TikTok creator Emilie Kiser has shared a devastating personal letter as part of her ongoing fight for privacy following the tragic death of her three-year-old son, Trigg.
The little boy drowned in the family’s backyard pool in Chandler, Arizona, in May. Police were called to the home on May 12, where officers performed CPR before rushing him to hospital. Trigg survived for several days but tragically passed away soon after.
In the aftermath, Emilie filed a lawsuit to prevent graphic and intimate records about her son’s death from being made public. Court documents revealed that more than 100 separate public records requests had been submitted to both the City of Chandler and the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office in the days following the tragedy.
“Emilie and her family desperately want to grieve in private, but sadly, the public will not let them,” the lawsuit read. “Trigg’s death has become a media frenzy. Disclosure of graphic or intimate death-related records causes renewed trauma to surviving family members and violates their right to grieve privately.”
A judge later ruled in Emilie’s favor, allowing her to redact two pages from the Chandler Police Department’s report. But other details did emerge; including that Trigg had been outside unsupervised for more than nine minutes, with investigators estimating he was in the pool for about seven of those minutes. On the day of the accident, Emilie was not home; her husband, Brady Kiser, was caring for Trigg and their newborn baby.
As part of her legal filings, Emilie submitted a deeply personal letter describing her grief. Calling the drowning “the most severe and emotional event I have ever experienced,” she admitted she still wrestles with guilt over not being home. “I will forever second guess that decision, among many others,” she wrote, via E! News. “The tragedy already haunts me.”
She also addressed the impact of public attention, explaining that her online presence as a family-focused content creator had intensified the scrutiny. “Our love for our children has been shared and expressed worldwide, given my role as a social media personality,” she said, per PEOPLE. “Nothing we have shared as part of my profession has been intended to depict anything but deep and adoring love within our family. That is how it should stay forever.”
The TikTok star alleged that the media circus reached invasive levels, with helicopters flying above their home and strangers showing up uninvited. “The story of Trigg’s tragic death has been all over the news, social media, and online,” she wrote. “Media has come to my front door asking for comment. Unknown people have come to my home and asked to ‘pray over the house.’ Cars have parked outside with cameras waiting for ‘views.’ And random packages are being delivered from people whom I do not know.”
For Emilie, the letter was not only a plea for privacy but also a way of protecting her son’s memory, ensuring that what people remember is the love surrounding him, not the tragic circumstances of his passing.
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