PROVO, Utah, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Tyler Robinson, the man accused of fatally shooting prominent U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus, pleaded not guilty at a hearing on Tuesday to a murder charge that a judge ruled could carry the death penalty.
The Utah judge’s ruling that there was sufficient evidence to try Robinson on a capital murder charge followed immediately by the defendant’s plea marked key milestones in the case nearly a year after Kirk was killed on September 10, 2025, and concluded a packed hearing in Provo, Utah, not far from where Kirk was shot.
During the hearing, prosecutors laid out what they called “overwhelming” evidence that Robinson, 23, fired the single round that killed Kirk, 31, as he held one of the campus debates that had helped propel him to national prominence. Defense lawyers argued the shooting did not meet the standard for a death penalty charge. Now it will be up to a jury to decide.
Among those in the courtroom were Kirk’s parents, Robert and Kathryn, and his wife, Erika, who has taken leadership of the late activist’s conservative youth organization.
“Today’s decision, which comes nearly a year since Charlie was taken from us, marks an important step in our family’s pursuit of justice for him,” the Kirk family said in a statement released after the hearing before Utah District Court Judge Tony Graf.
