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When official charges against Charlie Kirk’s suspected assassin, Tyler James Robinson, are formally unveiled this week, they will show whether prosecutors are able to seek the death penalty, as Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has proposed repeatedly in recent days.
Robinson, a 22-year-old from the southern part of the state, is currently being held without bail at the Utah County Jail. He is accused of climbing onto a rooftop at Utah Valley University and shooting and killing Kirk from about 200 yards away before fleeing into a neighborhood and making his way home to Washington, Utah.
“Given the very early stages of this investigation, and the fact that the investigation is ongoing, we cannot comment on the specific charges that we will file,” Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said in a statement over the weekend. “However, we do anticipate that those charges will likely be consistent with the preliminary charges that supported Mr. Robinson’s booking into jail.”
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Charges in the affidavit include aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm and obstruction of justice. The aggravated murder charge is crucial if prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty, a move that Cox has called for repeatedly since Kirk’s assassination Wednesday.
The maximum sentence for aggravated murder is the death penalty, Gray said. Under state law, prosecutors would need to prove an “aggravating” factor. If they don’t have one, a regular murder charge would carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.
There are a number of aggravating factors, such as if multiple people are killed or if the victim is a police officer or under the age of 14.
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But the law appears to carve out only a narrow approach to finding an aggravator in Kirk’s murder, according to Joshua Ritter, a California defense attorney and Fox News contributor who is following the case. Prosecutors would have to convince jurors that the shooting created a “grave risk” to bystanders in the crowd.
“At the end of the day, it’s an allegation, it’s not like the entire case hinges upon that,” he told Fox News Digital. “If the jury finds that allegation to be true, then it’s game on. They would have to make the argument to the jury, there was a crowd of people around him, he’s shooting from 200 yards away…and that that could have put others in danger. Which to me, that’s a fairly easy argument to make.”
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In order to seek the death penalty, prosecutors would also have to formally file a notice with the court within 60 days of the charges.
“I imagine what they’re going to do is just charge him with ‘aggravated murder,'” Ritter said. “I don’t know if they have to specify by which theory…But they may specify, ‘aggravated murder pursuant to this code,’ etc., and give us a much better idea.”
The obstruction charge carries a maximum of 15 years in prison, and the felony discharge of a firearm count could result in a sentence of five years to life in prison.
Those charges will be outlined in an official “criminal information” document, Gray said, which could be filed as early as Tuesday or as late as Friday if prosecutors believe they need additional time.
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“We will be thorough and deliberate at every stage of this case,” Gray said.
After the official information is filed, Robinson will have his first appearance in court, and the charging documents will become public. After that, Gray’s office is expected to hold a news conference with additional updates.
It was not immediately clear whether Robinson had a lawyer yet as of Monday morning.
President Donald Trump said last week that if Robinson is convicted, he hopes he gets the death penalty. The suspected killer could also face federal charges, and another potential death penalty, in separate proceedings.
Kirk, a 31-year-old father of two, was the founder of Turning Point USA, a national organization for college conservatives aimed at bringing more young people into the Republican fold. He was shot and killed at an event sponsored by TPUSA and UVU’s campus chapter.
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