Death of former Yankees star 14-year-old son may have been caused by asphyxiation related to food poisoning

Ben Morse, Ana Melgar Zuñiga and Gerardo Lemos, CNN

(CNN) — Miller Gardner, the 14-year-old son of former New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner, may have died from asphyxiation related to food poisoning, Costa Rican officials told CNN on Tuesday.

Gardner and his wife Jessica announced on Sunday that their son Miller had died after a sudden illness while on vacation.

According to Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ), Gardner and his family were vacationing at a hotel in Manuel Antonio, a town on the Pacific coast of the country, when the whole family fell ill, likely from food poisoning from something they ate.

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Marisel Rodríguez from the OIJ told CNN that Miller Gardner was found dead last Friday in his hotel room and that preliminary reports suggest the cause of death could be “asphyxiation due to intoxication related to food poisoning.”

Rodríguez added that the death is still under investigation and the OIJ are awaiting further results from the autopsy and toxicology tests to determine the exact cause of death.

In their statement on Sunday, Brett and Jessica Gardner said Miller “left us far too soon after falling ill along with several other family members while on vacation.”

“Miller was a beloved son and brother and we cannot yet comprehend our life without his infectious smile,” Brett and Jessica Gardner said of Miller. “He loved football, baseball, golf, hunting, fishing, his family and his friends. He lived life to the fullest every single day.”

Gardner played in Major League Baseball for 14 seasons, all with the Yankees where he was a part of the team that won the World Series in 2009. He retired following the 2021 season.