Kinkel in court Tuesday

EUGENE, Oregon (CNN) -- Kipland "Kip" Kinkel, the 15-year-old student accused in last month's deadly Thurston High School shootings, was formally charged with aggravated murder and aggravated attempted murder Tuesday but did not enter a plea.

Kinkel stared straight ahead and showed no emotion during the four-minute court hearing.

Wearing a white polo shirt, tan pants, sneakers and chains on his ankles, he made no eye contact with spectators in the packed courtroom, including many of his fellow students and victims of the shooting spree.

He has been held without bail since his arrest for allegedly killing his parents, Bill and Faith Kinkel, on May 20, and two classmates at Thurston High School on May 21.

Police help the injured at the scene of the shootings on May 21

If convicted on the four charges of murder and 25 charges of attempted murder, Kinkel could be sentenced to life in prison without any possibility of parole. The 58-count indictment also includes 24 counts of assault and three weapons and explosives charges.

He is exempt from the death penalty because he is a minor, but a 1994 voter-approved measure requires that he be tried as an adult.

Kinkel is expected to move from Skipworth Juvenile Detention Center to the Lane County jail when he turns 16 on August 30, according to Lane County spokesman Mike Moskovitz.

Gov. John Kitzhaber was to attend a 90-minute roundtable discussion Tuesday with nearly 75 community members at Agnes Stewart Middle School, about 11 miles from Thurston High School. It will be Kitzhaber's third visit to Springfield since the shooting.

"We are looking for any ideas that are helpful to prevent juvenile crime or increase school safety," said Bob Applegate, Kitzhaber's spokesman. "This is not -- let me repeat, not -- just about the governor's juvenile crime package. This is us listening to them at their invitation."

Before the Springfield shooting, the governor had been working on a $30 million program directed at helping at-risk teen-agers. He plans on presenting it to the 1999 Legislature.

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