A Utah Judge Sent Tyler Robinson to Trial on All Seven Counts. Prosecutors Can Still Seek His Execution.

A Utah judge ruled Tuesday that Tyler Robinson will stand trial for the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, clearing the way for a capital case that has hung over the state for nearly a year. Fourth District Judge Tony Graf found that prosecutors had presented enough evidence to establish probable cause on all seven charges, including aggravated murder, a first-degree felony that carries the death penalty in Utah. Robinson, 23, entered a plea of not guilty to every count within minutes of the ruling. His next court date is set for Oct. 23.

Graf's decision came at the end of a multi-day preliminary hearing in which prosecutors walked the court through the hours before Kirk was shot at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025. Security footage played in the courtroom showed a man arriving on campus well before the event began, buying food, changing clothes, and then making his way onto a rooftop overlooking the amphitheater where Kirk was speaking. Additional video captured the same figure moving across the roof after the shot and then sprinting away on foot.

Investigators told the court they recovered a bolt-action rifle wrapped in a towel near the scene. Testimony established that DNA from both Robinson and his former roommate was found on the fabric — a detail the defense returned to repeatedly, and one that is likely to be fought over again at trial.

Robinson's attorneys did not dispute that Kirk was killed. They attacked the state's theory of motive and the aggravating circumstance that makes the case death-eligible. "There's no evidence as to really what was in Mr. Robinson's mind," his lawyer argued, telling the court there was no showing that Robinson had ever spoken about Kirk or discussed him with anyone. On the aggravator, the defense told Graf the state was stretching a single act into something larger: "there is one act, there is one shot, there is one bullet, there is one victim."

Graf was not persuaded, and the practical effect of Tuesday's ruling is that the Utah County Attorney's Office keeps the death penalty on the table as it heads toward trial. Utah is one of a small number of states that still authorizes execution by firing squad as a secondary method, a fact that has drawn national attention to the case since charges were filed.

Beyond aggravated murder, Robinson faces counts of felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, two counts of obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child. Kirk, who founded Turning Point USA at 18 and built it into one of the largest conservative youth organizations in the country, was 31 when he was killed. He was shot while taking questions from students in an outdoor amphitheater packed with attendees, including children.