much money you make, or how famous you are.  Do celebrities commit manslaughter? 

The first case that comes to mind is a young woman who accidentally killed three children running to catch a school bus.  She was taking a child to the baby sitter, while rushing to her low wage job.  The sky was pitch black and it was raining.  She mistook the light from the school bus for something else.  She wasn’t drunk or drugged.  Didn’t intend to kill anyone.  It was a terrible, tragic accident, but she  was sentenced to four  years in prison.

The next case was an accident involving two teenagers.  The older boy’s mom had left a loaded gun in her bed table, and gone on vacation , leaving the kid with the house all to himself.  Naturally, he had a party and yes, there was drinking.  Sometime during the night the kid started fooling around with the mom’s gun, thinking it wasn’t loaded. But it was, and he killed his best friend.  Yes, he did go to prison, but his parents must have hired some good lawyers because he got out on probation after awhile.

These three scenarios have all the earmarks of manslaughter.  But only one has escaped culpability for being involved in a tragic accident.  I’m sure all   of these people are immensely sorry, and probably none of them will ever be the same.  But two of them went to jail and other one won’t.