(NewsNation) — A hearing is set for Friday in Manhattan federal court for Luigi Mangione as prosecutors work to make good on the Trump administration’s order to seek the death penalty for what it has called a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”
Mangione is accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4 as the executive arrived for the company’s annual investor conference.
If convicted, Mangione could face life in prison, but his lawyers have asked a federal judge to block U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi from seeking the death penalty.
Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate, isn’t expected to be in court in person.
However, it’s an important day for his legal team, which faces a Friday deadline to reply to the federal government regarding the death penalty.
Luigi Mangione indicted in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing
Mangione faces separate federal and state murder charges in Thompson’s killing.
A federal grand jury in Manhattan indicted Mangione on Thursday on four counts of stalking, the use of interstate facilities, murder through the use of a firearm, and firearms offense.
Mangione’s indictment came just before a Friday deadline for prosecutors to file an indictment or seek a delay. It was not immediately clear when Mangione would be brought to federal court in Manhattan for an arraignment.
Mangione remains locked up at a federal jail in Brooklyn. His state charges carry a maximum punishment of life in prison.
Prosecutors directed to seek death penalty for Luigi Mangione
Bondi announced April 1 that she was directing prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Mangione, describing Thompson’s killing as “an act of political violence.”
“Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America. I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again,” Bondi wrote in a statement.
Mangione’s lawyers have argued Bondi’s announcement was a “political stunt” that corrupted the grand jury process and deprived him of his constitutional right to due process.
His legal team filed a motion aiming to “preclude the government from seeking the death penalty.”
The government responded to the motion, and now, Mangione’s legal team has a final chance to respond to the government in an effort to stop it from seeking the death penalty.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
