Sunday afternoon—less than a day after the killing—Blakley was released on bond. The day after that, less than two days after admittedly shooting his wife to death, authorities declared that the deputy will NOT be charged with first or second-degree murder, but "involuntary manslaughter." Even if convicted, Deputy Blakley may not receive any prison time at all, and cannot be sentenced to more than five years. Under South Carolina state law, the distinction between murder and manslaughter hinges upon whether there was "malice aforethought" which constitutes murder, as opposed to criminal negligence, which constitutes manslaughter.