{"id":5144,"date":"2025-10-15T02:17:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T02:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/5144\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T02:17:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T02:17:17","slug":"6-years-after-angels-pitcher-tyler-skaggs-shocking-death-trial-against-ball-club-begins-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/5144\/","title":{"rendered":"6 years after Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs\u2019 shocking death, trial against ball club begins \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs died in a hotel room because the ball club allowed an employee they allegedly long knew to be a drug addict and dealer to travel with players on a Texas road trip, attorneys representing Skaggs\u2019 family told an Orange County jury on Tuesday, Oct. 14, as a civil trial<\/a> began in a wrongful death brought case against the organization.<\/p>\n

Angels\u2019 employees were aware that Eric Kay \u2014 at the time a public relations director with the ball club \u2014 had been distributing drugs to several players while struggling with his own addiction issues that two months before Skaggs\u2019 death had included Kay\u2019s own stint in outpatient rehab, Skaggs\u2019 family attorney Shawn Holley told jurors<\/a> during her opening statements in a Santa Ana courtroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cTyler Skaggs died alone in a hotel room in Southlake, Texas,\u201d Holley said. \u201cHe died because the Angels, in violation of their own policies, allowed a drug user, a drug addict and a drug dealer to remain employed\u2026 they did nothing about it. They buried their heads in the sand over and over again. And as a result, Tyler Skaggs is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

An attorney representing the Angels alleged that Skaggs himself had introduced five other players \u2014 Cam Bedrosian, CJ Cron, Matt Harvey, Blake Parker and Mike Morin \u2014 to illicit drugs, telling them that Kay could procure the substances.<\/p>\n

Skaggs leading up to his death<\/a> snorted a counterfeit pill containing fentanyl given to him by Kay, along with oxycodone and an estimated 11 to 13 alcoholic drinks in what turned out to be a lethal combination, Angels attorney Todd Theodora told jurors during his own opening statements.<\/p>\n

\u201cAngels baseball did not know that Tyler had a drug problem or that Eric Kay was distributing drugs to any player,\u201d Theodora said. \u201cPeriod. End of story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTyler Skaggs was playing Russian Roulette that night with drinking that much alcohol and snorting that much illicit pills,\u201d the attorney added. \u201cAs sad as it is, as tragic as it is, Tyler was a drug addict.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trial \u2014 which is scheduled to last more than a month \u2014 is expected to focus on whether the Angels knew \u2014 or at least should have known \u2013 about Skaggs\u2019 drug use and Kay\u2019s actions prior to Skaggs death. The Skaggs family attorneys are seeking hundreds of millions of dollars, which means even a finding of only partial responsibility for the club could have significant financial repercussions.<\/p>\n

Among those watching opening statements from the packed courtroom gallery on Tuesday were Arte Moreno, the team\u2019s owner, and Carli Skaggs, Tyler\u2019s widow.<\/p>\n

\"Attorney<\/p>\n

Attorney Todd Theodora, right, gestures as he speaks alongside attorneys William Haggerty, center, and Shawn Holley, left, before opening statements in the trial for the wrongful death lawsuit accusing the Los Angeles Angels baseball team of being responsible for the 2019 drug overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong, Pool)\n<\/p>\n

\"Attorney<\/p>\n

Attorney Shawn Holley looks on before opening statements in the trial for the wrongful death lawsuit accusing the Los Angeles Angels baseball team of being responsible for the 2019 drug overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong, Pool)\n<\/p>\n

\"Attorney<\/p>\n

Attorney Rusty Hardin, right, speaks with attorney William Haggerty before opening statements in the trial for the wrongful death lawsuit accusing the Los Angeles Angels baseball team of being responsible for the 2019 drug overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong, Pool)\n<\/p>\n

\"Carli<\/p>\n

Carli Skaggs, widow of pitcher Tyler Skaggs, is embraced by attorney William Haggerty before opening statements in the trial for the wrongful death lawsuit accusing the Los Angeles Angels baseball team of being responsible for the 2019 drug overdose death Skaggs Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong, Pool)\n<\/p>\n

\"Carli<\/p>\n

Carli Skaggs, widow of pitcher Tyler Skaggs, looks on before opening statements in the trial for the wrongful death lawsuit accusing the Los Angeles Angels baseball team of being responsible for the 2019 drug overdose death Skaggs Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong, Pool)\n<\/p>\n

\"Attorneys<\/p>\n

Attorneys listen as judge H. Shaina Colover speaks before opening statements in the trial for the wrongful death lawsuit accusing the Los Angeles Angels baseball team of being responsible for the 2019 drug overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong, Pool)\n<\/p>\n

\"Attorney<\/p>\n

Attorney Todd Theodora gestures before opening statements in the trial for the wrongful death lawsuit accusing the Los Angeles Angels baseball team of being responsible for the 2019 drug overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong, Pool)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 7<\/p>\n

Attorney Todd Theodora, right, gestures as he speaks alongside attorneys William Haggerty, center, and Shawn Holley, left, before opening statements in the trial for the wrongful death lawsuit accusing the Los Angeles Angels baseball team of being responsible for the 2019 drug overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong, Pool)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Testimony during the trial \u2014 which is expected to include current and former players \u2014 is also sure to shine a harsh light on usually hidden aspects of professional baseball culture. Skaggs\u2019 death led to a significant change in Major League Baseball\u2019s drug policy<\/a>, with players tested for opioids in addition to performance-enhancing drugs.<\/p>\n

Kay worked for the ballclub for more than a decade, rising through the ranks to join the communications team, where he worked directly with players in order to help facilitate interviews with the media. That meant ingratiating himself with the players to help them get what they wanted \u2014 from restaurant reservations to tee times. But the Skaggs\u2019 family attorneys allege it also meant getting drugs for players who felt they need help weathering the physical challenge of a major league baseball season.<\/p>\n

Kay\u2019s own \u201creckless horseplay\u201d in the club house \u2014 which allegedly included \u201coutrageous stunts\u201d like having a pitcher intentionally throw a 90 mph pitch to his leg \u2014 led many to conclude that Kay was battling addiction issues, the Skaggs\u2019 family attorney said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was obvious to many players and many in the clubhouse that Eric Kay was regularly high and doing drugs at work,\u201d Holley told jurors.<\/p>\n

The family attorney alleged that during a 2013 game at Yankee stadium, Tim Mead \u2014 then the Angels vice president in charge of communications \u2014 and Tom Taylor \u2014 a traveling secretary with the ballclub \u2014 had to take Kay back to a hotel after he was found sweating and crying in the back of a press box.\u00a0 The attorney said Kay admitted to being addicted to opioids and Mead promised to get him help, but the help didn\u2019t come.<\/p>\n

A year later, the family attorney alleged, Kay showed up to Major League Baseball winter meetings where team executives were present under the influence of drugs. By that time, the attorney added, Kay was openly discussing his drug use in texts and emails on his company account. During spring training in 2016, the attorney told jurors, Kay was seen snorting lines of drugs in a kitchen area within the clubhouse, moments before Moreno, the team owner, walked by.<\/p>\n

Holley said Kay\u2019s drug use was so out in the open that star player Mike Trout offered to pay for him to go to rehab. An intervention by Kay\u2019s family did not go well, the family attorney said, and Mead and Taylor were called to help. While at Kay\u2019s house, the family attorney alleged, Mead and Taylor found sixty pills divided up into baggies of ten pills each. That packaging, the attorney added, was indicative of selling drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Angels now knew \u2014 two years before Tyler\u2019s death \u2014 that Eric Kay was not only addicted to opioids, but also distributing them,\u201d Holley said, adding that according to texts and Venmo receipts, Kay was dealing drugs to at least six players.<\/p>\n

Messages sent in 2019 showed Kay was using his Angels email account to purchase oxycodone from random people online, while traveling with the team during Spring Training, the family attorney told jurors.<\/p>\n

On Easter Day in 2019, Mead had to take Kay home from work after Kay was vomiting, sweating and dancing around with his shirt off while seemingly under the influence of drugs, the family\u2019s attorney said. Kay was hospitalized, the attorney said, and when Mead came to visit Kay later, he was told by Kay\u2019s wife that Kay had admitted to having pills for Skaggs and was shown texts indicating that Kay was distributing drugs to Skaggs and other players.<\/p>\n

Kay agreed to go to treatment, Holley said, but ended up taking part in an outpatient program before quickly coming back to work. He was not required to take any drug tests and his access to players was not curtailed, the family\u2019s attorney added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Angels, again, did nothing,\u201d Holley said. \u201cThey allowed Eric to continue to work closely with players in the clubhouse with no guard rails at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Less than two months later, the club allowed Kay to travel with the team during the trip to Texas, where they were scheduled to play the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros. Skaggs died of what was later determined to be a lethal combination of fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol.<\/p>\n

Theodora, the Angels\u2019 attorney, said the team believed Kay\u2019s at-times \u201coff\u201d behavior \u2014 including the Easter 2019 incident \u2014 was the result of medication he was taking for mental health issues. Kay told coworkers that he came from a line of family members with mental issues and that he was bipolar and had \u201cheavy duty\u201d meds.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis co-workers were very compassionate,\u201d Theodora said. \u201cThey always gave him the time off he needed when he went through an episode like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Kay returned to work weeks before Skaggs death he seemed to be a \u201cnew man,\u201d Theodora said. Kay knew that Mead, his longtime boss, was going to leave the team to take a job at the Baseball Hall of Fame, and wanted to move up into Mead\u2019s soon-to-be vacant position.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had never seen Eric better,\u201d Theodora said of other Angels\u2019 perception of Kay upon his return. \u201cHe had a spring in his step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skaggs \u2014 a Woodland Hills native who attended high school in Santa Monica before playing most of his professional career with the Angels \u2014 had a breakthrough in 2019 when he pitched at a near All-Star level before his season was derailed by injury. Still, his family\u2019s attorney argued, the 27-year-old pitcher was in the upswing of his career, leading the team in innings pitched and starts.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the ace of the team and he was just getting started,\u201d Holley said.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until after Skaggs\u2019 death \u2014 but before the results of his autopsy were known \u2014 that the ball club learned of the pitcher\u2019s drug use, Theodora told jurors. After Kay told another employee that he was in Skaggs hotel room and saw him snorting drugs before his death, the team informed law enforcement in Texas, Theodora added.<\/p>\n

Kay was later indicted, convicted in federal court<\/a> of providing drugs to Skaggs and sentenced to more than 20 years in prison<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Skaggs\u2019 potential future earnings \u2014 which his family\u2019s attorneys estimated at $118 million \u2014 would likely play a huge role in any potential damages, should jurors find the ballclub at fault for his death. Skaggs was earning a $3.7 million salary in his final season, and had one more season to go before he could enter free agency.<\/p>\n

The first witness in the trial is expected to testify on Wednesday morning, with Mead scheduled to take the stand.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: October 14, 2025 at 4:54 PM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs died in a hotel room because the ball club allowed an employee they allegedly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,1312,723,138,100,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-5144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-headlines","10":"tag-anaheim-news","11":"tag-courts","12":"tag-crime","13":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}