Tyler James Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of murdering conservative activist Charlie Kirk, could face the death penalty after being charged Sept. 16 with aggravated murder, a capital felony. Prosecutors said they intend to pursue the death penalty because Robinson allegedly targeted Kirk over opposing political views and had planned the killing for a week.

Robinson is being held in the Utah County Jail. He appeared remotely in court on Sept. 29 with his appointed lawyer, who requested a preliminary hearing. At that hearing, the judge will decide whether there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial. His next court hearing is on Oct. 30.

Capital Punishment in Utah

In the state of Utah, an inmate can be executed by either lethal injection or firing squad. While historically uncommon, Utah did execute an inmate via lethal injection in 2024 for the first time in over a decade.

Utah’s support for the death penalty has been declining over the years. In 2021, 49% of surveyed Utah voters supported eliminating the death penalty. In 2010, more than 70% of surveyed voters were in full support of capital punishment.

“No matter what punishment you give someone, if they’re innocent, it can be reversed. That is not true of the death penalty,” said Jensie Andersen, a clinical professor at the U’s S.J. Quinney College of Law. “I don’t believe in the death penalty, period, even if we had a perfect system.”

At least 200 people have been exonerated from death row in the United States in the last 50 years. Death row prisoners typically spend over a decade in prison awaiting execution or court rulings that overturn their sentences. “One of the new and emerging concerns is delays in capital cases,” said U law professor Paul Cassell, who has published work in support of the death penalty. “For example, here in Utah, it takes several decades to go from the imposition of a death sentence than the actual carrying out of the sentence.”

“I think that there will be more pressure on the DA to get a conviction,” said Riley Clark, president of the University of Utah’s chapter of Turning Point USA. “Because it happened in Utah, I think that the likelihood of getting a conviction will probably be higher because Utah is a red state. So, the jurors are going to, more likely than not, be red.”

In Utah, each death penalty case costs an estimated $1.6 million more than sentencing someone to life without parole, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. “It’s an incredibly long and expensive process to legally execute somebody,” said Tyson Guymon, parliamentarian of the College Democrats at the University of Utah. “The American taxpayers spend millions of dollars to execute somebody.”

Community and Political Reactions

With the U being less than an hour away from Utah Valley University, the assassination spurred waves of chatter across campus. “I was really shocked,” said Clark. “I think it took me a really long time to process it because I just couldn’t believe that we were at this state in the country.”

Kirk was answering a question about the number of mass shootings when the shot was fired. Guymon voiced their concern about the rise of political violence. “I’m just worried for the state of the country; the normalization of political violence, the amount of people that were traumatized that day that were there or saw it online, and obviously, the death of an innocent man,” Guymon said.

Others reflected on Kirk’s influence among young conservatives. “For conservatives of the younger generation, [Kirk] was very influential,” Cassell said. “He engaged and said things that I think a lot of conservative students felt like they couldn’t speak their mind about.”

Clark believes the state’s political leanings could shape how Robinson’s case unfolds in court. “I think that there will be more pressure on the DA to get a conviction,” Clark said. “Because it happened in Utah, I think that the likelihood of getting a conviction will probably be higher because Utah is a red state. So, the jurors are going to, more likely than not, be red.”

What Comes Next

If Robinson receives a death sentence, there are mandatory and discretionary appeals that could take more than 20 years to complete.

“Our criminal justice system is broken, and even if we fix it, it’s still a system run by people, and people make mistakes,” Andersen said. “The death penalty is the ultimate punishment, and in some people’s minds, it’s the perfect punishment. But it’s being meted out in an imperfect system.”

Individual opinions in this article do not reflect the opinions of the College Democrats of the University of Utah or the University of Utah chapter of Turning Point USA as a whole.

[email protected]

@esharrers.bsky.social