PROVO, Utah — In an emotional moment in the gallery during the second day of a preliminary hearing for Charlie Kirk's accused assassin Tyler Robinson in a Utah courthouse Tuesday, the victim's widow Erika Kirk reached forward to hand a tissue to a crying woman in the row in front of her.Over the course of the hearing, the Kirk family has been given permission to come and go to avoid painful testimony.At one point Tuesday, as defense attorney Richard Novak cross-examined the case's lead investigator, David Hull, the Kirk family left the room as the testimony turned to the fatal gunshot.TYLER ROBINSON'S AND LANCE TWIGG'S DNA BOTH ALLEGEDLY FOUND ON KEY EVIDENCE IN CHARLIE KIRK'S ASSASSINATIONDenae Branch, left, and her friends were first in line to enter Tyler Robinson's preliminary hearing at Utah's Fourth District Court in Provo on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.All four said they were present when Charlie Kirk was assassinated at nearby Utah Valley University in Orem last year.
(Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)That's just who Erika is.She's good.They returned about 10 minutes later when the topic had changed, with Erika Kirk leaning on her mother-in-law, Kathy Kirk.CHARLIE KIRK'S FAMILY COMES FACE TO FACE WITH ACCUSED ASSASSIN FOR FIRST TIMEErika Kirk departs court in Provo, Utah, Monday, July 6, 2026.
The widow of Charlie Kirk was attending the first day of preliminary hearings against, Tyler Robinson who is on trial for Kirk's murder.(Alec Thornock for Fox News Digital) As they took their seats, Erika Kirk leaned forward and handed a tissues to a woman, Denae Branch, who was seated in the row ahead of her."I went thinking I was going to support Erika, and at one point I turn around, and I see her just holding on to her sweet mother-in-law, and I like, kind of lose it and start crying," Branch said in a teary video on Instagram explaining the encounter.
"Next thing I know, I feel a tap on my shoulder, and I turn back, and Erika is handing me one of her tissues."Charlie ...