Attorneys for 21-year-old Teresa Youngblut, the transgender suspect with ties to the cultlike group called the “Zizians” accused of fatally shooting a border patrol agent earlier this year, are hoping to receive more time to convince federal prosecutors not to pursue the death penalty against their client.

In a motion filed in federal court, Teresa Youngblut’s legal team accused the Department of Justice of scheduling an “unprecedentedly tight” timeline for deciding whether to pursue the death penalty and called on the court to “step in to ensure Ms. Youngblut receives a meaningful opportunity to persuade the government.”

The attorneys are asking the court to extend the deadline, currently set for later in July, by “at least” six months.

The Vermont shootout was singled out by Attorney General Bondi in a May memo that directed federal attorneys to seek the death penalty for “egregious crimes.” She cited the case as a prime example for prosecutors to consider pursuing the death penalty.

A former computer science student at the University of Washington who goes by the pronouns “xe/xem/xyrs,” Teresa Youngblut faces firearms and assault charges in connection with a traffic stop shootout in Northern Vermont on January 20 during which agent David Maland was murdered. The suspect has not yet been charged directly with firing the fatal shot.

The suspect is believed to belong to a mysterious cult linked to several other killings in Pennsylvania and California. The group consists of young, highly educated computer scientists who follow the anarchist, pro-vegan ideology of their transgender leader, Jack “Ziz” LaSota. In archived blog posts, the cult leader encourages the use of violence and radical anarchist tactics to achieve various goals.

The Vermont shootout occurred when Teresa Youngblut and an alleged accomplice, Felix “Ophelia” Bauckholt, an award-winning math whiz and German national, also transgender, were pulled over at a traffic stop near the Canadian border. Teresa Youngblut, according to an affidavit, drew a gun and fired at agent Maland “without warning.” Baukholt reportedly was drawing a gun when one of the agents returned fire and fatally shot Baukholt.

Following a search of the suspects’ Prius, it was discovered that the duo was carrying a ballistic helmet, night-vision goggles, four dozen rounds of ammunition, and 12 electronic devices. The two guns carried by Teresa Youngblut and Baukholt were purchased by a person of interest in a double homicide investigation in Pennsylvania, according to court filings.

The “Zizian” cult is also tied to the deadly stabbing of a California landlord, Curtis Lind, on January 17 — three days before the Vermont shootout. Lind was expected to testify in April against two Zizians who were squatting on his property and attacked him during a 2022 incident that caused him to lose his eye. Before he could take the stand, however, a 22-year-old suspect, Maximilian Snyder, also a Zizian, allegedly slit Lind’s throat outside of the landlord’s home in California.

Maximilian Snyder, also a computer scientist, had previously applied for a marriage license with Youngblut and the duo were in “frequent contact” in the days leading up to the Vermont shootout. Maximilian Snyder was charged in January with first-degree murder for Lind’s death and pleaded not guilty.

Bauckholt and Jack LaSota were living together in North Carolina as recently as last winter, according to their landlord. Jack LaSota has been held without bail in Maryland since he was arrested with two other followers in February on gun and drug charges. The 34-year-old cult leader faces additional federal charges of being an armed fugitive.

While behind bars, Jack LaSota has pleaded for access to vegan food, lamenting during one February bail hearing that “I might starve to death if you cannot answer me.” According to audio obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, Jack LaSota proclaimed: “I need the jail to be ordered for me to have a vegan diet. It’s more important than whatever this hearing is.”