CHARLIE Kirk’s heartbroken widow Erika Frantzve was seen for the first time since her husband’s shocking assassination.
The 31-year-old former Miss Arizona arrived in Phoenix on Thursday night alongside Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha.
Wearing dark sunglasses and clutching a rosary, brave Erika descended Air Force Two hand-in-hand with Usha before watching the conservative firebrand’s coffin be transferred to a hearse.
Kirk, 31, was fatally shot in the neck Wednesday by a sniper who opened fire from a rooftop 200 yards away as he launched his “American Comeback” tour at Utah Valley University.
Vance, who cancelled plans to attend a 9/11 commemoration at Ground Zero, personally arranged for Kirk’s casket to be flown to Arizona and stood at Erika’s side throughout the heartbreaking journey.
Earlier on Thursday, the 41-year-old vice president helped carry Kirk’s wooden casket onto Air Force Two during a private ceremony at Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City.
Mum-of-two Erika and second lady Usha watched in silence as the coffin was placed aboard.
Vance paid tribute to Kirk in a moving post on X, calling him a true friend.
He wrote: “Charlie was constantly calling and texting, checking on our family and offering guidance and prayers.
Donald Trump reveals Charlie Kirk’s grieving wife Erika is ‘devastated’ over horrific assassination at university event
“After every event, he would give me a big hug, tell me he was praying for me, and ask me what he could do.”
He recalled their unlikely first exchange in 2017 after a TV appearance, describing Kirk as “fascinated by ideas and always willing to learn and change his mind”.
“When others were right, he learned from them. When he was right –as he usually was – he was generous. With Charlie, the attitude was never, ‘I told you so.’ But: ‘welcome,’” Vance said.
Vance revealed Kirk had even campaigned for him before he ran for the Senate, saying: “no reason to do this, no expectation that I’d go anywhere… He did it because we were friends, and because he was a good man.”
Erika, who married the Turning Point USA founder in 2021, had been in Utah with Kirk’s parents when the assassination unfolded.
The couple shared two young children.
President Trump told reporters Thursday he had spoken at length with the devastated widow.
“I spoke to Erika, his wife. And we had a long talk,” Trump said.
“And she’s devastated. She is absolutely devastated, as you can imagine.”
Trump confirmed he will attend Kirk’s funeral, calling it an “obligation,” and announced the conservative firebrand would be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
And on Friday morning, Trump revealed a suspect in Kirk’s assassination is in custody after being turned in by his own father.
Speaking on Fox & Friends, the President said cops have a “high degree of certainty” they have the “person they are looking for,” adding: “They have somebody that they think did it.”
Trump explained the dad, urged by a church minister, drove his son to police HQ after the sniper evaded capture for more than 24 hours.
He added: “They drove into the police headquarters. He’s there now.”
The President cautioned he was “always subject to be corrected” but said it was looking “real good.”
It comes as chilling CCTV footage released by the FBI shows the assassin sprinting across the roof of UVU’s Losee Center seconds after firing the fatal shot.
The grainy clip captures the suspect — described as a male who “appears to be of college age” — racing across the roof before lowering himself over the edge, leaping down, and blending into the crowd of students.
He left behind a palm print, footwear impression, and forearm imprints before vanishing into a wooded area, where investigators later recovered a high-powered bolt action rifle believed to be the murder weapon.
FBI agent Robert Bohls confirmed: “I can tell you that we have recovered what we believe is the weapon that was used in yesterday’s shooting… is a high-powered bolt action rifle.
“That rifle was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled. The FBI laboratory will be analysing this weapon.”
From there, investigators believe the killer slipped into a nearby residential neighborhood.
The suspect was last seen wearing a black baseball cap, sunglasses, a t-shirt with the American flag and eagle, and a backpack. Authorities are urging the public to come forward with information.
