Maryland Statutes
Subtitle 2 - Murder and Manslaughter
Section 2-201 - Murder in the First Degree

(a)    A murder is in the first degree if it is:
        (1)    a deliberate, premeditated, and willful killing;
        (2)    committed by lying in wait;
        (3)    committed by poison; or
        (4)    committed in the perpetration of or an attempt to perpetrate:
            (i)    arson in the first degree;
            (ii)    burning a barn, stable, tobacco house, warehouse, or other outbuilding that:
                1.    is not parcel to a dwelling; and
                2.    contains cattle, goods, wares, merchandise, horses, grain, hay, or tobacco;
            (iii)    burglary in the first, second, or third degree;
            (iv)    carjacking or armed carjacking;
            (v)    escape in the first degree from a State correctional facility or a local correctional facility;
            (vi)    kidnapping under § 3–502 or § 3–503(a)(2) of this article;
            (vii)    mayhem;
            (viii)    rape;
            (ix)    robbery under § 3–402 or § 3–403 of this article;
            (x)    sexual offense in the first or second degree;
            (xi)    sodomy as that crime existed before October 1, 2020; or
            (xii)    a violation of § 4–503 of this article concerning destructive devices.
    (b)    (1)    A person who commits a murder in the first degree is guilty of a felony and on conviction shall be sentenced to:
            (i)    imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole; or
            (ii)    imprisonment for life.
        (2)    Unless a sentence of imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole is imposed in compliance with § 2–203 of this subtitle and § 2–304 of this title, the sentence shall be imprisonment for life.
    (c)    A person who solicits another or conspires with another to commit murder in the first degree is guilty of murder in the first degree if the death of another occurs as a result of the solicitation or conspiracy.