The 14 -year -old son of former New York Yankees player Brett Gardner died of carbon monoxide poisoning while he was on vacation in Costa Rica last month, a research agency in the Central American country said Thursday.
Brett and Jessica Gardner said her son, Miller Gardner, died peacefully on March 21 as she slept after he and other members of the family fell sick while they were on vacation.
The results of a test for carboxyhemoglobin saturation returned to 64% when 50% is considered lethal, according to Randall Zúñiga, director of the Costa Rica Judicial Investigation Agency.
The young victim was also tested for other drugs in her system and everyone became negative, added Zúñiga.
Zúñiga had previously said at a press conference on Monday that high levels of carbon monoxide contamination were detected in the hotel room where the family stayed when Miller died.
The Costa Rican Judicial Investigation Agency, known as OIJ, initially said that the preliminary cause of death was suffocation after ingesting some foods, but that was then ruled out.
Miller was the youngest of the two children of the couple. An obituary published on Saturday said he was loved by his family and those who knew him.
“The death of the null Miller leaves in the hearts of his family, friends, teammates, teachers, coaches and others will feel for years,” says the obituary. “The Gardner family will forever appreciate the places they visited, the people they met, the friends they made and the memories they created together.”
Brett Gardner spent his MLB career of 14 seasons with the Yankees and was part of the Yankees team that the World Series won in 2009.
Nicole Duarte contributed.
