BATON ROUGE — The State Senate unanimously voted to pass an amended bill that would expand the definition of first-degree murder, effectively expanding the list of those eligible for the death penalty, which the author of the amendment says is in direct response to the fatal mass shooting at the Mall of Louisiana.

Amendments made to HB 102 expand the definition of first-degree murder to be murder committed while the offender is released on bail, on probation or under parole supervision, as well as when a firearm is used to commit the murder when the offender is prohibited by law from possessing a firearm.

Sen. Alan Seabaugh, who authored the amendment to State Rep. Jeff Wiley's bill, also added the provision that first-degree murder occurs when an offender "has specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm upon a victim who is in a public place and the offender knowingly creates a risk of death or great bodily harm to three or more persons."

"If you point a loaded gun at somebody and you pull the trigger, you're trying to kill them, you're trying to kill somebody," Seabaugh said. 

According to the current Louisiana Statute RS 14:30, it is already considered first-degree murder when someone "has a specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm and the offender has previously acted with a specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm that resulted in the killing of one or more persons," with the proposed change to the law adding the public place distinction.

"Just to make it very clear that the DA's can prosecute you under that statute, and you can be held accountable for the death penalty, or life in prison under first degree, if you fit all the criteria," Seabaugh said. 

Seabaugh directly cited the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Martha Odom at the Mall of Louisiana on April 23, a shooting that also left five people injured, as the impetus behind his amendment.

The Republican senator who represents Many said that, until now, this was not codified into law by statute, but rather used to determine first-degree murder charges via case law interpretation. 

"It allows for a technicality of a defense of I didn't mean to kill that person, and so you can prosecute them for manslaughter but maybe not first degree." Seabaugh said. 

Cecelia Kappel, Deputy Director of Litigation and Special Projects at the Promise of Justice Initiative, says the expansion of first degree murder comes with cost and consequences.

"It's going to invite overcharging, it's going to dramatically expand cases that are are eligible for the death penalty, and it's going to strain an already financially unstable public defense system," Kappel said. 

Not only that, Kappel says it would make Louisiana an outlier in the country and the deep south.

"We already have a broad definition. We don't require premeditation in this state, that it requires specific intent, which can be formed in a instant, I mean it's incredibly broad.

HB 102, in its original form, expanded the definition of first-degree murder to include murder committed while someone is also in the process of or attempting to commit cruelty to the elderly and persons with infirmities.