PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 Maricopa County\u2019s top prosecutor answered questions on several high-profile cases, including the drowning of a social media influencer\u2019s son, during her regularly-scheduled biweekly press conference on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Arizona\u2019s Family asked Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell about the drowning case of Trigg Kiser<\/a>, son of Valley social media influencer Emilie Kiser<\/a>. Earlier this week, Chandler police recommended child abuse charges under criminal negligence<\/a> against Brady Kiser, Emilie\u2019s husband and Trigg\u2019s father.<\/p>\n Mitchell confirmed the case was submitted to her office this week. \u201cWe\u2019re in the process of reviewing it. It\u2019s going to take some time,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to speak to this case in particular because I haven\u2019t had a chance to review it myself. I think there is a lot of misunderstanding about this area. People need to understand not every tragedy is a crime,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n She stressed the difference between civil negligence and criminal negligence and explained her office is investigating to see if there was a criminal aspect to the case. <\/p>\n \u201cCriminal negligence is totally different, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re looking for… that\u2019s what we have to have to file charges in this case,\u201d she explained. \u201cCriminal negligence means that the person fails to perceive, so they don\u2019t perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the result will happen.\u201d <\/p>\n According to an affidavit, police received a 911 call from Brady reporting the drowning at the family\u2019s Chandler home on May 12. Brady stated that he lost sight of his 3-year-old son and found him in the backyard pool. He then started CPR until emergency crews arrived and rushed the child to the hospital.<\/p>\n Chandler police detectives believe the husband of a TikTok influencer Emilie Kiser should be charged in the drowning of their son. (Source: AZ Family)<\/p>\n The affidavit details that Brady told police that his wife went out with friends, leaving him to care for Trigg and the couple\u2019s newborn. After eating, Brady reportedly saw Trigg playing near the pool, \u201cbut this was not uncommon,\u201d as the pool is normally covered. <\/p>\n The father allegedly lost sight of the toddler \u201cfor three to five minutes\u201d when he was distracted with the newborn. The affidavit also states that there were cameras in the backyard at the time of the drowning. <\/p>\n Michell had a mixed response when asked about some people believing the couple has suffered enough and a criminal case doesn\u2019t need to add to that.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what you\u2019re saying is 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\u2019t factor in as to 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 if after reviewing the totality of the circumstances … we feel like that jury might or is likely to find the person not guilty because of that reason, then we have to take that into account,\u201d replied Mitchell.<\/p>\n Latest on alleged kidnapping caseRachel Mitchell stressed that her office is waiting for more evidence before formally filing charges for Timothy Wood. Here’s the latest from Micaela Marshall.<\/p>\n Another high-profile case that the county attorney briefly touched on was the case of Timothy Wood, who allegedly locked his girlfriend in a shed for two weeks while he tormented her<\/a>. <\/p>\n The mother of the victim fears Wood may be released from jail<\/a> after prosecutors asked detectives to gather additional evidence. However, the Maricopa County Sheriff\u2019s Office confirmed Wood remains in custody.<\/p>\n Mitchell stressed that her office did not make the decision not to prosecute Wood. Rather, her office is waiting for more evidence. <\/p>\n \u201cThe allegations are very serious. Sometimes we, as prosecutors who have been in the courtroom, see things we want shored up before we proceed. So we send it back to the police to do some additional investigation,\u201d she explained. \u201cThat\u2019s not to say that they didn\u2019t do a good investigation in the first place. It\u2019s just perhaps we\u2019ve seen other angles of it.\u201d <\/p>\n She added that Wood\u2019s criminal history doesn\u2019t factor into the prosecution decision. \u201cThe prior history that you\u2019re talking about, while it\u2019s important in determining, for example, how this would be handled sentencing-wise, I cannot use prior convictions to prove that he committed this offense. I have to have evidence independent of that that he committed this offense and so that\u2019s what we\u2019re shoring up,\u201d said Mitchell.<\/p>\n See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here<\/a> with a brief description.<\/p>\n Copyright 2025 KTVK\/KPHO. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n