BREAKING: Utah seeks death penalty for Charlie Kirk assassin

"I am filing a criminal information charging Tyler James Robinson, age 22 with the following crimes, count. One, aggravated murder a capital offense for intentionally or knowingly causing the death of Charlie Kirk under circumstances that created a great risk of death to others, count two, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony," Utah County District Attorney Jeffrey Gray said.

"Count two, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, a first degree felony. The state is further alleging aggravating factors on counts one and two, because the defendant is believed to have targeted Charlie Kirk based on Charlie Kirk's political expression, and did so knowing that children were present and would witness the homicide," Gray added.

"Count three obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony for moving and concealing the rifle used in the shooting. Count four, obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony for disposing the clothing he wore during the shooting.

"Count five, witness tampering, a third-degree felony for directing his roommate to delete his incriminating texts," Gray added. "Count six, witness tampering, a third-degree felony for directing his roommate to stay silent when police question him. And count seven, commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child, a Class-A misdemeanor for committing homicide, knowing that children were present and may have seen or heard the murder and did so based on Charlie Kirk's political expression."

He then added, "Following the press conference, I am filing a notice of intent to seek the death penalty."

Gray went on to detail the pieces of evidence against Robinson, including that his DNA was found on the rifle believed to be the murder weapon, that he had instructed his roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs, to delete incriminating texts from his phone, and other evidence that pointed to Robinson as the assassin in the killing of Kirk.

The Utah County District Attorney then addressed Robinson's political ideology, confirming that the suspect has become more political and started to "lean more to the left" and that he was "dating his roommate." Gray added that Robinson's father was opposed to the suspect's recent political leanings, and that when the father saw images of Robinson in the news, he also recognized the gun that was given to his son as a gift.

Charging documents stated, "Robinson's father reported that when his wife showed him the surveillance image of the suspected shooter in the news, he agreed that it looked like their son. He also believed that the rifle that police suspected the shooter used matched a rifle that was given to his son as a gift. As a result, Robinson's father contacted his son and asked him to send a photo of the rifle. Robinson did not respond. However, Robinson's father spoke on the phone with Robinson. Robinson implied that he planned to take his own life. Robinson's parents were able to convince him to meet at their home."

"As they discussed the situation, 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. 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," the documents added.

In a text exchange that was between Robinson and Twiggs, the suspect also appeated to admit to the assassination.