Erika Kirk has shared in extraordinary detail what Charlie’s body looked like after he was assassinated during a packed appearance at a Utah university last year.

Erika, 37, was in Arizona, accompanying her mother at a doctor’s appointment when she learned Charlie had been shot at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025.

Charlie, 31, died almost instantly after 23-year-old Tyler Robinson shot him sniper-style from a nearby rooftop. Robinson has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and other charges.

Erika rushed to get a private flight to Utah, but Charlie had passed away before she got to the hospital where he was being treated, she told Vanity Fair.

She recalled how a 20-year police officer warned her not to see Charlie’s body, claiming ‘if it were my spouse, I wouldn’t want to remember them this way.’

‘I looked back at him and said, ‘With all due respect, I want to see what they did to my husband. I didn’t get a kiss goodbye this morning. I just want to kiss my husband’,’ she told the magazine.

Hospital staff removed the tubes from Charlie’s mouth, wrapped his neck and tried to clear away the blood, Erika recalled. 

That’s when she saw what she describes as a look that confirmed her husband ‘saw Jesus’ and ‘fought the good fight.’

His green eyes were half open and the edges of his lips curled upward, she recalled, adding: ‘I’ll never be able to put it into words. But Charlie had a smirk. It wasn’t sad.’ 

Erika Kirk, with her late husband Charlie and their two children, says she is currently focused on honoring Charlie, caring for her two children and continuing to build Turning Point USA

She was heavily criticized in the wake of Charlie’s assassination, including over her choice to wear this gold sequin pantsuit at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in December 2025

Her reactions in the immediate aftermath of Charlie’s murder were heavily scrutinized online and by conspiracy theorists who questioned how she was mourning her husband. 

She was criticized for wearing a gold sequined suit at Turning Point USA’s annual AmericaFest convention in December last year.

But Erika has now claimed she wore the ‘sparkly suit onstage’ because it was the ‘only thing that fit.’

She also went viral the day after Charlie’s death because she sent a Turning Point staff member to the Alo Yoga store in Salt Lake City to purchase plain black clothing for her and several others.

Erika, in her sit down with the magazine, claimed she sent the staffer out because the only clothing item she had with her was a t-shirt from her clothing brand, Proclaim.

The shirt allegedly said ‘heaven is my home’ and ‘I’m just here recruiting,’ which she did not deem appropriate attire for her to wear on Air Force Two as Vice President JD Vance transported her husband’s remains back home.

Erika was appointed CEO of Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization that Charlie founded in 2012, after his assassination.

Although she is now leading the organization, Erika does not have her own office and instead works on the couch in Charlie’s former office.

Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot dead at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025. He had been debating students before a crowd of around 3,000 when a sniper opened fire from a rooftop more than 400 feet away

She also went viral the day after Charlie’s death because she sent a Turning Point staff member to the Alo Yoga store in Salt Lake City to purchase plain black clothing for her to wear aboard Air Force Two with Usha and JD Vance

She revealed that his office now serves as a shrine to the late leader, with the only person who has since sat in Charlie’s chair being their two-year-old son, Mac.

Erika says she is currently focused on honoring Charlie, caring for her two children and continuing to build Turning Point. 

Earlier this month, the Kirk family sent a wrongful death notice, a precursor to a lawsuit, to Utah officials claiming Utah Valley University (UVU) officials made a string of ‘reckless’ decisions that resulted in Charlie’s death by leaving him vulnerable to the rooftop sniper. 

The family claims UVU failed to conduct a ‘meaningful risk assessment’ before the event, including failing to scout out rooftops near the event space where Robinson allegedly fired from. 

Charlie’s relatives alleged that UVU Police also did not have a written security plan and failed to hold any security briefings ahead of the event. 

The notice, seen by the Daily Mail, read: ‘Through a series of stunning failures and reckless decisions, the UVU Parties created a foreseeable danger to Charlie.’

The Kirk family said they have not assessed a monetary amount for damages they intend to seek against Utah authorities, but said the ‘potential damages are substantial.’

The notice names the State of Utah, UVU, the Utah Valley University Police Department, campus police chief Jeffrey Long, Astrid Tuminez, who was UVU’s president at the time of the assassination, and ‘other state actors.’ 

Tyler Robinson has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, a charge that could make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted

In response to the filing, Utah Valley University head of communications Sharon Turner told the Daily Mail: ‘We are aware of the notice of claim. UVU addresses legal matters consistent with our established processes. Our focus remains on supporting our campus community.’

An external review released by UVU last week also found that Turning Point insisted Charlie speak outdoors at the university, despite security concerns from campus officials.

UVU’s report also found that the school failed to conduct a formal security assessment and did not properly assess dangers including a potential rooftop shooter.

Campus officials also did not create a written event action plan and deferred critical decision-making to Turning Point, the report said.

Charlie’s alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, is awaiting trial for murder. He faces the death penalty if found guilty.