Influencer Emilie Kiser spoke out for the first time on social media Thursday following an investigation into her son’s drowning death in May. In a lengthy Instagram Story statement, Kiser said she’s taking full accountability for not doing more to prevent her song Trigg’s death. She also spoke out about the intense grief she’s faced over the past few months.
“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 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.”
She continued: “I hope amidst this pain, Trigg’s story will help prevent other children and families from suffering the same loss.”
Kiser said that she’s spent the last few months coming to terms with her son’s death, calling Trigg — who died on May 18 after drowning on May 12 at the Kiser home in Phoenix while under the care of his father — “our baby and our best friend.”
“The light and spirit he brought into this world was bright, pure, joyful, and undeniable. We miss him every second of every day and continuing forward often feels unbearable,” she wrote.
Kiser thanked her family for their “unconditional love” and their supportive audience for the “outpouring of love” through these “extremely tough times.” Kiser wrote: “The only way through grief is to keep going minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, and every moment since that day I’ve done my best to keep picking myself up.”
Kiser concluded her post by sharing that she will be “establishing more boundaries with what I share online” moving forward as well. “In the future, I hope to be in a place to share more about how I am navigating this grief, but right now, all I can say is thank you for the love, compassion, patience and space you’ve given us to grieve. I am more grateful for it than can ever be expressed,” she wrote.
Trigg drowned while under the care of his father and Kiser’s husband, Brady. According to a May police report, surveillance footage showed that Trigg was unsupervised for at least nine minutes and was in the water for seven minutes before his father found him. During that time, Brady was allegedly caring for their newborn son and watching an NBA playoff game.
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 Chandler Police Department had recommended a class 4 felony child abuse charge against Brady Kiser, but the Maricopa Attorney’s Office opted not to charge him, saying there was “no likelihood of conviction.”