Emilie Kiser Lawsuit Update: Records Sealed, No Charges Filed

Influencer Emilie Kiser’s lawsuit to block the public release of records tied to her three-year-old son’s drowning ended in a partial win: on August 7, 2025, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Witten allowed the Chandler Police Department report to be released, but ordered two pages describing the child’s final moments redacted.¹

What the Lawsuit Asked For

Kiser filed suit in Arizona Superior Court for Maricopa County on May 27, 2025, nine days after Trigg died. She sued the City of Chandler, Maricopa County, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, and the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner, seeking to withhold police reports, 911 calls, scene photos, body camera footage, security camera footage, and autopsy reports.²³ By the time she filed, more than 100 public records requests had already been submitted to Chandler city offices and the Medical Examiner’s Office.⁴

Her attorneys at Gallagher & Kennedy called the records “graphic, distressing, and intimate details of Trigg’s death that have no bearing on government accountability,” arguing that release would turn “Arizona’s Public Records Law into a weapon of emotional harm, rather than a tool of government transparency.”⁵ In a personal declaration, later sealed by Judge Witten, Kiser said she feared her infant son Theodore would one day find footage and documents about his brother online. “Knowing that intensely devastating personal information like that which various people have sought could be placed on the Internet where it will live forever, haunts me,” she wrote.⁴ She also described media at her door, helicopters over the home, strangers arriving to pray over the property, and people parked outside with cameras.⁶

The Arizona Republic was admitted to the case as a real party in interest and pushed against redactions. Its attorney, Matthew Kelley, argued the withheld pages contained information “critical to provide the public a reasonably full understanding” of the investigation, the police recommendation of charges, and the county attorney’s decision not to prosecute.⁷ Under Arizona law, courts may keep records private only where release could cause “substantial and irreparable private or public harm.”⁸

How the Judge Ruled

Judge Witten held an initial hearing on June 3, 2025, and issued an interim order barring release while the case was pending. He also directed attorneys for Kiser and The Arizona Republic to review the records together, but kept the final decision on release for himself.²

On August 7, 2025, he issued his ruling on the police report: release, with two pages redacted. Kiser’s attorney Shannon Clark described those pages as “the graphic final moments of Trigg’s life” and called the outcome “a narrow but meaningful redaction” that did not “alter any material facts of the accident.”¹⁹ The court was reported to be motivated in part by concern that the graphic material could be used to generate disturbing AI-generated content.¹⁰

The available record does not indicate a final public ruling on the other materials Kiser sought to seal, including the autopsy report, 911 calls, scene photos, and surveillance footage.

What the Released Report Showed

The redacted release is what made the key facts of the incident public. On May 12, 2025, three-year-old Trigg was pulled from the family’s backyard pool in Chandler, Arizona, and taken to the hospital in critical condition. He died six days later, on May 18.¹¹ Emilie had left the home around 6:00 p.m. to meet friends; her husband, Brady Kiser, was home with the couple’s two children.¹²

Investigators concluded Trigg had tripped on an inflatable chair and fallen into the pool. Surveillance footage showed the child outside alone for roughly ten minutes and in the water for about seven minutes before Brady found him. The pool cover had been removed because the family had recently used the pool and a service company was scheduled for the next day. Brady initially told police he had lost sight of his son for three to five minutes; an officer wrote that “Brady’s statements do not match what is seen on the video.”¹¹ Phone data showed Brady had placed a $25 DraftKings bet on an NBA playoff game at 5:14 p.m., about 75 minutes before cameras first spotted the child outside; the bet paid $102.50. The report described his attention as “divided” and said the child had been “unsupervised while playing around the unsecured pool.”¹³

No Charges Against Brady Kiser

On July 15, 2025, Chandler police recommended prosecutors charge Brady Kiser with one count of child abuse, a Class 4 felony under Arizona law, citing his awareness that the pool was uncovered and that Trigg could not swim.¹¹

Ten days later, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell declined to file the charge. Mitchell said there was “no reasonable likelihood of conviction,” explaining the state would have needed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Brady “failed to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk” and that this failure was “a gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable person would show.”¹⁴ The report itself noted there was “no indication that Brady saw Trigg in the pool and failed to act” and that he took immediate action once he discovered his son.¹²

Kiser’s Response After the Ruling

On August 28, 2025, Emilie Kiser posted a statement on Instagram taking responsibility. “I take full accountability as Trigg’s mother, and I know I should have done more to protect him,” she wrote, adding that “a permanent pool fence could have saved his life, and it’s something I will never overlook again.” She said the tragedy showed that “relationships online lack boundaries, especially in protecting children’s privacy” and pledged tighter limits on what she shares.¹⁵

In May 2026, on the anniversary of Trigg’s death and during National Water Safety Month, Kiser used her TikTok account to promote drowning prevention, calling drowning “preventable” and urging followers to install pool fences, use door alarms, enroll children in swim lessons, and learn CPR.¹⁶

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