The youngest son of former New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner and his wife, Jessica, who died after getting sick during a family vacation, didn't die of food intoxication asphyxiation as previously thought, Costa Rican officials said in an update Tuesday.
Miller Gardner died in his sleep Friday morning, according to a statement from the couple. He was 14.
A day after making the original pronouncement, that Gardner asphyxiated after falling ill from eating something, Costa Rican authorities say further forensic investigation ruled asphyxia out as a possible cause of death.
"It was preliminarily ruled out that the cause of death was due to asphyxia, due to the fact that at the time of the inspection of the body, no anomaly was observed at macro-level in the respiratory tract," Juan Pablo Alvarado Garcia, with Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Agency, said Tuesday.
Different samples have been sent for further testing, though results could take two to three months due to backlog and an increase in registered homicides.
The Gardners have said they “have so many questions and so few answers at this point.”
“Miller was a beloved son and brother and we cannot yet comprehend our life without his infectious smile," Jessica and Brett Gardner said in the release. “He loved football, baseball, golf, hunting, fishing, his family and his friends. He lived life to the fullest every single day.”
The Yankees said the organization was “filled with grief.”
“Words feel insignificant and insufficient in trying to describe such an unimaginable loss,” the team said in its statement. "It wasn’t just Brett who literally grew up in this organization for more than 17 years — so did his wife, Jessica, and their two boys, Hunter and Miller.”
Brett Gardner, 41, was drafted by the Yankees in 2005 and spent his entire big league career with the organization. The speedy outfielder batted .256 with 139 homers, 578 RBIs, 274 steals and 73 triples in 14 seasons from 2008-2021.
