Utah prosecutors will charge the suspect in the assassination of Charlie Kirk with aggravated murder and five other felonies and will seek the death penalty.
Utah County Attorney Jeffrey S. Gray announced the charges in a press conference Tuesday ahead of suspect Tyler Robinson’s arraignment later in the day.
“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,” Mr. Gray said.
The 22-year-old is expected to appear in court remotely at 5 p.m. ET. He’s been held without bail in the Utah County jail since his arrest Thursday.
Utah is one of 27 states that utilize capital punishment, but only two people have been executed there since 2010.
It is also one of five states that include firing squad as a method of execution, although it is available only as a backup to lethal injection.
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Utah prosecutors have collected DNA and other physical evidence they said tie Mr. Robinson to the shooting. They also say he confessed to the crime in online chat groups.
Mr. Robinson’s family said he’d been indoctrinated in left-wing ideology and had become increasingly political.
Among the other charges against Mr. Robinson are two related to witness tampering. Prosecutors say he told his roommate, a transgender individual who is also his boyfriend, to destroy incriminating messages and to refrain from talking to authorities.
