What offense is committed when a man attempts to kill his roommate but only renders him unconscious?

The appropriate charge in this scenario is attempted murder, as it denotes an intention to cause death or serious harm with the act being a direct effort to kill. In the context of this question, the man had the clear intention to kill his roommate but was unsuccessful, resulting instead in rendering him unconscious. The law recognizes attempted murder as a separate offense because the individual clearly demonstrates a specific intent to kill, even if the act does not result in death.

Murder involves the successful act of causing the death of another, which is not applicable here since the roommate was not killed. Assault typically refers to the threat or attempt of violent harm, while battery involves actual physical contact or harm, which, in this instance, would not reflect the intentionality behind the attempted act of murder. Thus, “attempted murder” accurately reflects the circumstances where intent was present, but the desired outcome (death of the roommate) was not achieved.