Emilie Henrichsen’s Lawsuit to Block Son’s Death Records

TikTok creator Emilie Kiser’s lawsuit to block her son’s death records asks an Arizona court to permanently seal police reports, body camera footage, 911 recordings, scene photographs, and autopsy materials from the May 2025 drowning of her three-year-old son, Trigg Kiser. Filed under her maiden name as Henrichsen v. City of Chandler, et al. (CV2025-018383) in Maricopa County Superior Court, the case has been on hold since June 2025, when a judge ordered that nothing be released while the court decides what, if anything, the public can see.¹²

What the Lawsuit Asks For

Kiser filed the “Verified Complaint for Special Action” on May 27, 2025, nine days after Trigg’s death. She seeks a permanent injunction barring the defendants from releasing any investigative or post-mortem records tied to the drowning. As an alternative, she asked the court to review the records in camera and hold them back until that review is done.³

The suit names five defendants:

City of Chandler
Maricopa County, including the Chandler Police Department
Maricopa County Attorney’s Office
Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner
Maricopa County Office of Vital Registration (identified in some filings as the Arizona Department of Health Services’ Bureau of Vital Records)

The records at issue include police reports, body camera footage, scene photographs, 911 calls, and autopsy reports. By the time the complaint was filed, the City of Chandler and the Medical Examiner’s Office had already fielded more than 100 public records requests about the case.⁴

Kiser’s attorneys argue that release would cause “irreparable harm” to the family and describe Trigg’s death as a “private family matter” in which government involvement was only “tangentially” connected through first responders. The complaint contends that the volume of requests is meant to “weaponize” Arizona’s public records laws to inflict “emotional harm” rather than promote transparency, and alleges that many requests were made for “commercial purposes.”³ A four-page declaration Kiser submitted describing her grief remains entirely redacted in the public case file.⁴

The Drowning at the Heart of the Case

On the evening of May 12, 2025, Chandler police responded to a drowning call at a home near Chandler Heights and Gilbert roads. Trigg was found in the family’s backyard pool. Officers began CPR, and he was taken first to a local hospital and then to Phoenix Children’s Hospital in critical condition. He died on May 18, 2025.⁵⁶

According to a police report later made partially available, Trigg’s father, Brady Kiser, told detectives he had been watching Trigg near the pool but was distracted by the couple’s newborn for three to five minutes. The child was in the water for roughly seven minutes before being discovered. Brady Kiser said the pool was “normally covered,” and investigators noted that no pool fence was required at the property, though Chandler’s municipal code calls for pools to be enclosed by a perimeter fence at least six feet high.⁷⁵⁸

Why the Records Are Contested Under Arizona Law

Arizona has one of the country’s broader public records regimes. Under A.R.S. § 39-121, public records held by any officer are open to inspection during office hours, and the statute itself contains no built-in exemptions. Courts have carved out three common-law exceptions: records made confidential by another statute, records where individual privacy outweighs the public interest in disclosure, and records whose release would be “detrimental to the best interests of the state.”⁹

Autopsy reports illustrate the tension. They are treated as public records rather than confidential vital records, but because they “inherently raise significant privacy concerns,” a court must review them privately and balance the competing interests before allowing release. Arizona precedent also holds that when a death investigation involves potential criminal conduct, privacy interests give way “to the extent necessary to inform the public of the government’s investigation of criminal conduct and its efforts to protect other victims.” Death certificates, by contrast, are not open to public inspection under the public records law.⁹¹⁰

The “commercial purposes” argument faces a hurdle. As reported by USA Today, Arizona’s Ombudsman Citizens’ Aide has taken the position that requesting records for news gathering does not qualify as a commercial purpose. Legal commentators have also noted that Kiser’s status as a person with a public persona could weigh in a judge’s balancing of privacy against disclosure.²

The Judge’s Interim Order

After a June 3, 2025 hearing, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Witten issued an interim order barring release of all the disputed records while the case is litigated. A source close to the litigation told Rolling Stone that “all parties have agreed that release of any information is on pause until a determination is made that balances the public’s need for information versus privacy interests,” calling the non-dissemination order “a reasonable and compassionate choice given the circumstances.”²⁴

The Arizona Republic was admitted into the case as a “real party in interest” after filing its own public records requests. Under the court’s framework, Judge Witten will decide which records, or which portions, may be released following review and discussion between Kiser’s counsel and the newspaper.²

No Charges Against Brady Kiser

On July 25, 2025, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell announced that no charges would be filed against Brady Kiser. Chandler police had recommended one count of child abuse, a class four felony, based on alleged criminal negligence, but the county attorney’s office concluded there was “no reasonable likelihood of conviction,” the standard its filing policy requires before bringing a case. Surveillance video from outside the home, which captured the drowning and the actual timeline of events, was central to that review.¹¹⁵

The decision matters for the records fight because it left in place a large body of investigative material without any criminal case to make it a matter of open trial evidence. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has said that because of the court order, “no additional details can be discussed at this time.”¹¹

Where the Case Stands Now

As of the most recent court entry on May 29, 2026, the case remains pending before Judge Christopher Whitten in Maricopa County Superior Court.¹² The 911 calls, the autopsy report, security footage, and the death certificate have not been released to the public or to the Kiser family.¹³ Whatever the eventual outcome, it will turn on the in-camera review Arizona precedent requires, and on the judge’s balancing of the family’s privacy against the public interest in a death investigation that included a police recommendation to charge.

1
Fox News (Static Document). Verified Complaint for Special Action, CV2025-018383
2
USA Today. Emilie Kiser Lawsuit Son Death Pool Police Report
3
Arizona Republic. Emilie Kiser Sues to Keep Records About Son Drowning From Public
4
Rolling Stone. Emilie Kiser Trigg Kiser Lawsuit Death Records Blocked
5
Fox 10 Phoenix. Trigg Kiser Drowning: New Details Revealed From Night of Incident
6
6abc. Trigg Kiser Drowning: Influencer Emilie Kiser’s Son Dies Following Chandler Arizona Incident
7
Arizona Republic. Emilie Kiser Trigg Kiser Brady Kiser Drowning Police Report
8
City of Chandler. Pool Fencing Requirements
9
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Open Government Guide: Arizona
10
JSH Firm. Court Should Review Records to Determine Whether to Release Documents Concerning Death by Potential Criminal Conduct
11
Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. Brady Kiser Prosecution Decision
12
Maricopa County Clerk of Court. Minute Entries for Henrichsen, Emilie
13
Rolling Stone. Emilie Kiser Son Drowning Abuse Charge Husband