In this file image, Tyler Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in 4th District Court on June 12, 2026 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Francisco Kjolseth-Pool/Getty Images)
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A hearing in Utah for Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk, ended Friday without the judge setting a date for the start of Robinson’s murder trial.
What we know:
During the hearing, District Court Judge Tony Graf said he needed more time to decide when to set the start date for the trial despite months of pretrial proceedings.
Robinson is charged with seven charges, including aggravated murder, in connection with Kirk’s death in September 2025. Prosecutors say Robinson was responsible for the killing, while defense attorneys have continued to challenge aspects of the state’s case.
Dig deeper:
Graf heard arguments from Robinson’s defense, prosecutors and Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, but said he needed to consider their positions. He set a new hearing for Nov. 9, according to a report from Reuters.
Graf will have the option to send the case to trial on a lesser charge of murder, which carries a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of life in prison. However, the aggravated murder charge makes Robinson eligible for the death penalty, which was added because of the risk of death to others created from the shooting, prosecutors say.
Robinson, 23, has pleaded not guilty to seven counts that he shot Kirk at a debate at Utah Valley University in Orem.
Graf said his decision to approve the aggravated murder charge was based on the positions of several people in and around a tent where Kirk was speaking, among other factors.
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Robinson’s lawyers expect the trial to last six to seven months and initially proposed a tentative trial start date in the third quarter of 2029, saying that setting a firm date could create “false precision” and jeopardize their client’s constitutional rights.
The other side:
In a new court filing obtained by Fox News, Kirk’s widow called the defense’s timeline “grossly out of line” and asked the court to schedule the trial at the earliest practicable date in 2027, citing the emotional toll on the Kirk family and a report that the defense had already cost taxpayers approximately $1.6 million in just its first year.
“Every additional day of delay carries the weight of all that Charlie’s murder has taken from his family, especially his two young children who were just three and one-year-old when their father was murdered and would be seven and five years old by the time a verdict is handed down under the Defense’s proposed schedule,” the filing reads.
Prosecutors sought a date of Jan. 31, 2028, to start what their scheduling memo suggests will be a 17-week trial.
What’s next:
Even after Graf sets a trial start date, additional hearings are expected before jury selection would begin.
RELATED: Charlie Kirk death: Where the case stands 1 year after his death
Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah Valley University
Charlie Kirk, who founded Turning Point USA, speaks before Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) gives remarks at a campaign rally at Arizona Christian University on July 31, 2024, in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Anna Moneym
The backstory:
On Sept. 10, 2025, Kirk was speaking to a crowd of about 3,000 people during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University when investigators claimed Robinson fired a single shot from a building about 140 yards away, striking Kirk in the neck and killing him.
Robinson was arrested as a suspect in Kirk’s murder on Sept. 12, 2025.
A family member of Robinson’s reached out to a family friend, who contacted law enforcement and reported Robinson had “confessed to them or implied” that he was the shooter.
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