Carbon monoxide poisoning may have led to the death of the 14-year-old son of former Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner, Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department (OIJ) said in an update.
Investigators detected high emissions of carbon monoxide contamination in the hotel room where Miller Gardner and his family were staying, OIJ director Randall Zuniga said during a video press conference, citing the results of testing last Friday.
The hotel room is next to a specialized machine room, which could have led to the contamination, Zuniga said.
“[That] leads us to a line of investigation in which it seems that this person may have died from inhaling these very dangerous gases,” Zuniga said in Spanish.
Miller’s cause of death will not be verified until officials receive the final forensic toxicology results, according to officials. OIJ is working closely with the U.S., Zuniga said.
Costa Rican National Police previously ruled out asphyxiation as a cause of death after initially citing it as a possibility.
Miller died in his sleep on March 21 after he, among other family members, fell ill during the vacation, according to a statement by Brett Gardner and his wife, Jessica.
“We have so many questions and so few answers at this point,” the family said in their statement.
Miller was the youngest of the Gardners’ two sons.
The Yankees held a moment of silence for Miller on Opening Day, remembering him for “a spark in his eyes, an outgoing and feisty personality, and a warm and loving nature.” He was a two-sport athlete who wore No. 11, like his father, on his football jersey.
Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge has paid tribute by using Brett Gardner’s signature flex during the Bleacher Creatures’ roll call.
“He may not have been the big superstar with all the All-Stars and MVPs and this and that, but this guy was a leader of all of us, a second dad to some guys,” Judge said of Brett Gardner, whom he played with for parts of six seasons.
“He poured everything into every single guy. If you were having a tough time, he was always there for you to be someone to lean on, someone to joke on. Yeah, his family, they’ve all been on my mind.”
Brett Gardner, 41, was drafted by the Yankees in 2005 and played each of his 14 MLB seasons from 2008-21 with the organization.
He ranks third in Yankees history in stolen bases (274), 13th in games played (1,688) and was part of the 2009 team that won the World Series.
“I’ve talked to our guys a lot about perspective, and while this matters so much to us — it’s our livelihood, we pour so much into this [and] so many people care about it — it’s baseball,” said manager Aaron Boone, who was there for Brett Gardner’s last four seasons.
“I really think it’s important that we reflect on that every now and then.”
With Amber Garrett
