Charlie Kirk's Widow Erika Reveals How She Told Her Young Daughter About the Activist's Shocking Death: 'Where's Daddy?'

Wife of Charlie Kirk, Erika, broke her silence on her husband’s assassination in a gut-wrenching speech on Friday, September 12. Erika stood behind a podium in the late right-wing activist’s studio, where he recorded episodes for his eponymous podcast.

As she addressed the nation, Erika shared how she broke the devastating news to her three-year-old daughter, who celebrated her birthday just weeks before her father was shot and killed.

When Charlie didn’t return home from his speaking engagement at Utah Valley University, the couple’s daughter asked her mom, “Where’s daddy?”

“What do you tell a three-year-old? She’s three,” Erika told viewers tuning in. “I said, ‘Baby, daddy loves you so much. Don’t you worry. He’s on a work trip with Jesus, so he can afford your blueberry budget.’”

Erika talked about Charlie’s devotion to his family and his relationship with God, saying he died while protecting the ones he loved most by creating dialogues with the youth who would go on to shape the world in which his two young children live.

“Charlie always said that when he was gone, he wanted to be remembered for his courage and for his faith,” Erika said.

“Most of all, Charlie loved his children, and he loved me with all of his heart,” she continued. “My husband laid down his life for me, for our nation, for our children.”

Erika and Charlie welcomed their daughter in August 2022 and, later, a son in May 2024. The couple, who rooted their relationship in the covenant of faith, met in 2018 before becoming engaged in December 2020. They went on to marry each other in May 2021, four years before his tragic death.

During her speech on Friday night, Erika spoke with dignity, clarity and conviction that those involved in her husband’s assassination would pay for the irreparable damage caused to their family and his mission.

“I honestly have no idea what any of this means. I know that God does, but I don’t,” she said. “All the evildoers responsible for my husband’s assassination have no idea what they have done.”

The suspect in Charlie’s murder, Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested on Thursday, September 11, roughly 33 hours after the Turning Point USA co-founder succumbed to a single gunshot wound to his neck.

Tyler is being held without bail on suspicion of three charges, including aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice. The suspect is expected to officially be charged by prosecutors on Tuesday, September 16.