Which jurisdiction (city, county, state, or federal) filed charges against Erica Kirk and on what date?

1. What the record actually says — charges went to the suspect, not the widow

Media accounts from multiple outlets consistently report that Utah County, through County Attorney Jeff Gray, filed criminal charges against Tyler Robinson, not Erica/Erika Kirk, and that those state charges were lodged in Utah’s Fourth Judicial District Court. The charges against Robinson include aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child, and Utah officials announced intent to pursue the death penalty; these details are in the state filings and press announcements ^{[1] [2]}. Reporting that links a court filing date to the prosecutor’s announcement places the formal filing and the public disclosure of charges on September 16, 2025, the day Robinson first appeared in court in Provo, Utah ^{[1] [3]}.

2. Where Erica/Erika Kirk appears in reporting — protective order, not indictment

Coverage identifies Erika (sometimes spelled Erica) Kirk as the victim’s widow who was granted a pretrial protective order to prevent contact by the defendant; she is not described as the target of criminal charges. News stories emphasize the protective order’s issuance and its function to bar the suspect from contacting her while the prosecution proceeds, and they contrast that protective step with the criminal indictment against Robinson ^{[2] [4]}. The protective order was issued contemporaneously with the state’s charging announcement and initial court appearance, and court documents referenced in reporting show the order was filed on the same date the state lodged its charges in Fourth District Court ^{[2] [4]}.

3. Why confusion may have arisen — similar names and rapid reporting

Confusion in earlier summaries likely stems from a mix of name similarity, rapidly evolving court actions, and shorthand reporting that named Erica/Erika Kirk in connection with court filings without distinguishing between who was charged and who was protected. Several articles published in the immediate aftermath emphasized both the aggressive state charges against Robinson and protective steps for the Kirk family, leading to understandable conflation in downstream summaries ^{[1] [5] [6]}. Multiple outlets published on overlapping dates in September 2025 and later, and a few pieces reiterated protective-order details while others focused on the aggravated-murder indictment, but none of the cited reporting lists Erica Kirk as an indicted party ^{[3] [6]}.

4. Federal review and the possibility of additional charges — what remains open

Federal authorities stated they were reviewing the facts to determine whether federal charges could apply, and the U.S. Department of Justice indicated it would act if federal statutes were implicated; as of the collected reporting, no federal charges had been filed against Robinson or anyone else and no federal charges were filed against Erica Kirk ^{[3] [6]}. This federal review explains continued national attention and the caveat in some reporting that state filings do not preclude later federal action; however, the concrete action taken on September 16, 2025, was a state prosecution by Utah County in the Fourth Judicial District Court ^{[1] [3]}.

5. Bottom line and sourcing — definitive answer with citations

The definitive, documented answer is that Utah County filed charges in Utah’s Fourth Judicial District Court on September 16, 2025, and those charges were against Tyler Robinson, not Erica/Erika Kirk; Erica Kirk was the recipient of a pretrial protective order, not an indictment. This conclusion is supported by contemporaneous reporting and court-focused summaries from multiple outlets that detail the state charges, the court, the date, and the protective order for the Kirk family ^{[1] [2] [3]}.