Authorities in Costa Rica are still working to establish if the death of Miller Gardner, the son of New York Yankees hero Brett, was a homicide.
The 14-year-old died March 21 at a luxury Costa Rican resort. Initially, there had been suggestions that food poisoning or an extreme reaction to medication had caused the teenager’s death, before authorities said it was carbon monoxide inhalation.
But now, nearly three months after Miller’s passing, authorities have told ESPN that the death remains under investigation.
‘The purpose of the investigation is precisely to determine whether or not we are dealing with a possible homicide. For this reason, it is not possible at this time to confirm or rule out that a crime has been committed,’ Sharon Hernandez Coto, a press officer from the Prosecutor’s Office of Costa Rica said.
She added that authorities there want ‘to determine whether the cause of death was a homicide or not, and, if so, to establish responsibility.’
As it stands, there is reportedly no timetable for the completion of the investigation.
Miller Gardner (second right) passed away on a family vacation in March at the age of 14
A statement in early April from Randall Zuniga – general director of the OIJ in Costa Rica – said that carbon monoxide exposure had killed Miller.
‘Concentrations above 50% are already lethal. In this case, the saturation percentage is higher, thus proving the police’s hypothesis that the death was due to exposure to carbon monoxide,’ he said.
‘Other drug tests were conducted, including fentanyl and other substances; all were negative.’
Brett Gardner and his wife, Jessica, announced Miller’s death via the Yankees on March 23. They said Miller had fallen ill along with other members of the family on the vacation, where they were staying at the $1,000-a-night Arenas Del Mar resort.
A spokesperson for the resort had denied that carbon monoxide was present in Miller’s room, saying in April: ‘The levels in the hotel room were non-existent and non-lethal. There was an error in this initial reporting.’
The added that the poisonous fumers were detected in a ‘mechanical room that guests do not occupy’.
‘With heavy hearts we are saddened to announce the passing of our youngest son, Miller,’ they wrote.
‘He was 14 years old and has left us far too soon after falling ill along with several other family members while on vacation.
‘We have so many questions and so few answers at this point, but we do know that he passed away peacefully in his sleep on the morning of Friday, March 21st.
‘Miller was a beloved son and brother and we cannot yet comprehend our life without his infectious smile. He loved football, baseball, golf, hunting, fishing, his family and his friends. He lived life to the fullest every single day.’
The family have not spoken out since that statement. Gardner played for the Yankees from 2008 until he retired in 2021, winning the World Series in 2009.
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