The ruling came during a scheduling hearing in Provo, where Robinson appeared in 4th District Court. He has pleaded not guilty to seven charges, including aggravated murder, in connection with Kirk's death.

The chosen date falls between the timelines advanced by the two sides. Prosecutors had asked for a Jan. 31, 2028, start to what their scheduling memo described as a 17-week trial. Robinson's defense team initially proposed a tentative start in the third quarter of 2029, arguing that fixing a firm date years in advance could create "false precision" and jeopardize their client's constitutional rights. Defense lawyers expect the trial itself to run six to seven months.

Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, weighed in through a court filing obtained by Fox News, calling the defense's proposed timeline "grossly out of line" and urging the court to schedule the trial at the earliest practicable date in 2027. The filing cited the emotional toll on the Kirk family and noted that the defense had already cost taxpayers roughly $1.6 million in its first year.

The aggravated murder charge makes Robinson eligible for the death penalty. According to prosecutors, that enhancement was added because of the risk of death to others created by the shooting. The judge has said his decision to approve the charge rested in part on the positions of several people in and around a tent where Kirk was speaking, among other factors. The court will also have the option of sending the case to trial on a lesser murder charge, which carries a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of life in prison.

Kirk, a prominent conservative activist, was speaking to a crowd of about 3,000 people during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University in Orem on Sept. 10, 2025, when, investigators say, Robinson fired a single shot from a building roughly 140 yards away, striking Kirk in the neck and killing him. Robinson was arrested two days later. A family member of Robinson's contacted a family friend, who then reached out to law enforcement and reported that Robinson had "confessed to them or implied" that he was the shooter.

Defense attorneys have continued to challenge aspects of the state's case, including an effort to have the death penalty taken off the table. Those disputes are expected to continue in the months leading up to jury selection.

The scheduling decision means the case will not reach a jury until nearly three years after Kirk's killing, a delay that has drawn objections from the victim's family and attention from the public. For Utah County residents and the university community in Orem, the trial will remain a distant but closely watched proceeding, with the death penalty and the scope of the evidence likely to shape arguments well before the first juror is seated.