The Tragic Story of Tyler Skaggs and the Angels' Role
The story of Tyler Skaggs, a promising pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels, ended in tragedy when he died from a fatal overdose in 2019. His death has sparked a civil trial, with his family accusing the team of failing to address the drug use of one of its employees, Eric Kay, who was later convicted for providing the fentanyl-laced pill that led to Skaggs’ death.
Camela Kay, the ex-wife of Eric Kay, testified during the wrongful-death lawsuit that the Angels did not take adequate steps to prevent her husband's addiction from impacting the team. She shared her experiences of witnessing players partying, drinking, and passing around pills on the team plane when she traveled with her then-husband, who was the team’s communications director.
In 2019, after her husband was hospitalized for a drug overdose, Camela Kay claimed she learned that he had pills intended for Skaggs and reported this to the team's traveling secretary. Less than three months later, Skaggs passed away.
Eric Kay was eventually sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in Skaggs’ death. Camela Kay described the emotional toll of the situation, stating that she was sitting in a courtroom for two days in front of a mother who lost her son and a widow, adding that the father of her three children is in prison. “The Angels failed Eric,” she said.
The Civil Trial and the Angels' Response
The civil trial centers on the claim that the Angels should be held responsible for allowing Eric Kay to continue working while he struggled with addiction and drug dealing. The team has maintained that officials were unaware of Skaggs’ drug use and that any drug activity involving him and Kay occurred on their own time and in the privacy of the player’s hotel room.
Attorneys for both the Skaggs family and the Angels have emphasized that Camela Kay’s testimony about the pills is central to the case. Her account of the events surrounding Skaggs’ death has become a key piece of evidence in the lawsuit.
Skaggs, who was 27 at the time of his death, was found in a suburban Dallas hotel room before a game against the Texas Rangers. A coroner’s report indicated that he choked to death on his vomit, with a toxic mix of alcohol, fentanyl, and oxycodone in his system.
During Eric Kay’s federal criminal trial in Texas, five MLB players testified that they received oxycodone from him between 2017 and 2019. Medical records from Kay’s 2019 hospitalization showed he had been battling addiction for a dozen years, using Norco, oxycodone, antidepressants, and marijuana.
The Family’s Intervention and Concerns
Camela Kay recounted an intervention with her husband in 2017 over his drug use. The next day, two Angels officials visited them, and one reportedly pulled plastic baggies containing white pills from the bedroom, raising concerns that Kay was also selling drugs.
In 2019, Kay was driven home by an Angels employee after being found shirtless and dancing in his office. Camela Kay discovered blue pills among his belongings and he was hospitalized for an overdose before entering rehab. She said her sister-in-law told her that Kay had mentioned the pills were for Skaggs.
She also shared text messages on Kay’s phone about him getting his “candy” at the stadium and relayed this information to his supervisor. She noted that she saw messages from Skaggs asking about “candy” and that Kay told her, while in rehab, that he had asked his boss to “keep Tyler off his back.”
Camela Kay expressed concern that her husband was returning to work too quickly after rehab, taking on more responsibilities and traveling with the team to Texas.
Legal Challenges and Testimonies
Angels attorney Todd Theodora questioned how Kay could know what was happening with her husband’s drug use, given that she slept in a separate bedroom and kept her distance since 2017. He also pointed out that the report about pills heading toward Skaggs came up when Eric Kay was acting erratically during his overdose.
Camela Kay testified that she flew on the team plane between 2013 and 2016, and her husband told her the pills seen on the plane were Percocet and Xanax.
After Skaggs’ death, Camela Kay filed for divorce, according to court records. Skaggs had been a regular in the Angels’ starting rotation since late 2016 but struggled with injuries repeatedly. He previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Skaggs family is seeking $118 million in lost earnings, compensation for pain and suffering, and punitive damages against the team. Following Skaggs’ death, Major League Baseball reached a deal with the players' association to start testing for opioids and refer those who test positive to the treatment board.