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Two friends broke into a pharmacy at night intending to steal prescription drugs. One friend carried an unloaded pistol to scare anyone who appeared. As they fled with the drugs, a security guard fired at them. The bullet missed the fleeing friends and killed a customer who had stepped out of a nearby store. The friends continued running, reached their car two blocks away, and drove off. Ten minutes later, while still speeding away from police, the driver ran a red light and struck another motorist, killing her.
Prosecutors charge both friends with felony murder for both deaths. The defense argues that the burglary merges with the homicide, that the guard rather than a felon killed the customer, and that the later traffic death occurred after the burglary was complete.
Analyze the felony-murder charges for each death under common approaches, including qualifying felony, merger, agency and proximate-cause theories, immediate flight, and temporary safety.