See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy RACHEL BOWMAN, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER and KATRINA SCHOLLENBERGER, US HEAD OF LIVE NEWS Updated: 15:18 BST, 7 July 2026
Prosecutors are expected to play bombshell testimony from the transgender lover of Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin in court today, after a dramatic first day in the preliminary hearing.Tyler Robinson, 23, is accused of fatally shooting Kirk as the conservative firebrand spoke in front of thousands of people at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025.The Turning Point USA founder’s widow, Erika Kirk, and rarely-seen parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk, came face to face with his alleged killer for the first time as the weeklong hearing kicked off on Monday.State District Judge Tony Graf visibly winced while watching previously unseen footage of the killing, while Erika and her in-laws left the courtroom when testimony became too disturbing during the first day of the hearing.Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Robinson and are using the hearing to prove that he should stand trial for murder.As day two of the hearing begins at 9am MT (11am ET), prosecutors are likely to play a pre-recorded statement from Robinson's roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs, who goes by Luna. Robinson allegedly confessed to Twiggs that he had shot and killed Kirk before turning himself in.Follow the Daily Mail for the latest updates...Tyler Robinson hearing set to include testimony from transgender loverProsecutors are expected to present a recorded statement from Tyler Robinson's roommate and lover as a weeklong preliminary hearing continues Tuesday.If prosecutors follow the order of an exhibit list they submitted earlier this year, they will present a video from the Washington County sheriff's office from September 11 - the day Robinson turned himself in - and recorded testimony from Robinson's roommate, Lance Twiggs.Prosecutors allege Robinson confessed in a note left for his roommate, who was also his romantic partner, that read: 'I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.'Robinson also reportedly texted his roommate that he targeted Kirk because he 'had enough of his hatred,' prosecutors have said.Last month, Judge Tony Graf ruled that Twiggs, who is transgender and goes by the name 'Luna,' does not have to testify in person at the preliminary hearing.Twiggs has never been charged or implicated in the shooting, and has instead cooperated with authorities.Pictured: Lance TwiggsOfficer describes finding 'sniper pad' after Charlie Kirk was shotUtah Valley University police officer Chris Bagley testified about the moments Charlie Kirk was shot.Bagley, the prosecution's first witness said he could see the right side of Kirk's body as he spoke on the college campus on September 10 last year.Kirk was in the middle of answering a question when the officer heard a gunshot ring out. He saw people fleeing the area before police confirmed that they had had a suspect in custody over the radio. 'I saw him go to the left ... I could no longer see the right side of his body,' Bagley told the court.'Then everybody started getting up and started to run, more of a chaos situation.'He then began assessing the crowd for injuries as he worked to 'preserve the crime scene.' After the shooting, Bagley went to the top of a nearby building where he saw a disturbance in the gravel that looked like a 'sniper pad', where someone might have been laying in a position that would allow them to shoot a weapon.The officer told the court that there was a clear 'line of sight' from where Kirk was sat to the top of the Losee Center, where Robinson allegedly fired his rifle.Donald Trump Jr attended court on MondayDonald Trump Jr and his wife, Bettina Anderson Trump, showed up to Tyler Robinson's Utah hearing on Monday.They reportedly had lunch with Erika Kirk during the break. The president's son once said Charlie Kirk was 'like a brother' to him, and spoke at the conservative activist's funeral.In December 2025, Kirk's wife Erika and Trump Jr. shared the stage as key speakers at the Turning Point USA Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.Tyler Robinson laughed in court on MondayCharlie Kirk's accused killer Tyler Robinson was seen laughing in court as the conservative star's widow Erika wept just feet away.Robinson's defense attorney Richard Novak was overheard laughing after Judge Tony Graf said that no cameras would be allowed in the courtroom on Monday.The media request for still cameras inside of the court was not sent on time before the hearing kicked off.After Graf's declaration, Novak told Fox News Digital: 'Well, you've got to do things on time.'Distraught Erika Kirk left courtroom during first day of preliminary hearingErika Kirk, dressed in all black, faced her husband's alleged murderer for the first time Monday morning as he appeared before a judge for a five-day preliminary hearing.She had burst into tears before the hearing even started, according to the Daily Mail's reporter in the courtroom.Erika was rushed out of court after a police officer who responded to husband Charlie's murder scene testified about the chaos that unfolded in the moments after he was fatally shot.Judge visibly shaken during tense moment watching previously unseen footage of Charlie Kirk's deathA Utah judge visibly winced watching previously unseen footage of Charlie Kirk's killing as his alleged assassin Tyler Robinson had the first day of his preliminary hearing.State District Judge Tony Graf was seen on camera in a Provo courtroom watching the footage.As Kirk is shot in the footage, you can witness Graf affected by what he's just seen. The entire courtroom was silent as it played. The moment came after a somewhat chaotic day in court as Robinson was at one point seen laughing as the Kirk's widow Erika wept just feet away. Judge refuses to consider footage of Charlie Kirk murder suspect fleeing sceneThe judge overseeing Tyler Robinson's preliminary hearings refused to consider footage put forward by prosecutors because it had been edited. Utah District Court Judge Tony Graf rejected the compilation footage presented by the prosecution on Monday, which were intended to form a key part of the state's evidence against Robinson, 23, the accused killer of activist Charlie Kirk. The video was a compilation of surveillance footage allegedly showing Robinson visiting the UVU campus four times before the shooting, which prosecutors had altered by zooming in at places and drawing circles around certain items. The judge said he was 'concerned' that the video had been edited, saying that an exhibit that has been altered 'can become problematic' after it is presented to a jury.
