The attorney who will decide Brady Kiser’s fate following a child abuse recommendation has addressed the news development.
According to a report published by Phoenix, Arizona’s 12news on Thursday, July 17, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell spoke publicly about Chandler Police Department’s Class 4 felony charge of child abuse against Brady, which was announced two days prior.
Brady and his influencer wife Emilie Kiser lost their three-year-old son Trigg in May, with the Chandler Police Department confirming to Us Weekly on May 18 that the child died after being found unconscious in the family’s backyard pool.
Mitchell told reporters, per the outlet, that her office is “in the process of reviewing” the child abuse referral, which was announced via an X statement that also confirmed the end of Chandler Police Department’s investigations.
“People need to understand that not every tragedy is a crime,” Mitchell added. “My heart goes out to the situation. But there’s a difference between civil negligence — where someone can be sued — and criminal negligence.”
The attorney continued, “In this case, criminal negligence means that the person fails to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the result will happen. 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.”
The outlet noted that Mitchell declined to further comment on the case or provide “a timeline” on when official charges may be filed. She did add, however, that “the high-profile nature” of the case did not impact Chandler Police Department’s decision to recommend a felony charge against Brady.
The official July 15 statement detailed that the police had come to the conclusion, “following a thorough review of the evidence.”
The shock development came after USA Today reported on search warrants obtained in June that revealed Brady was home alone caring for Trigg and the couple’s other son Teddy, 3 months, while Emilie was not at home on May 12.
The outlet reported at the time that, per the obtained warrant information, Brady claimed to have noticed Trigg playing near the family’s pool which was “not uncommon.”
The father then alleged that he was “soon distracted” by Teddy, which caused him to lose sight of Trigg for “three to five minutes.” The warrants detailed that Brady said he then found Trigg floating in the pool before he jumped in to attempt a retrieval before calling 911.
Us confirmed in May that Trigg passed away on May 18 after being pulled from a pool on May 12.
Emilie addressed pool safety in a now-deleted May 2024 TikTok, revealing that she and Brady were planning on “doing a pool fence because our backyard is pretty big,” at the time. In the warrant information obtained by USA Today, Brady had noted that the pool was fitted with a protective cover.