The influencer Emilie Kiser admitted that she feels immense guilt that she was not present when her late son was involved in a drowning incident that he later died from in newly released court documents.
Kiser, 26, made the admission as part of her declaration in a lawsuit she filed in May in front of the Arizona Superior Court for Maricopa County to permanently block access to records about her son Trigg’s death.
In her declaration, the influencer said her son’s death marked the ‘most severe and emotional event’ that she had experienced in her entire life.
‘I was not at home with this happened,’ Kiser said, in documents obtained by People after they were made public. ‘I will forever second-guess that decision, among many others.’
Kiser’s son Trigg, who was home with his father, fell into her family’s backyard pool on May 12 of this year. After being rushed to a hospital, he died nearly a week later on May 18.
Kiser went on to say she and her spouse Brady had been ‘deeply concerned about the release of specific information and our ability to even start to heal’ in the wake of the tragedy involving their son.
Influencer Emilie Kiser, 26, admitted that she will forever regret not being present when her son died more than three months ago after a drowning-related incident
In her declaration, Kiser spoke about her work as a social media influencer was influenced by her commitment to her family.
‘Our love for our children has been shared and expressed worldwide,’ she said, ‘given my role as a social media personality with many “followers” across a number of social media platforms.
‘Nothing we have shared as part of my profession has depicted or been intended to depict anything but deep and adoring love within our Family.’
Kiser said she felt ‘that is how it should stay forever in my mind and the minds of all others.’
In the legal filing, Kiser said that she hoped the court would seal records related to the family tragedy, as she was concerned that she and her spouse Brady would be negatively impacted by the public ‘release of specific information.’
In her plea to the court, Kiser said releasing materials related to Trigg’s death could traumatize her family by forcing them to relieve the horrific moment.
She also expressed fear about the potentially ‘sick motives’ of people who would attempt to obtain the footage of the drowning or details about her son’s death.
Emilie did receive temporary relief from the court in terms of the materials being shielded, but the deadline has passed and they have since been made public.
Brady told authorities that he had been at home at the time watching both Trigg and their newborn son Theodore.
Brady – who will not be charged in his son’s tragic death – said he lost track of his elder son for around three to five minutes, according to a police report about the incident.
Emilie said that Trigg’s May 18 death marked the ‘most severe and emotional event’ that she had experienced in her entire life
Emilie has more than 4.1 million TikTok followers and 1.7 million on Instagram.
The Chandler Police Department said in its report that video evidence from the home made clear that Trigg had actually been in the backyard unsupervised for more than nine minutes.
Police said the child had been in the water for about seven of those minutes.
In the court petition, Emilie said she was concerned about how the media narrative would be surrounding the tragic series of events.
‘The story of Trigg’s tragic death has been all over the news, social media and online,’ she said. ‘I am now aware that Trigg’s death was announced on social media less than 2 hours after he passed.
‘In fact, Fox News wrongfully announced that he was dead immediately after the event.’
Emilie said that she has been inundated with unwanted contact in the three months since the family tragedy.
The influencer said, ‘Our love for our children has been shared and expressed worldwide given my role as a social media personality with many “followers” across a number of social media platforms’
Emilie said that she has been inundated with unwanted solicitors in the three months since the family tragedy.
‘Media has come to my front door asking for comment,’ she said. ‘Unknown people have come to my home and asked to “pray over the house.”‘
Emilie continued: ‘Cars have parked outside of my house and driven back and forth with cameras out their window waiting for “views.”
‘And random packages are being delivered from people whom I do not know.’
On her popular social media accounts, Emilie discusses topics such as parenting, pregnancy and cooking.
