Relative of Charlie Kirk shooting suspect's trans roommate speaks out for the first time
A relative of Lance Twiggs, the trans-identifying roommate and romantic partner of alleged Charlie Kirk killer Tyler Robinson, shared new details about the pair’s relationship and how the killing has impacted her family.
“I mean, both of them are supersmart. I mean, Lance was, he was a concert pianist; his talent for music was off the charts. It was very impressive,” the anonymous relative told NewsNation this week. “What I’ve heard about Tyler is that he was just so smart, and so it’s just a shame that these kids had so much potential and such a bright future.”
The relative did not wish to disclose her identity, stating that the situation had been difficult for her and her family. She believes video games may have influenced Robinson's actions, noting that both the suspect and Twiggs played video games.
“The world they were in, like, this gaming world, that was the normal way that they kind of spoke, the way they spoke wasn’t normal,” she said, referring to the language used in the text messages exchanged between the pair.
The relative alleged that Twiggs only turned over information to the police when he had to.
“When I first found out about how he was taken in and talked to by the police, I know that they said that he was very cooperative,” she said. “But they had to go get him and bring him in. He didn’t voluntarily go in and say, 'Hey, I heard about this, and I have some knowledge.' He handed over things when they asked for them, but he didn’t give up any information until he had to.”
Twiggs is no longer under the FBI's protection, has moved out of Utah and retained an attorney, NewsNation reports.
Robinson, 22, who has been charged with the murder of the Turning Point USA founder, appeared in court on Friday. During a public event on Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University, Robinson allegedly shot Kirk while perched on a nearby building.
Authorities have also said that Robinson texted Twiggs after the shooting, asking his roommate to "look under my keyboard,” which investigators say referred to a handwritten note.
According to court documents, Robinson stated in the note: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I’m going to take it.”
Defense attorneys for Robinson have argued that the Utah County Attorney's Office should be disqualified from working on Kirk’s murder case because a relative of one of the prosecutors was present at the event where the conservative activist was assassinated.
Robinson's defense team filed a motion last month for the court to appoint an independent prosecutor with the 4th District Court, alleging that a lead prosecuting attorney received text messages from a close relative present at the September shooting and then shared those messages with other prosecutors in the case, the Utah-based Gephardt Daily reported.
Defense attorneys argued the motion to disqualify the Utah County Attorney’s Office on Friday, expressing concerns about a potential “conflict of interest.”
Some legal experts have disagreed with the defense’s decision to file a motion, as a member of a prosecutor’s family witnessing such a high-profile shooting is not necessarily unusual.
"This is one of those motions I find ridiculous," Donna Rotunno, a Chicago criminal defense attorney, told Fox News. "Normally, I like to see a vigorous defense and attorneys doing everything they can to protect their client, but this is one that I find frivolous in nature."
Rotunno maintains that the defense would have “more ground to stand on” if the prosecutor’s relative was the victim or if the prosecutor was related to Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk.
"The legal system takes conflicts of interest seriously, but a prosecutor isn’t automatically disqualified just because someone in their family witnessed a traumatic event connected to the case," Randolph Rice, a Baltimore-based attorney and legal analyst, told the outlet.
"The key issue is whether that relationship creates a real risk that decisions are being driven by emotion instead of evidence,” Rice added.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
