More than two months after the death of Miller Gardner, the 14-year-old son of former New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner, authorities in Costa Rica say the case remains under investigation and that prosecutors are attempting to determine whether the cause of death will be ruled a homicide.
Gardner died March 21 at a resort in Costa Rica, where he had been staying with his family. In late March, a representative from Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department (OIJ), confirmed to ESPN by text message that investigators believed the death to be accidental rather than the result of foul play. On April 2, authorities said his death was caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Since then, the case has remained open, according to a spokeswoman for the Costa Rican prosecutor’s office handling the case. Sharon Hernandez Coto, a press officer from the Prosecutor’s Office of Costa Rica, on behalf of the Quepos and Parrita branch, told ESPN that authorities seek “to determine whether the cause of death was a homicide or not, and, if so, to establish responsibility.”
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Asked whether a homicide investigation is standard procedure, or if there was suspicion of foul play, the spokeswoman said: “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.”
She said every case is handled individually. The prosecutor’s office told ESPN that there is no timetable for the investigation to be completed. Hernandez Coto reiterated that the case is under investigation and added: “The aim is to determine whether it was a natural or homicidal death.”
In response to several additional questions, Hernandez Coto responded: “The Quepos and Parrita Prosecutor’s Office indicated that it is not possible to provide more details beyond those already supplied, as the case is under investigation, a stage which is private for third parties. We appreciate your understanding.”
The prosecutor’s office directed ESPN to a 33-page manual on Costa Rican criminal procedure, which explains the process of a prosecutor office’s investigation. The first stage, which includes the collection and analysis of evidence, search warrants, autopsies and requests for pretrial detention, concludes with a prosecutor’s formal accusation, a request for a provisional dismissal or a request to close the case. A second stage can involve a decision to file formal charges. The next step would be a trial stage, followed by any possible appeals. It was unclear which stage the Gardner case is at in the process.
The Gardner family declined to comment.
Brett Gardner and his wife, Jessica, announced their son’s death March 23 in a statement released by the Yankees. According to the statement, Miller Gardner had fallen ill along with several other family members while on vacation.
In a phone call with ESPN two days later, an OIJ spokesperson said Miller Gardner was with family members who told investigators that they had “gone to eat at a restaurant and that the food had made them sick.” In that interview, the spokesperson said the OIJ considered asphyxiation before ruling it out.
OIJ director Randall Zuniga then described in a news conference on March 28 how “the room the family was staying in” was tested a week after Miller Gardner’s death and “high emissions of carbon monoxide were detected.”
A representative from OIJ told ESPN that the case was sent to the prosecutor’s office in Quepos, a town near the Arenas del Mar Beachfront & Rainforest Resort, where the teenager’s body was found in his room.
Miller Gardner played high school football in South Carolina and wore No. 11, which his father donned during 14 MLB seasons, all with the Yankees. Brett Gardner, a popular team leader, was a member of New York’s 2009 championship team and retired in 2021.
