Miller Gardner died last month of carbon monoxide inhalation, according to a toxicology report released Wednesday. The confirmation came just two days after Costa Rican officials revealed that the hotel room where the 14-year-old son of Yankees legend Brett Gardner was staying contained dangerously high levels of the toxic gas.
Mystery has shrouded the teenager's death since it was first reported two weeks ago, after medical examiners ruled out both asphyxiation and food poisoning, while the hotel denied that carbon monoxide was the cause. However, the newly released toxicology report now confirms that Miller died due to carbon monoxide exposure, with a saturation level of 64% detected in his room.
End of the Mystery Behind Death
The report, issued late Wednesday by Randall Zúñiga, the general director of the OIJ, added that "concentrations above 50% are already lethal." "The toxicology results are in, and the carboxyhemoglobin test found a saturation of 64%. Concentrations above 50% are already lethal," Zuniga, said Wednesday, according to CRHOY.
He added: "In this case, the saturation percentage is higher, thus proving the police's hypothesis that the death was due to exposure to carbon monoxide."
Zúñiga confirmed that the case is now officially closed and said that tests for other substances also came back negative.
The Costa Rican official had revealed on Monday that the family's hotel room, located next to a mechanical room at the resort, had been exposed to "high levels of carbon monoxide."
"It's also important to note that next to [the family's] room there is a specialized machine room, from which it is believed some form of contamination may have reached the guest rooms, potentially causing the incident," Zuniga said at a virtual press conference.
Zúñiga said that tests revealed carbon monoxide levels in the family's hotel room reached as high as "600 parts per million."
However, Arenas Del Mar Beachfront & Rainforest Resort disputed the findings. The hotel said in a statement to The New York Post that the dangerously high levels of the toxic gas were detected in the machine room, not in the guests' rooms.
"The levels in the hotel room were non-existent and non-lethal. There was an error in this initial reporting," the resort said on Tuesday.
Case Closed
Miller was found unresponsive in his hotel room on March 21 while vacationing in the Central American country with the Gardner family.
The tragedy happened after Brett, a former Yankees World Series champion, his wife Jessica, Miller, and his 16-year-old brother Hunter all suffered intense stomach cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea following dinner at an outdoor restaurant the previous night.
Frantic family members alerted emergency responders, who fought for 30 minutes in a desperate attempt to revive 14-year-old Miller, but their efforts were unsuccessful.
Initial speculation suggested that Miller may have died in his sleep from asphyxiation, possibly choking on vomit due to food poisoning. However, this theory was dismissed after authorities confirmed there was no obstruction in his airway.
Brett Gardner and his wife, Jessica, mourned the death of their son's in an obituary published on Tuesday. "The void Miller's passing leaves in the hearts of his family, friends, teammates, teachers, coaches and others will be felt for years," the family wrote.
"Miller's time here with [the family] was brief but his spirit will carry on forever through those who were impacted by the way he lived," the obituary read.
