PROVO, Utah — A quiet but emotional moment unfolded Tuesday in a Utah courtroom during the second day of a preliminary hearing for Tyler Robinson, the man accused in the assassination of Charlie Kirk. From the gallery, Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, reached forward and handed a tissue to a woman crying in the row ahead of her.
Throughout the hearing, members of the Kirk family have been permitted to leave and return to the courtroom in order to avoid especially painful testimony.
That accommodation was used Tuesday as defense attorney Richard Novak cross-examined David Hull, the lead investigator in the case. When the questioning turned to the fatal gunshot, the Kirk family stepped out of the room.
Denae 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/INC News)
That’s just who Erika is. She’s good.
Roughly 10 minutes later, after the testimony had moved to another subject, the family returned. Erika Kirk came back into the courtroom leaning on her mother-in-law, Kathy Kirk.
Erika 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 facing proceedings in Kirk’s murder case. (Alec Thornock for INC News)
As they settled back into their seats, Erika Kirk leaned forward and offered a tissue to Denae Branch, the woman seated directly in front 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 Kirk was assassinated Sept. 10 during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
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Branch and three of her friends were already in line to get into the courthouse around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday.
They told INC News they had arrived at midnight after they came too late Monday morning to get one of the 14 seats available to the public in the Fourth District Courthouse in Provo.
Branch and her friends said they were attending the Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025, when Kirk was shot and killed.
Tyler Robinson, left, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, sits beside defense attorney Kathryn Nester during a hearing in Fourth District Court in Provo on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Bethany Baker/The Salt Lake Tribune via Pool)
They were strangers at the time, but met through a support group for survivors and witnesses in the months that followed the assassination.
Prior to the hearing, two women in their group were asked to remove or cover up their Turning Point USA T-shirts to comply with the court’s decorum order, which bans messages of support for other side in the case.
“She didn’t know that I was there for her,” Branch said in her video. “We weren’t allowed to wear anything to tell her that we were there for her…But that’s just who Erika is. She’s good.”
Erika 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 INC News)
She declined to be interviewed on camera.
“I hope she feels my prayers for her,” she said in her Instagram post.
