Emilie Kiser is opening up about the death of her toddler, Trigg.
Kiser appeared in an episode of Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast that was released on Wednesday, marking her first interview since the 3-year-old died in a drowning accident in her and husband Brady’s backyard pool in May 2025. The toddler died six days after he was hospitalized.
“I was five weeks postpartum, and I went out to dinner for a little girls’ night out,” Kiser recalled about that night. “Maybe 10 minutes after I arrived, I got a phone call from my husband that our son, Trigg, had fallen in the pool and that he wasn’t breathing.”
Kiser said she could hear pain and confusion in Brady’s voice and knew immediately that something was dreadfully wrong.
“I rushed to the hospital to be by my son’s side, and our life just completely changed that day, and he passed away about a week later,” Kiser said. “Our whole world fell apart.”
Brady Kiser, who was the only parent at home at the time of the drowning, initially told police that he’d lost sight of the toddler for three to five minutes before the incident. The Chandler Police Department’s report, however, cited evidence that Trigg “was in the backyard unsupervised for more than nine minutes and in the water for about seven of those minutes.”
Brady, Emilie, Teddy and Trigg Kiser.
(Emilie Kiser/Instagram)
Authorities also alleged that Brady Kiser had been watching an NBA playoff game and had placed a $25 sports bet before the drowning occurred.
In July 2025, the Chandler Police said they had recommended that Brady Kiser be charged in connection with the toddler’s death, but the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said it would not pursue charges, concluding that the evidence submitted in the case did not meet the standard for a “reasonable likelihood of conviction.”
Later in Kiser’s interview with Shetty, the influencer opened up about forgiving her husband and how they’ve been navigating grief as a couple. While Kiser said that “it’s been really hard at times to grieve together,” a shift in perspective helped her learn to forgive him.
“This could’ve just as easily happened to me. This could’ve just as easily been me in Brady’s position,” Kiser said. “Brady was taking care of our newborn child. When I left for dinner that night, he was [thawing] my breast milk. Trying to get Teddy settled, a 5-week-old baby.”
Kiser continued: “It doesn’t excuse any of the series of events after that. But taking that accountability, along with all the other things I know I could’ve changed, gave me so much true, deep, real, raw empathy for him of ‘This could have been me.'”
Even when Kiser was unsure whether she and Brady could overcome this tragedy, she knew that she could forgive him.
“I would be able to forgive him because I would so deeply want him to forgive me and to know that I didn’t mean for it to happen,” she said. “I’m really proud of us, honestly, with how we’ve grieved together. … Even though our grief is so separate, we have really done our best to come together.”
Kiser’s interview with Shetty comes over a year after she spoke out publicly for the first time following Trigg’s death. Kiser shared a lengthy statement on TikTok in May 2025, in which she opened up about the time she has taken to “digest the loss of my baby.”
“Trigg is our baby and our best friend,” the Arizona-based influencer wrote. “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.”
Kiser then said she takes “full accountability” for what happened to her son.
“I know I should have done more to protect him,” she continued. “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. I hope amidst this pain, Trigg’s story will help prevent other children and families from suffering the same loss.”
Emilie Kiser’s statement.
(Emilie Kiser/TikTok)
Kiser continued her letter by thanking her family and friends for their “unconditional love” that has “carried us through this” time. She then acknowledged the “outpouring of love” from her “audience and the people who have supported us.”
At the end of her letter, Kiser opened up about her changing relationship with social media and how she plans to navigate life as an influencer moving forward.
“When I started on social media in 2021 as a new mom, my goal was to connect with other moms and find a community,” she wrote. “I have always been my authentic self on social media and tried my best to share my everyday life honestly, while also being mindful of what I didn’t choose to share. I now have seen through this tragedy how relationships lack online boundaries, especially in protecting children’s privacy.”
Kiser concluded: “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.”