For what it's worth: in the legal context, a delay between the act causing death and the death does not negate the act as "murder."
Warning: boring legal synopsis follows. For example, in People v Harding, 443 Mich 693 (1993), the defendants robbed the victim and shot him in the heart and abdomen. The victim initially survived the attack, and the defendants were convicted of armed robbery, assault with intent to commit murder, and felony firearm. More than four years after the crimes, the victim died as a result of the gunshot wounds -- while playing basketball, as I recall. There is no statute of limitations or repose for murder. The prosecutor must prove proximate cause for the victim's death, but is not precluded by the mere passage of time from charging a defendant for murder for a death which occurred some time after the defendant's actions which caused the death. The defendants were then convicted of felony murder and felony firearm.
