Perfect! I now have comprehensive information about this story. I found that Emilie Kiser recently posted about what would have been Trigg’s 5th birthday on July 14, and that she announced a pregnancy in July 2026. The story has multiple layers: the original drowning in May 2025, the investigation revealing Brady was placing bets and watching basketball, the police recommendation for charges in July 2025, prosecutors declining to charge in late July 2025, Emilie’s first public statement on August 28, and recent posts in 2026. Let me write the comprehensive article now.
Lifestyle influencer Emilie Kiser spoke publicly for the first time since the tragic drowning death of her 3-year-old son Trigg in an Instagram post on August 28, describing him as her family’s “baby” and “best friend” and saying she had spent “days, weeks, months” searching for words to capture her grief.
A police report from the Chandler, Arizona Police Department said Emilie Kiser’s husband, Brady Kiser, was home alone with Trigg and their infant son Theodore when the incident occurred on May 12.
In her statement, Kiser wrote: “I take full accountability as Trigg’s mother, and I know I should have done more to protect him. One of the hardest lessons I carry is that a permanent pool fence could have saved his life and it’s something I will never overlook again.”
“The light and spirit he brought into this world was bright, pure, joyful and undeniable,” she wrote.
“We miss him every second of every day and continuing forward often feels unbearable.”
Emilie Kiser wrote: “I never thought we would experience grief in this way or the pain of losing him so suddenly. It’s a pain, heartache, and void that no family should ever have to endure.”
She continued: “I hope amidst this pain, Trigg’s story will help prevent other children and families from suffering the same loss.”
Emilie also addressed her relationship with social media, saying that when she first joined in 2021 as a new mother, she wanted to “connect with other moms and find a community,” and that space became something larger—”a source of support, a hobby, and eventually a job.” She acknowledged: “I have always been my authentic self on social media and tried my best to share my everyday life honestly, while also being mindful of what I didn’t choose to share.”
However, the loss of her eldest son showed Emilie that her “relationships online lack boundaries, especially in protecting children’s boundaries.” “Moving forward I will be establishing more boundaries with what I share online,” she added.
Emilie returned to social media on Sunday, September 20, and thanked her followers for their support in an Instagram Stories post on Tuesday, September 23.
“Not gonna lie, I’m really nervous right now,” she said in a video. “I don’t really know if there’s any, like, right way to start this video, but I’m gonna do my best. Just first off, wanna say thank you if you’re here.”
She added: “I appreciate so many of you sharing your similar experiences and your own stories of how you have dealt with grief and loss. The internet can be such a dark place, and in moments like this, I am reminded how much good there can be in the support and community that we can all give each other.”
In the months that followed, Emilie continued opening up about her grief journey.
In a post to her Instagram Stories on October 7, the content creator shared that she was heading to a therapy appointment and wrote: “The strength you carry helping others each day is something that makes me emotional, especially now thinking about our/my grief journey and what I talk to my therapist about.”
On October 24, she posted about a two-hour counseling session, saying: “It was heavy but also so helpful. We talked about so many things, but one of them being overall emotions and the guilt of sometimes having them,” and shared her learning that “one of the hardest parts of loss, other than the loss itself, is allowing yourself to feel happy again.”
When asked about medication, Kiser replied: “[I] went to a grief retreat right after we lost Trigg and I was given some advice about it and chose to not move forward with anything after that. I would absolutely talk to a professional and just do what’s best for you.”
On January 1, Kiser said via TikTok: “2025 has been literally soul-crushing. There’s no other way to describe it. I have no words for 2025, but that’s kind of why I wanted to make this video.”
She continued: “I cannot even describe the emptiness that I have felt the last seven months. Whether it has been apparent on camera or not, I’ve truly just tried to keep going and be there for my younger son.”
In March 2026, marking ten months since Trigg’s death, Emilie described what happened as “a preventable drowning accident” and wrote: “I continue to feel like I have no words in what to say when I’m asked how I feel because the only adequate word is ‘broken.’ I miss him so much. Everything about him.”
The influencer sat down with Jay Shetty for his podcast, ‘On Purpose,’ for her first interview since Trigg’s 2025 death and said the tragedy showed her “in the scariest, most real way possible just how quickly life can change, and how quickly life can be literally taken away.”
In the viral moment that led to this statement,
the incident occurred on May 12 while Emilie was out with friends. At home, Brady was caring for Trigg and the couple’s newborn, Theodore. Brady told investigators he lost sight of Trigg for three to five minutes while tending to the baby, only to later find him in the family’s backyard pool.
However, CPD investigators—citing home surveillance video—said the reality was far worse. The footage allegedly shows Trigg unsupervised outside for over 9 minutes, with approximately 7 of those minutes spent in the pool before Brady discovered him.
Surveillance video also revealed that Trigg “did not go into the water intentionally, rather he tripped and fell in while playing with an inflatable chair.”
The toddler was in the pool for around seven minutes before Kiser found him unconscious and took him out of the water. He died in the hospital six days later.
According to a report from the Chandler Police Department, a basketball game between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks was playing on the television as officers arrived to the family’s home. Cell phone records showed that the 28-year-old had allegedly placed a $25 wager on Celtics player Jayson Tatum around the time of his son’s drowning.
“It is clear Brady’s attention was divided, and he was not watching at all during the critical times mentioned,” according to the report. “During two interviews he did not know what [Trigg] was doing before he fell in and did not see [Trigg] struggling to swim.”
The CPD recommended Brady be charged with a Class 4 felony for child abuse, but on July 25, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced there was “no likelihood of conviction” and declined to prosecute.
Kiser’s lawyer said that he is “grateful to law enforcement and the county attorney for conducting a thorough investigation and confirming that this was a tragic accident.”
Two weeks after prosecutors opted not to charge Brady Kiser with child abuse, the Arizona Superior Court for Maricopa County ruled in favor of Emilie to redact two pages from a Chandler Police Department report on the fatal incident. Emilie’s lawyer Shannon Clark said the 26-year-old is “grateful to Judge Whitten for carefully balancing the important interests at stake and allowing a narrow but meaningful redaction to the Chandler police report, removing two pages that detail the graphic final moments of Trigg’s life.”
On July 14, Emilie honored what would have been Trigg’s 5th birthday. In addition to Trigg and now 1-year-old Teddy, Emilie and Brady recently announced that they are expecting another child together. Emilie shared their family news on Instagram on July 3, posting a photo of her baby bump.