Harrowing new details have emerged months into the investigation of the influencer Emilie Kiser’s three-year-old son, Trigg, who died in May after drowning in his family’s pool.
The influencer, who initially found fame posting lifestyle and family-centric content on TikTok, lost her son on 18 May, six days after he drowned at their home in Chandler, a suburb of Phoenix.
Trigg and his newborn brother were under the care of their father, Brady Kaiser, at the time of the devastating incident. It’s understood Emilie was out with friends, as per officials.
Brady initially told officials from the Department of Child Safety that he was feeding his newborn son, Theodore, when he lost sight of Trigg for around 'three to five minutes'.
Advert
"I didn't have a clock, obviously," he informed police in an interview. "I don't know the exact time, but it was moments, it wasn't minutes, it was moments, it wasn't that he had been out of sight for long."
However, an unsealed police report has alleged that the child was unsupervised for 'nine minutes' and that he was in the uncovered pool for 'about seven' before Brady discovered him.
The report, obtained by the Arizona Republic, alleged that Brady’s attention was on the NBA playoff game between the Knicks and the Celtics, which was on television when officers arrived after he phoned 911.
It’s further recorded that Brady had a clear interest in the game, placing a $25 bet earlier in the evening, as per records obtained by the sports betting company DraftKings.
While the game was on, Trigg, who did not know how to swim, went outdoors into the backyard, the report alleges.
This unsupervised outing was branded as ‘harmless’ by Brady despite the pool cover being off, according to the Chandler Police Department.
Surveillance footage showed that the child ‘did not go into the water intentionally, rather he tripped and fell in while playing with an inflatable chair’.
When asked why Trigg was able to enter the pool, the man explained that the Kiser family were expecting a pool service the next day.
His wife, Emilie, later told a state child protection worker that the family had been spending time in the pool together over the past couple of days and had not yet put the cover back on, as per the report.
After studying the surveillance footage, investigators concluded that 'Brady’s attention was divided' and that he was not watching Trigg when he should have.
Officials have confirmed, though, that there was no evidence to suggest the father saw his son enter the pool and then proceeded to ignore him.
The legislation has ruled that Brady was unaware of what Trigg was doing, accusing him of ‘not watching him’.
Police have also alleged that the child’s drowning could have been prevented.
"This tragic incident was the result of Trigg being in the backyard unsupervised while playing around the unsecured pool and unable to swim," the Chandler Police Department said.
"It is clear Brady’s attention was divided, and he was not watching at all during the critical times mentioned.
|During two interviews, he did not know what [he] was doing before he fell in and did not see struggling to swim."
The Chandler Police Department recommended a class 4 felony child abuse charge against Brady, while the Maricopa Attorney’s Office opted not to charge him, citing there was ‘no likelihood of conviction’.
The recent unsealing of records comes after a judge ruled in favour of Emilie’s request to block investigative records about Trigg's death from public view, citing her family's privacy.
"Emilie and her family desperately want to grieve in private, but sadly, the public will not let them. Trigg's death has become a media frenzy," part of the lawsuit read.
Lawyers representing the family also said that information about the boy’s drowning could be used to make AI video recreations, as per the Arizona Republic.
The documents included the surveillance footage of the incident, body camera footage, autopsy reports, as well as the police report.
The Arizona Superior Court for Maricopa County ruled on 8 August that two pages would be redacted from the Chandler Police Department report, claiming the details were ‘not necessary for public accountability’.
"Its disclosure would serve no purpose other than satisfying morbid curiosity," said Judge Christopher Whitten.
In a statement shared to E! News, Emilie's lawyer Shannon Clark claimed the redactions ‘do not alter any material facts of the accident’ but instead ‘protect the dignity of a little boy whose memory should reflect the love and light he brought to the world’.
LADbible has contacted Brady’s attorney for comment.
Ella Scott