In a heartbreaking turn of events, former New York Yankees player Brett Gardner and his family have initiated legal proceedings against a Costa Rican resort following the tragic death of their 14-year-old son, Miller Gardner, due to carbon monoxide poisoning last year.
Filed nearly a year after the tragic event on March 21, 2025, the lawsuit targets the proprietors and affiliates of Arenas Del Mar Beachfront & Rainforest Resort in Manuel Antonio beach, holding them accountable for Miller’s untimely death.
The Gardners were enjoying a family vacation when the tragedy struck, resulting in Miller’s death and causing illness to Brett Gardner and other family members. Costa Rican officials identified carbon monoxide poisoning as the cause.
Medical tests revealed that Miller had elevated levels of carboxyhemoglobin—a compound that forms when carbon monoxide binds with hemoglobin—at the time of his death, confirming the poisoning.
The lawsuit claims that a lack of adequate ventilation in a machine room led to the carbon monoxide exposure that resulted in Miller’s death and harmed other family members.
As reported by The New York Post through the Motley Rice law firm, the Gardner family is pursuing the resort for allegations of gross negligence, wrongful death, emotional distress, vicarious liability, breach of warranty, loss of filial consortium, and other related claims.
Ex-Yankees star Brett Gardner (right) and his family have filed a lawsuit against the Costa Rican resort where his son Miller (second from right) died last year
The Arenas Del Mar Beachfront & Rainforest Resort had contested claims of carbon-monoxide poisoning
The defendants include people who own and operate the resort, including David Callan and R. Scott Williams, as well as Hawk Opportunity Fund LP – a Newtown, Pennsylvania-based venture capital firm.
Daily Mail has contacted the Arenas Del Mar Beachfront & Rainforest Resort for comment.
Gardner and his wife, Jessica, announced Miller’s death via the Yankees on March 23. They said he 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.
Desperate medics battled in vain for 30 minutes to try to kickstart his heart after he was found by a frantic family member who raised the alarm, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed at the time.
Brett, Jessica and their eldest son Hunter had all suffered severe stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhea following dinner at an outside restaurant the night before.
Initially there had been suggestions that food poisoning or an extreme reaction to medication had caused Miller’s death. But a statement in early April from Randall Zuniga – general director of the OIJ in Costa Rica – said that carbon monoxide exposure had killed him.
‘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.’
Miller was discovered not breathing the morning after the whole family had become violently ill
Gardner, wife Jessica and their family had fallen ill in Costa Rica shortly before Miller’s death
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.’
They added that the poisonous fumes were detected in a ‘mechanical room that guests do not occupy’. But the room the family stayed in was still cordoned off at the time out of caution.
Back in September, the Arenas Del Mar resort was raided by the authorities for the very first time.
Prosecutor Kenneth Alvarez told ESPN that the three-hour raid was so investigators could collect additional evidence.
‘Let us remember that what was done at that time was the measurement of toxic substances at the site,’ Alvarez told ESPN. ‘Based on those tests, a second proceeding was scheduled, which was carried out today to collect evidence.’
Three pickup trucks carrying agents from Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department stormed the hotel to carry out the raid. They searched management, maintenance and accounting offices and collected both physical and digital evidence.
Several members of the hotel’s staff were also interviewed. Alvarez also said his investigation was focusing on a potential allegation of manslaughter but no arrest or charges had been made.
