Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray announces charges against Tyler James Robinson, 22, including aggravated murder, a capital offense, in the death of conservative commentator and activist Charlie Kirk. The charges were announced during a news conference at the Utah County Health & Justice Building in Provo, Utah on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray announced that his office has filed charges against 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, accused of shooting and killing conservative influencer Charlie Kirk during a crowded outdoor speaking event last week. 

Gray called Kirk’s death “an American tragedy” at a news conference in Provo on Tuesday, calling the shooting an offense against the state of Utah. He also expressed his concern for all those who were in the crowd at Utah Valley University and witnessed the attack. 

Robinson has been charged with multiple crimes, including one count of aggravated murder, which is a capital felony. If convicted, Robinson could face the death penalty — a sentence that Gray said he plans to pursue. 

“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. 

Robinson is facing several penalty enhancements if convicted, including a “victim targeting” penalty that prosecutors are seeking because “Robinson intentionally selected Charlie Kirk because of (Robinson’s) belief or perception regarding Charlie Kirk’s political expression,” according to charging documents. 

Prosecutors also charged Robinson with two counts of obstruction of justice, second-degree felonies, and two counts of tampering with a witness, third-degree felonies. Robinson is accused of attempting to hide the rifle he allegedly used to shoot Kirk, disposing of his clothes and trying to encourage his roommate to “stay silent” if questioned by police, the charges say. 

Robinson is being held at the Utah County Jail without bail. He made his first court appearance at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, joining the virtual call with attorneys and Fourth District Judge Tony Graf from a jail cell. 

During the court appearance, Robinson only spoke once to state his name, sitting still and expressionless. While the judge read the charges that had been filed against him, Robinson at times nodded his head slightly, remaining stone-faced. 

The judge, after reviewing Robinson’s declaration of financial status, deemed him indigent, and he provisionally appointed a public defender to represent him in a case that could make Robinson the next inmate on Utah’s death row.  

Texts with roommate after shooting

Charging documents say police interviewed Robinson’s roommate, who told police about messages from Robinson. Officials haven’t named the roommate, who Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said “has been very cooperative with authorities.” 

On Sept. 10, the roommate received a text message from Robinson that said, “drop what you are doing, look under my keyboard.” 

“The roommate looked under the keyboard and found a note that stated, ‘I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I’m going to take it,’” the charging documents state.

After reading the note, the roommate responded in a text message: “What?????????????? You’re joking, right????”

Robinson replied that he would be stuck in Orem, Utah, for a while because he needed to retrieve his rifle, the documents state.

When the roommate asked Robinson why he shot Kirk, charging documents say Robinson responded, “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

As the exchange went on, Robinson also said he had been planning to shoot Kirk for over a week, discussed engraving the bullets, talked about changing his clothes, and told his roommate to delete the text messages and not talk to media or police, according to the charging documents.

What parents told police

The charges also describe Washington County Sheriff’s Office investigators’ interviews with Robinson’s parents, who both saw photos law enforcement officials released of the suspected shooter during their 33-hour manhunt for Kirk’s killer. 

The day after the shooting, Sep. 11, Robinson’s mother saw the photos and “thought the shooter looked like her son.” 

“Robinson’s mother called her son and asked him where he was,” charging documents say. “He said he was home sick and that he had also been at home sick on September 10th. Robinson’s mother expressed concern to her husband that the suspected shooter looked like Robinson. Robinson’s father agreed.” 

Robinson’s mother also told police that “over the last year or so, Robinson had become more political and had started to lean more to the left.”

The charges also say that in one conversation with his parents before the shooting, Robinson mentioned that Kirk was expected to hold an event at Utah Valley University, “which Robinson said was a ‘stupid venue’ for the event.”

Robinson’s father told investigators that he also believed that the rifle that police suspected the shooter used matched a rifle that was given to his son as a gift. Based on Robinson’s text messages with his roommate included in the charging documents, that gun once belonged to his grandfather. 

Robinson’s father contacted his son and asked him to send a photo of the rifle, according to the charges. 

“Robinson did not respond. However, Robinson’s father spoke on the phone with Robinson,” the charges say. “Robinson implied that he planned to take his own life. Robinson’s parents were able to convince him to meet at their home.” 

While talking with his parents, charges say, “Robinson implied that he was the shooter and stated that he couldn’t go to jail and just wanted to end it.” 

“When asked why he did it, Robinson explained there is too much evil and the guy (Charlie Kirk) spreads too much hate,” charging documents say. “They talked about Robinson turning himself in and convinced Robinson to speak with a family friend who is a retired deputy sheriff. At Robinson’s father’s request, the family friend met with Robinson and his parents and convinced Robinson to turn himself in.” 

On Sept. 11, Robinson went to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in southern Utah with his parents and the family friend. 

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As she sits on her living room sofa surrounded by a large cutout, framed photos and a houseful of other reminders of her son Javon, Andrea Wilson, 41, can’t help but lose hope that her son’s murder will ever be solved. 

“Nobody’s ever going to be held accountable,” she said. “It just feels like no one is going to be held responsible for his murder.” 

It’s been nearly a year since she’s heard from Milwaukee homicide detectives and more than 16 months since Javon, 21, was hanging out with a group of friends when someone opened fire on them. They took him to St. Joseph’s hospital, where he died from a gunshot wound to his stomach. 

Losing her firstborn is bad enough, she said, but not having justice makes it harder.  Wilson is not alone in her struggles. In Milwaukee, hundreds of families share the unenviable bond of having a loved one murdered, with no one held responsible for it. 

Unsolved murders in Milwaukee

From 2020 to 2024, 901 homicides occurred in the city of Milwaukee. Over 350 of those murders remain unsolved, based on homicide clearance data provided by the Milwaukee Police Department. 

The homicide clearance rate refers to the percentage of cases cleared through arrest or because an arrest is impossible because of certain circumstances such as death, divided by the total number of homicides. Clearance rates also factor in murders solved during a calendar year for incidents that occurred in prior years. 

The clearance rate in Milwaukee fluctuated between 50% and 59% from 2020 to 2023. The year Javon was murdered, in 2023, 59% of 172 murders were cleared. 

Last year, when homicides dropped in the city by 30%, the clearance rate rose to 78%. Unsurprisingly, the clearance rate was lowest during the peak of the COVID pandemic when the number of homicides exploded in Milwaukee. 

Javon’s story

Javon was a fast talker and good kid who excelled at wrestling and other sports in school. He was also extremely bright, graduating from West Allis Central High School with a 3.9 GPA. Offered two college scholarships, he chose instead to attend MATC and pursue his dreams of being a rapper and entrepreneur. 

The day he got shot began like any other. He went to play basketball, came home to shower, and he let his mother know that he was heading out again. 

Then there was a knock at the door, and she learned Javon had been shot and was in the hospital. 

As she arrived, she asked about his condition. 

All the hospital staff would tell her, she said, is that they were waiting for detectives to arrive. 

“I should have realized then that he was already dead,” Wilson said. 

Wilson said her son wasn’t the intended victim but got caught up in someone else’s beef. 

After he died, she said, she called detectives for two weeks straight, even providing the names of potential suspects. 

“It didn’t matter. They called it hearsay,” Wilson said. “I feel like I know who murdered my son.”  

MPD stated that it continues to seek suspects in Javon’s homicide. 

‘There’s no stopping them’

Janice Gorden, who founded the organization Victims of Milwaukee Violence Burial Fund 10 years ago, said it’s common for mothers to conduct their own investigations in their loved one’s murder. 

“Sometimes they have way more information than the detectives do,” she said. 

Sadly, she said, many become consumed with trying to solve the murder themselves. 

“They drive themselves crazy trying to find answers to who killed their loved one,” she said. “I try to help but I can’t. I just listen to people like that because there’s no helping them. There’s no stopping them.” 

Since Javon’s death, Wilson said she’s gone through thousands of emotions, one of them being severe depression. Her mother, who helped raise Javon, her first grandson, is equally devastated. Javon also had a special bond with his little brother Shamus, who’s 8 years old. 

Shamus keeps a large cutout of Javon’s high school graduation photo in his bedroom and even grew out his hair to mimic his brother’s dreadlock hairstyle. Wilson said Shamus has struggled with anger issues since his big brother was killed.

“He doesn’t know how to adjust his emotions,” she said. “It’s been a very downward spiral for all of us.” 

‘I never knew it would happen to me’

Like Wilson, Brenda Hines knows the pain of losing a son to gun violence. 

Her middle child, Donovan, 23, was shot and killed while driving a car near North 29th Street and West Hampton Avenue in 2017. His case also remains unsolved. 

Hines said Donovan was never afraid to travel somewhere new without a plan other than to make it. She said she isn’t sure whether her son was killed in an ongoing dispute over a car or whether it stemmed from a woman. 

“I know there were people at the funeral home and at his vigil who knew,” she said. 

Hines has worked as a Salvation Army chaplain since 2014, heading to crime scenes to help other families deal with tragic incidents such as murders. 

“I never knew it would happen to me,” she said. 

Since Donovan’s death, she’s turned her pain into action, opening the Donovan Hines Foundation of Exuberance to honor her son and to help other families by providing mental health, grief counseling and other support. 

She also hosts an annual vigil to honor homicide victims in Milwaukee, part of a national series of events. Many of the families she’s met along the way are also waiting for justice for their loved one’s murders. 

“It really tears the family apart,” she said. “It’s like an open wound that is still bleeding. The tears flow every day.” 

Hines says she can’t tell families she knows exactly how they feel. 

“Every situation is different. But, I can tell them I understand,” she said. 

Solving murders

James Hutchinson, captain of the Milwaukee Police Department’s Homicide Division, said his team of 33 detectives remains committed to solving a case even as the days grow into years. 

“If someone comes in and says we have info on something that happened five years ago, we’ll take that info and follow up,” he said. “From the first two weeks, to a month, or months or years down the line, we’re equally as committed to solving a murder as we were today.” 

Many families, such as those of Hines’ and Wilson’s, question whether every stone gets turned in an investigation. 

“I don’t know if they did their due diligence,” Wilson said. “I don’t know if they care.” 

Hines, who has worked closely with officers during her time as a chaplain, said she respects the challenges police officers face.   

“They don’t have enough evidence,” she said.

Still, she can’t help but feel that more could have and should be done. 

“I’ve met personally with detectives because they won’t call back,” she said. “It’s a bad process.” 

Though it may not be much solace to the hundreds of families in Milwaukee still hoping for justice, Hutchinson said he and the detectives in his unit take each case personally. They know that the victim’s family and friends are devastated by their loved one’s murder. 

“It’s heartbreaking,” he said. “Making a death notification is one of the hardest parts of this job.” 

Hutchinson said resources in his department were spread thin when murders exploded in the city during the pandemic, which increased the challenge of building a case. 

The biggest challenge, though, he said, is that witness cooperation isn’t what it used to be. 

“It’s changed for the worse,” Hutchinson said. “There wasn’t a no snitching campaign back then.”

Wilson admits that witnesses to her son’s murder were reluctant to talk to police. She tracked down suspects on her own and offered those names to officers. That wasn’t enough to warrant charges, police told her. She needed her son’s friends to step up. 

“At this point y’all should tell what happened,” she told them. “Somebody needs to be held responsible.” 

How Milwaukee compares nationally

Thomas Hargrove, founder of the Murder Accountability Project, the largest database of unsolved murders in America, said Milwaukee homicide clearance rates are similar to what he saw nationally, especially during the pandemic. 

Many cities have struggled to solve murders since then. Part of the challenge is resources. 

“When you have enough resources, good things happen. When you don’t, bad things happen,” Hargrove said. “When you have over 200 murders, your system is off.” 

He also said it’s also much harder to get a conviction now than it was 20 years ago, which can create friction between the district attorney’s office and local police. 

Although police might make an arrest in a homicide case, that doesn’t mean that charges will be filed. 

Police, Hutchinson said, only need probable cause to make an arrest. The burden of proof at the district attorney’s office, which files homicide charges, is higher. 

“They have to be able to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said. “Many times we will make an arrest for probable cause, but we can’t get to that level.”

What often happens, Hutchinson said, is that officers will bring a case to the DA’s office or discuss what evidence they have and then have a dialogue about whether more is needed to file charges. 

While that can bring some frustration, admits Hutchinson, it is better than arresting the wrong person. 

“My worst nightmare I would have in the world is to have the wrong person held accountable for a crime,” he said. 

Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern acknowledges that the work to hold someone accountable for murder can be burdensome on families seeking justice. 

“Obviously there is a significant gap between the evidence needed to make an arrest versus the evidence needed to successfully prosecute a case,” Lovern said. 

The reason for caution and continued dialogue with officers in hopes of building a strong case is because there’s no room for error. 

“We really have one opportunity with a particular suspect to bring forward charges, and we want to get it right. Not only for the person charged, but the victim’s family and the integrity of the system,” he said. 

Regardless, said Hargrove, the more murders that remain unsolved, the worse it is for everyone. 

“The more murders you clear, the more murderers you get off the street, the more the murder rate will go down,” he said. 

Trying to move on

As Hines reflects on the ripple effect her son’s murder has had on her family, she does the only thing she can to maintain hope. 

“I have to have the peace of God,” she said. “He has taken care of the situation. I still get angry but I have to let God take control.” 

Meanwhile, Wilson, who still talks to Javon’s friends regularly, visits his grave monthly, and she threw him a huge birthday bash in May.

She wonders whether it’s time to put away some of his photos. Among them are large poster boards filled with pictures that were on display during Javon’s funeral. 

“I have to admit it is kind of depressing,” she said. “But it makes me feel like he’s still here with me.” 

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For more information

Anyone with any information about murders is asked to contact Milwaukee police at (414) 935-7360. If you wish to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at (414) 224-TIPS (8477). 

Hargrove urges families of those whose murders have not been solved to request a formal review under the Homicide Victims’ Families’ Right Act. 

It allows for an individual to request federal agencies conduct a review of a homicide case investigation to determine whether it warrants a reinvestigation. 

‘Nobody’s ever going to be held accountable’: Families of unsolved murder victims in Milwaukee fight to maintain hope  is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.