Can You File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Georgia After a Criminal Death?
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Yes. Georgia’s wrongful death statute covers deaths that result “from a crime” (O.C.G.A. § 51-4-1(2)), and the civil case does not wait for, or depend on, a conviction. The date a family cannot afford to miss is the filing deadline: the lawsuit must be filed within two years of the death, and under a 2022 Court of Appeals decision a pending prosecution does not extend that time for the family.
The civil case is separate from the prosecution
The State prosecutes the crime. The family’s wrongful death case is a private lawsuit for “the full value of the life of the decedent” (§ 51-4-1(1)). The two differ in ways that decide outcomes:
| Criminal case | Wrongful death case | |
|---|---|---|
| Brought by | The State | The surviving spouse, children, parents, or a personal representative |
| Standard of proof | Beyond a reasonable doubt | A preponderance of the evidence (§ 24-14-3) |
| Result | Conviction and sentence | Money damages |
| Defendants | The accused | The person who caused the death and anyone whose own negligence contributed |
Because § 24-14-3 makes a preponderance of the evidence sufficient in civil proceedings, an acquittal does not decide the civil case, and neither does a decision not to charge anyone. The civil jury weighs the evidence under its own standard.
The deadline is the decision that cannot wait
The two-year period for a wrongful death claim runs from the date of death (§ 9-3-33). Georgia’s crime-victim tolling statute, § 9-3-99, pauses the deadline for claims “brought by the victim of an alleged crime” until the prosecution ends, for up to six years. In Hicks v. Universal Health Services, Inc. (2022), the Court of Appeals held that parents suing for their children’s deaths were not “victims” under that statute: “the crime at issue here is murder, and the parents have not been murdered”. Their claims, filed more than two years after the deaths, were barred.
So a family that waits for the criminal trial to finish before filing can lose the wrongful death claim. Prosecutions can run longer than two years; the civil deadline does not move with them. How the estate’s separate claim is timed, including the five-year allowance while no estate representative is appointed (§ 9-3-92), is covered in the Georgia wrongful death deadline.
Who can be sued besides the person who committed the crime
A person who commits a violent crime may have no insurance and no assets that can satisfy a judgment. A wrongful death claim can also name others whose own negligence contributed to the death, for example:
- A property owner or business that failed to take reasonable security measures against a foreseeable crime. Since 2025, Georgia’s negligent-security statute sets specific proof requirements and requires the jury to apportion fault to the criminal; see property owner liability for a death caused by a crime.
- A treatment facility or provider whose care of a dangerous patient is alleged to have contributed to the harm. Hicks itself was such a case, brought against a hospital, its corporate affiliates, and a physician after a discharged patient killed four people.
Each of these defendants is sued for its own conduct, not for the crime. Fault is then divided among everyone responsible under Georgia’s apportionment statute, explained in how damages are divided among multiple defendants.
How the criminal case can still help
The prosecution can produce police reports, witness statements, forensic findings, and recorded testimony that the family’s lawyers can seek in the civil case. The criminal case’s evidence helps only if the civil complaint was filed on time.
A short sequence for families
- Note the date of death; two years from that date is the filing deadline for the family’s claim.
- Identify who has the right to sue (spouse first, then children, then parents, then the estate’s representative).
- List every person and organization connected to the death, not only the accused.
- Check whether any defendant is a city, county, or state entity, because a written notice can be due within 6 or 12 months.
Sources
- O.C.G.A. §§ 9-3-33, 9-3-92, 9-3-99, 24-14-3, 51-4-1.
- Hicks v. Universal Health Services, Inc., 364 Ga. App. 769 (2022)
General information about Georgia law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.