In 2021, Illinois narrowed the felony-murder rule in Public Act 101-0652 by moving Illinois from a proximate cause theory to an agency theory for felony murder. Agency theory of felony murder means the death actually has to be caused by the defendant or another participant in the underlying felony. This change narrowed the reach of felony murder to deaths caused by the direct actions of a defendant or other participant. It eliminated scenarios where the death is caused by someone else.
Before this bill became law, Illinois had one of the broadest felony-murder laws in the country. Prosecutors charged people with murder for deaths caused by third parties. If someone committed an underlying felony and a death occurred, they could be charged with first-degree murder. Now people can only be charged with felony murder if they or a co-defendant cause a death during the course of an underlying felony.
The 2021 law change was prospective, but not retroactive. This reform will apply to anyone sentenced under felony murder after July 1, 2021, but will not apply to anyone sentenced before that date.
Illinois law still permits a person to be found guilty of felony murder even if a participant did not know or could not have foreseen that another participant would cause a death during the underlying felony. Illinois does not track how many people have been charged under felony murder because court data systems across Illinois do not specify the circumstances behind a murder charge. We will continue to work on reforming felony murder in Illinois.