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anthony olivieri
multiple authors
former family New York Yankees Outfielder Brett Gardner filed a wrongful death lawsuit Friday against the owners and operators of the Costa Rican resort where his 14-year-old son Miller was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in March 2025.
Six months after authorities raided the Arenas del Mar Beachfront and Rainforest Resort, the plaintiffs said in the lawsuit that the defendants “failed to follow basic security standards,” and the family’s attorney said there was evidence and warnings of the need for security measures.
The lawsuit added, without providing evidence, that other guests suffered “similar injuries” while staying in the same room. Miller Gardner’s parents and older brother became seriously ill, and the lawsuit said Brett Gardner described “fighting for his life” and feeling as if he was “unable to use his arms or legs.”
The lawsuit says the Gardner family stayed in rooms adjacent to a mechanical control panel from which carbon monoxide was emitted. According to the complaint, this was due to the defendants’ failure to install a gas water heater and provide proper ventilation.
“We always believed this tragedy could have been prevented and the preliminary investigation report has confirmed our beliefs,” the Gardner family said in a statement.
The family’s attorney, Michael Eisner, said: “The documents show they were warned and failed to implement simple changes to protect their guests. There must be accountability for these types of owners’ decisions.”
The family is seeking compensation for wrongful death, gross negligence and emotional distress, among other things. No criminal charges have been filed and the investigation continues in Costa Rica.
The federal lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania named the two Pennsylvania executives, their venture capital firm and two Costa Rican companies with which they are associated. The companies’ directors and chairman are David Callan and secretary R. Scott Williams is the designated officer.
Williams did not return a message left by ESPN and Colon could not be reached.
Following Miller Gardner’s death on March 21, 2025, Brett Gardner and his wife Jessica announced the death of their youngest son on March 23 in a statement released by the Yankees. According to the statement, Miller fell ill along with several other members of the Gardner family during the holidays.
Two days later, a representative of Costa Rica’s Department of Judicial Investigation (OIJ) told ESPN that the Gardner family “went to eat at a restaurant and the food made them sick.” The spokesperson said the OIJ considered asphyxiation before dismissing it, and the department later told ESPN via text message that investigators believe the death was accidental rather than the result of foul play.
On April 2, officials said the death was caused by carbon monoxide, which probably came from an adjacent machine room. Two months later, a representative of the prosecutor’s office told ESPN that the case remained under investigation and that prosecutors “sought to determine whether the cause of death was murder, and if so, establish responsibility.”
Three months later, when authorities raided the hotel to gather additional evidence, a Costa Rican prosecutor told ESPN that the investigation could lead to a murder charge.
Miller Gardner played high school football in South Carolina and wore number 11, which his father wore during 14 MLB seasons with the Yankees. Brett Gardner, a popular team leader, was a member of New York’s 2009 championship team and retired in 2021.
ESPN’s Guergui Milkov contributed to this report.
