NEED TO KNOW
- Mike Heslin’s husband, Scotty Dynamo, has filed a complaint against Javier’s restaurant, the Aria Resort & Casino and MGM Resort International, accusing staff of playing a role in his husband’s death
- Heslin died at age 30 on July 2, 2024, after suffering a medical emergency while dining at Javier’s restaurant the in late June
- In the complaint obtained by PEOPLE, Dynamo — who is the special administrator of Heslin’s estate — alleged that the restaurant and resort employees didn’t do enough to help treat Heslin in the moment
Actor Mike Heslin allegedly died after staff at the Las Vegas restaurant he was dining at failed to intervene when he collapsed in June 2024, a new complaint alleges.
Heslin — known for his work on projects such as the TV series Lioness and the movie The Holiday Proposal Plan — died at age 30 on July 2, 2024. The late star’s husband, Scotty Dynamo (née Nicolas James Wilson), confirmed that he died “from an unexpected cardiac event after a week long battle in the hospital” in an Instagram post.
“Michael was young, in perfect health and the doctors have no explanation for what happened,” Dynamo said at the time.
In a wrongful death complaint obtained by PEOPLE, which was filed on Sept. 18 in the Clark County District Court in Nevada, Dynamo accused staff at the high-end Mexican restaurant Javier’s of failing to perform lifesaving intervention after Heslin suffered a medical emergency at the restaurant, located in the Aria Resort & Casino on June 25, 2024.
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The complaint alleged that Heslin’s friends immediately called for help and moved the table out of the way to lay him on the floor.
However, the complaint claimed that Aria and Javier’s employees “stood by, took no immediate lifesaving action, and failed to initiate or support efforts that could have saved Michael’s life.”
They’re also accused of failing to perform CPR and not retrieving an automated external defibrillator (AED).
“Upon information and belief, Defendants either failed to keep a stock and inventory of emergency response equipment, including, but not limited to, an automated external defibrillator (AED), or failed to train their staff on where the AEDs were stored,” the complaint alleged.
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A woman allegedly attempted to perform CPR on Heslin at one point. However, the complaint alleged that an employee “forcefully interfered” and removed her from the scene.
“Defendant’s failures, individually and cumulatively, proximately caused or substantially contributed to Michael’s preventable death,” the complaint alleged. “Michael’s death was an avoidable tragedy.”
The complaint alleged that employees allegedly threatened to have Heslin’s friends arrested or trespassed and reportedly demanded that they delete any video footage of the incident.
Dynamo is suing on five counts of wrongful death; loss of consortium; negligence; negligent hiring, retention, training and supervision; and gross negligence.
Dynamo and Heslin’s estate is seeking general and special damages exceeding $15,000, as well as funeral expenses, loss of consortium in excess of $15,000, punitive damages, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, interest at the statutory rate and for such other relief as the court deems just and proper.
MGM Resorts, which operates Aria, didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for comment.
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Orlando De Castroverde with De Castroverde Law Group, who is representing Heslin’s husband in the complaint, said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE, “We are going to fight tooth and nail, in honor of Mike’s memory, to hold those responsible, accountable.”
“This was a systematic failure by the staff and management of ARIA, MGM International and Javier’s. The pain and heartbreak felt by Mike’s husband, Nicholas, and his friends could have been prevented if the Defendants had maintained an automated external defibrillator on the premises and had adequately trained staff to provide lifesaving assistance to patrons,” he added.
“Mike’s death was a preventable tragedy. It could have been avoided had the Defendants simply allowed a medically trained guest at the scene to continue performing CPR. Instead, Defendants interrupted the CPR, forcibly removing the Good Samaritan,” De Castroverde alleged. “Defendants went as far as to threaten to trespass Mike’s friends and to demand that they delete any video footage of the event from their phones.”
The complaint comes after Dynamo paid tribute to his late husband, whom he married in November 2023, in a lengthy social media post following his death.
“Michael was brilliant, selfless, talented, and a real-life guardian angel,” he wrote, adding that Heslin had “single-handedly carried me through multiple rounds of cancer.”
“Michael, meeting you was the best thing to ever happen to me. You are my world. You are everything to me. When I felt you take your last breath, my heart shattered into a million pieces. If I had the power to trade places with you, I would do it in an instant. But I will take it one day at a time like you always told me to, and live every day in your honor,” Dynamo continued.
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He also confirmed the couple had been “in the early stages of starting a family” a week prior to Heslin’s death.
“You always told me that you felt like you were meant to be a dad, and I couldn’t agree more. You would be the world’s most perfect father. If I ever become a dad, I am going to name my son after you and hope that I manage to raise him to become at least half the man you are,” Dynamo wrote.