MLB veteran Brett Gardner sues Costa Rican resort one year after son Miller Gardner carbon monoxide death (Image via Getty)
Brett Gardner is now taking legal action almost one year after losing his 14-year-old son, Miller Gardner, during a family trip. The former New York Yankees star, along with his wife Jessica Gardner, has filed a lawsuit against the Arenas Del Mar Beachfront & Rainforest Resort in Costa Rica.
Their son died on March 21, 2025, and the family says the resort is responsible.The case says Miller Gardner died from carbon monoxide poisoning while the family was staying at the hotel in Manuel Antonio. It also claims Brett Gardner and other family members got sick during the same stay. The lawsuit points to poor safety inside the resort and says this tragedy could have been prevented.
Brett Gardner and Jessica Gardner accuse Arenas Del Mar resort owners of negligence in Miller Gardner death case
According to details shared by the Motley Rice law firm through The New York Post, the family is suing for “gross negligence, wrongful death, emotional distress, vicarious liability, breach of warranty, loss of filial consortium and other causes of action.”
The people named in the case include resort owners David Callan and R. Scott Williams, along with Hawk Opportunity Fund LP.The lawsuit says a machine room at the resort was not properly ventilated. Because of that, carbon monoxide gas is believed to have spread into the guest area where the family was staying. Officials in Costa Rica had earlier confirmed that Miller Gardner had high levels of carboxyhemoglobin in his blood, which happens when carbon monoxide mixes with oxygen in the body.
At the time of the incident, the Gardner family was on vacation at the luxury resort, where rooms can cost around $1,000 per night. Miller was found unresponsive, and medics tried for about 30 minutes to save him, but they could not restart his heart.In the hours before his death, Brett Gardner, Jessica Gardner, and their older son Hunter Gardner had all fallen sick. They had stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea after eating dinner at a restaurant outside the resort.
Early reports had suggested food poisoning or a reaction to medication. But in April 2025, Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency confirmed carbon monoxide exposure as the cause.Randall Zuniga, director of the agency, said, “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.
Other drug tests were conducted, including fentanyl and other substances; all were negative.”The resort had denied these claims at the time. A spokesperson said, “The levels in the hotel room were non-existent and non-lethal. There was an error in this initial reporting.” They added that gas was only found in a “mechanical room that guests do not occupy.”Months later, in September, authorities raided the resort to gather more evidence. Prosecutor Kenneth Alvarez told ESPN, “Based on those tests, a second proceeding was scheduled, which was carried out today to collect evidence.” Officials searched several areas and spoke to staff, but no charges have been filed so far.
