Trigg Kiser drowning: New details revealed from the night of the incident
CHANDLER, Ariz. - New details emerged on Thursday, July 17, regarding the May 12 drowning of 3-year-old Trigg Kiser, son of a famous TikToker, in Chandler.
What we know:
Trigg was found in a backyard pool at the family's home near Chandler Heights and Gilbert roads, and he died six days later.
His mother, social media influencer Emilie Kiser, who has millions of followers, was reportedly out with friends that night. She filed a legal motion to have records that detail her son's death private.
According to Chandler Police, Trigg went to play in the backyard after eating. Brady Kiser, the boy's father, told detectives he saw Trigg playing near the pool, which he said was normally covered, but became distracted by their newborn for three to five minutes.
He then found Trigg unconscious in the pool, pulled him out, and called 911.
The Maricopa County Attorney's Office is reviewing a recommendation from Chandler Police to charge Brady with felony child abuse.
The recommendation for charges comes after a two-month investigation that included interviews with both parents and examination of several security cameras on the property.
Dig deeper:
The case is under review for a potential child abuse charge based on criminal negligence. MCAO says the review process will take some time.
"Criminal negligence means that the person fails to perceive. So they don't perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the result will happen. I'm going to read directly from the statute here because this is what we're looking at when we're looking at these charges. ‘The risk must be of such nature and degree that the failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe,’" Mitchell said.
She likened it to a driver ignoring flash flood warning signs with a child in the car, a severe deviation from the expected standard of care that puts the child at risk.
When asked if someone had been successfully charged and prosecuted for a child drowning, Mitchell said yes, but a specific case did not immediately come to mind.
"I am trying to remember any specific names for you. We'd have to research that, but yes," she said.
Mitchell also explained what's taken into consideration in a child drowning case.
"Do I take into account that maybe some jurors would consider that the parent had suffered enough and my answer to that is yes and no. No, in the sense that it doesn't factor in to as whether the person satisfies the requirements of the statute, but yes, because the filing standard for this office is a reasonable likelihood of conviction and, after reviewing the totality of the circumstances, let me just say every case is unique. Every case is unique. If we feel like the jury might or is likely to find the person not guilty because of that reason, then we have to take that into account," Mitchell explained.
What we don't know:
There are still unanswered questions, including why there wasn't a mandatory pool fence at the Chandler residence.
SkyFOX captured the Chandler home of Emilie and Brady Kiser following the May 12 drowning of their son, Trigg.