Lioness Star Mike Heslin’s Tragic Death Sparks Bombshell Lawsuit
After the sudden death of Lioness actor Mike Heslin, husband Scotty Dynamo has filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging staff at Javier’s at the Aria in Las Vegas blocked lifesaving aid during the medical emergency, as the case continues to develop.
This is a rough story all around. Hallmark and Lioness actor Mike Heslin died suddenly in July, and now his husband, musician Scotty Dynamo, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit that says staff at a Las Vegas restaurant prevented people from helping during Heslin's medical emergency. The claims are serious, the timeline is tight, and the resort is already pushing back.
What the lawsuit says happened
According to the complaint filed on September 18, Heslin, 35, collapsed while dining with friends at Javier's, a restaurant inside the Aria Resort in Las Vegas. Dynamo says people immediately called for help and a bystander started CPR. That's when, per the filing, things went sideways: an employee allegedly pulled the woman off Heslin, staff wouldn't let others step in, and nobody brought out an AED from the property. Dynamo and his friends also claim they were forced out of the resort and threatened with arrest when they tried to help or document what was happening.
- The suit accuses Javier's and the Aria Resort of negligence, gross negligence, wrongful death, and negligent hiring and training.
- It alleges employees blocked CPR attempts, stopped bystanders from helping, and failed to activate emergency protocols or deploy an AED.
- Dynamo claims staff "forcefully removed" people providing aid and threatened arrest if they kept trying to help or record the incident.
- The filing calls the situation an "avoidable tragedy" that directly contributed to Heslin's death.
- Dynamo is seeking damages exceeding $30,000, plus funeral costs and punitive damages. There is also a separate claim noting $15,000 in damages under Nevada statutes.
- All of this centers on the night Heslin collapsed at Javier's inside the Aria in Las Vegas.
How the resort responded
"These claims are not aligned with the facts, and we will respond through the legal process."
That statement is from MGM Resorts International, which owns the Aria.
What Dynamo has said publicly
Back in July, Dynamo posted that Heslin died after an "unexpected cardiac arrest," saying doctors had "no explanation for what happened." He described Heslin as "young, in perfect health" and called him his "soulmate."
The messy part
This is one of those inside-baseball cases where what did or didn't happen in the minutes after a collapse becomes the whole story. The lawsuit says resort and restaurant employees blocked CPR, kept people from helping, and didn't deploy an AED; MGM says the claims don't match the facts. Those two things can't both be true, and the answer will come down to witness accounts, video, and whatever protocols were actually in place that night.
It's a painful situation, and it's still developing. I'll keep an eye on it as the legal process moves forward.