What is DUI manslaughter and what is the sentence?

DUI manslaughter is charged where a person drives or is in actual physical control while impaired and causes the death of another person, including an unborn child. It's a second-degree felony with a four-year mandatory minimum sentence, up to fifteen years, and permanent license revocation.

Trenton's Law, effective October 1, 2025, added an enhancement. Where the person has a prior conviction for DUI manslaughter, BUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, or vessel homicide, the new offense is a first-degree felony carrying up to thirty years, and it ranks at Level 9 on the sentencing severity chart.

Two things about that enhancement people get wrong, covered separately in the next answers: a prior ordinary DUI doesn't trigger it, and there's no time limit on how old the qualifying prior can be.

Leaving the scene compounds it substantially — where a driver knew or should have known a crash occurred and failed to stop, the exposure increases sharply.