Tyler Robinson’s lawyers are trying to take the death penalty off the table, arguing in a new court filing that prosecutors have not shown the facts required to make him eligible for capital punishment.
Robinson, 23, is charged with aggravated murder and multiple other felonies in the September 2025 killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted.
The latest defense filing does not dispute that Robinson was the shooter. His attorneys argue that even if the state establishes that their client fired the fatal shot, prosecutors have not shown that the shooter knowingly created a “great risk of death” to anyone other than Kirk, an aggravating circumstance prosecutors are relying on to pursue an aggravated murder charge and the death penalty under Utah law.
“The only evidence presented supports that the bullet traveled above, not through, the crowd,” Robinson’s legal team wrote.
The defense argues only one shot was fired from an elevated position and that the bullet did not travel through the crowd or ricochet. Prosecutors counter that the rifle was loaded with four bullets and that firing at Kirk put others at risk.
A lucrative industry of Kirk murder content has churned out endless conspiracy theories about the assassination, including claims that Robinson was not the gunman. This latest brief, filed Wednesday, does not advance that theory, since Robinson’s own defense does not even make that argument. Still, it’s likely the conspiracies will persist, since evidence from the pre-trial hearings so far has been largely dismissed by some pushing click-grabbing Kirk murder content.
Kirk, a husband and father to two young children, was fatally shot on September 10, 2025, while speaking at an outdoor event at Utah Valley University as part of his American Comeback Tour. Notably, Kirk was engaging with people who disagree with him, taking questions from students and others on the campus with differing views. Kirk was answering a question about transgenderism when he was fatally shot in the neck. The gruesome scene was live-streamed online.
After the killing, a manhunt for the shooter was initiated. Ultimately, Robinson’s own father recognized his son in images published by authorities and helped persuade Robinson to turn himself over to police.
Next month, the court will hear oral argument on whether the prosecution has successfully demonstrated probable cause to support the charges against Robinson.
Related: EXCLUSIVE: JD Vance Says Evidence Against Tyler Robinson Is ‘Really, Really Compelling’
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