Utah man pleads not guilty in Charlie Kirk murder as death penalty trial cleared

In a Provo courtroom, a young man entered a plea of not guilty in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old husband and father shot dead at a university campus event a year ago. The hearing's deeper significance lay in a judge's ruling that the death penalty may be pursued, a decision shaped by the allegation that a gunman fired into a crowd where children stood. The case now moves toward a trial that will weigh not only guilt but the ultimate consequence the state may impose — and, behind the legal architecture, the grief of a family and the fractures of a polarized mom