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Twiggs was forced to leave home in high school after drifting away from the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). According to Braylon Nielsen, whose brothers sheltered him in St. George, Utah, Twiggs relied heavily on friends for housing during that period.
“He was bouncing couches,” Nielsen, 19, recalled. “He would live with us for a few months, but didn’t like taking up our couch. He would crash with friends.”
Nielsen said her family welcomed Twiggs, describing his parents as “overbearing religious zealots.” She also pushed back on claims from some relatives that he had “dabbled in drugs and alcohol,” calling it “spiteful gossip.”
“Lance, that I know of, has never done drugs. He always said, ‘I don’t want to go out and party.’ He just wasn’t a big partier,” she said.
Friends and former school staff described Twiggs as bright and compassionate. Nielsen remembered him as a “hardworking, straight-A” student at UT Success Academy, an accelerated program for gifted students. “He just took care of people,” she said. “My sister’s car broke down once, and he came out to help her.”
Ben Kaufman, Executive Director of UT Success Academy, said that while he didn’t know Twiggs personally, reports about him were consistently positive: “Everything I’ve heard about him, he was a great kid. He was nice. He worked hard.”
Despite their closeness, Nielsen admitted she “had no clue Lance was trans,” but firmly rejected any suggestion that Twiggs was tied to Robinson’s alleged plot to kill Charlie Kirk.
“I think that’s all Tyler,” she insisted. “The Lance that I knew would never do something like that.”
Nielsen’s mother, Jackie, echoed that view, describing Twiggs as “a good kid… compassionate, minds his own business.” She urged people not to rush to judgment: “I hope the world lightens up on him and stops being so hateful until they have all the facts. He doesn’t deserve this.”
Twiggs recently left the townhouse in St. George he shared with Robinson, who was also raised Mormon. Washington County Sheriff Nate Brooksby confirmed that Twiggs has since been relocated to “a safe space very far away from St. George,” where he is expected to “lay low for a long time.”
Authorities stress that Twiggs has not been charged in connection with Kirk’s assassination and is cooperating with investigators.
