PROVO, UTAH — Defense attorneys for Tyler Robinson asked Judge Tony Graf in Provo to postpone a preliminary hearing scheduled for May by six months to review DNA and ballistics evidence. Robinson, 22, faces aggravated murder charges in the Sept. 10, 2025, shooting of Charlie Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem.

Robinson's attorneys asked to delay the hearing to analyze evidence relating to DNA found on the alleged murder weapon, according to a court filing. Defense attorneys said they needed time to review a large volume of material and prepare their analysis of the evidence they had received.

Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for Robinson, who has not entered a plea in the case. Kirk was fatally shot while answering questions from the crowd at an outdoor event that was part of a Turning Point USA national tour.

In court filings, defense attorneys said an analysis by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives did not conclusively connect a bullet fragment recovered during an autopsy to the rifle found near the scene. Court documents say a secondary comparative bullet analysis by the FBI is underway to test the bullet fragment, but it is not yet complete.

Defense attorneys said the ATF report on the bullet analysis has been kept private and that snippets cited in other public filings indicate the results were inconclusive. Robinson's attorneys said they have not been able to review the ATF case file related to the summary report or the protocols for examining the bullet fragment found during the autopsy, according to a court filing.

Prosecutors said they found DNA consistent with Robinson's on the trigger of the rifle, on the fired cartridge casing, and on two unfired cartridges. In court filings, defense attorneys said forensic reports show multiple people's DNA on some items, which they said requires a more complex analysis.

Investigators found a decades-old German-made bolt-action rifle built for use in World War I and World War II in a wooded area near the scene of the shooting. Robinson's attorneys said they may decide to offer the testimony of the ATF firearm analyst as exculpatory evidence depending on the outcome of the evidence review, according to a court filing.

Defense attorneys said they received a hard drive earlier this month containing 31 hours of audio files, 700 hours of video files, and 600,000 data files, according to a court filing. The court filing said attorneys expect the initial review of the digital evidence to take 60 days.

Robinson is scheduled to appear in court on April 17 for a hearing on a defense motion to ban cameras from the courtroom. The preliminary hearing is expected to function as a mini-trial on the charges against Robinson in the killing of Kirk at Utah Valley University.