Court Receives Docs That Prosecutors Seeking Death Penalty Against Robinson
Tyler Robinson, who is accused of killing Charlie Kirk, appeared virtually for his first court date on Tuesday since he was officially charged with seven counts.
Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray informed the court that they will seek the death penalty against Robinson.
Utah allows execution by firing squad or lethal injection. Prosecutors have not yet told the court what they would ask for if Robinson is convicted and sentenced to death.
“I do not take this decision lightly and it is a decision I have made independently as county attorney based solely on the available evidence and circumstances and nature of the crime,” Gray said. “I talked to officials from both (Cox and Trump) administrations, but I was not pressured to make a decision.”
Gray emphasized that “the accused is presumed in innocent until we, the state, prove to an impartial jury of defendant’s peers his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
USA Today noted: “While most executions in the U.S. are carried out by lethal injection, Robinson faces trial in Utah, which is only one of two death penalty states that have used the firing squad in modern U.S. history. (South Carolina is the other.)”
Robinson could face a firing squad if he is convicted by a jury of capital murder and sentenced to death; Robinson is in Utah, a state that has legal firing squad executions.
However, the state’s current default execution method is lethal injection.
“Before 2004, inmates could choose to die by firing squad over lethal injection but now they no longer have a choice. Under current law, inmates will be executed by lethal injection unless that method is found to be unconstitutional or the lethal drugs used in executions are unavailable,” USA Today noted.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has never found an execution method to be unconstitutional, but states have increasingly said they’re finding it difficult to obtain lethal injection drugs. South Carolina, for instance, legalized firing squads in 2021 because state officials said they were having trouble obtaining the drugs,” the outlet added.
On Tuesday, prosecutors charged Robinson with aggravated murder in the death of Kirk, along with other crimes connected to the case.
He is also charged with two counts of witness tampering and two counts of obstruction of justice for telling his roommate to delete texts and stay quiet while hiding the gun and clothes.
Robinson is also being charged with a violent crime that happened in front of a child, and prosecutors have said they want to seek the death sentence.
Police and video taken at the scene show that Kirk, a 31-year-old father of two, was answering questions in UVU’s crowded plaza when he was shot from a rooftop about 200 yards away.
But police said he had become more radicalized over the past year, after dating a biological male roommate who is transitioning to female. They based this conclusion on conversations with his mother.
In a series of text messages after the shooting, revealed Tuesday by Utah County District Attorney Jeff Gray, Robinson allegedly admitted, “I had enough of [Kirk’s] hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
He said he had planned the attack for “a bit over a week,” detailing to his lover how he discarded clothing and the rifle and urging his partner to delete the messages and stay silent if questioned by police.
Robinson was living with a “roommate,” who police say was a love partner who was changing from male to female and is helping them with their investigation.
In Robinson’s charging documents, prosecutors included a long chain of text messages between him and his partner. The messages are said to show Robinson talking about the case with his partner, confessing to the crime, and saying he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to get the suspected murder weapon because police had locked down the area.
The police said they found a Mauser .30-06 gun in the woods near UVU, wrapped in a towel.
Still unknown are Robinson’s job duties and the specifics of how he became radicalized.
