Charlie Kirk’s widow has said she wants to let the government decide whether her husband’s accused killer will receive the death penalty, and that she does not want his blood on her “ledger.”
Tyler Robinson was formally charged with aggravated murder last week after Kirk, 31, was assassinated on Sept. 10 on the college campus of Utah Valley University in Orem.
Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray announced the formal charges against 22-year-old Robinson at a press conference last Tuesday and said he would be seeking the death penalty in the case.
Erika Kirk, a devout evangelical Christian, said that she believed her husband’s death was part of “God’s plan.”
“I’ve had so many people ask, ‘Do you feel anger toward this man? Like, do you want to seek the death penalty?’” she told The New York Times.
“I’ll be honest,” she continued. “I told our lawyer, I want the government to decide this. I do not want that man’s blood on my ledger.”
The 36-year-old mother to Kirk’s two young children said she believes that if she did push for the death penalty, it could stop her from being with her late husband in heaven.
“Because when I get to heaven, and Jesus is like: ‘Uh, eye for an eye? Is that how we do it?’” she told the outlet. “And that keeps me from being in heaven, from being with Charlie?”
Since Kirk’s assassination, Erika Kirk said she has seen the Bible “in such technicolor.”
“To be so serene in saying, ‘Thy will be done. I surrender to it.’ Do I like it? No. That was the love of my life, my soul mate, my best friend,” she said. “But God’s plan is always greater than ours.”
Erika Kirk was planning to accompany her husband to Utah on the day he died, as he embarked on the Turning Point USA fall tour of colleges and high schools across the country. But she stayed in Phoenix because her mother was undergoing medical treatment on the same day, the Times reports.
Robinson has been charged at the state level with aggravated murder, obstruction of justice, and other offenses in connection with Kirk’s death. Utah prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty, alleging Robinson targeted Kirk for his political views.
A jury would first have to determine Robinson’s guilt and then whether he is eligible for execution. He would otherwise face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted. The state conducted its last execution in 2024, ending a 15-year hiatus for capital punishment in Utah.
Robinson’s mother told investigators that he had recently become more politically active and leaned left.
Federal investigators have so far found no evidence linking Robinson to left-wing groups, despite claims from Trump and his administration , three sources told NBC News.
The trio of insiders is reportedly familiar with the probe into the case, which, as of now, appears to revolve around Robinson acting alone.
