The Los Angeles Angels face accusations of accountability regarding the tragic 2019 death of their star pitcher, Tyler Skaggs. Skaggs succumbed to a fatal overdose after receiving a pill laced with fentanyl from a team staff member.

According to the family’s attorney, the Major League Baseball team neglected its drug policies, allowing an employee with addiction issues and drug dealings to remain employed and in contact with players.

These serious claims emerged at the commencement of a much-anticipated civil trial, centering on a $118 million wrongful death lawsuit initiated by Skaggs’ wife and parents.

In defense, a representative for the Angels stated the organization was unaware of the 27-year-old pitcher’s drug use and insisted they would have intervened if they had known.

However, plaintiffs’ lawyer Shawn Holley asserted before the jury that team officials were aware of the staff member’s opioid addiction and his impaired state at work, as well as his distribution of drugs to at least six players, including Skaggs.

The Angeles should be held responsible for the death of Tyler Skaggs, according to a lawsuit

Eric Kay was convicted of providing the fentanyl-tainted pill that led to Skaggs’ fatal overdose

Skaggs’ widow, Carli (center), is embraced at the trial for the wrongful death lawsuit

Holley said the Angels repeatedly failed to follow the team’s drug policies when it came to Kay, even assigning him to accompany the team to Texas soon after he had gone through rehab, but fully enforced the rules when it came to lower-level employees who had stadium jobs.

‘They buried their heads in the sand over and over and over again, and as a result Tyler Skaggs is dead,’ Holley told jurors. Plaintiffs are seeking $118m for Skaggs’ lost earnings as well as compensation for the family’s suffering and punitive damages against the team, he added.

Todd Theodora, an attorney for the Angels, told jurors autopsy results showed Skaggs had also been drinking and taking oxycodone when he died, and was snorting painkillers. 

Theodora said the team would have done something to help had they known Skaggs was taking drugs. Theodora also said Skaggs’ actions occurred on his own time and couldn’t have been prevented by the Angels.

‘He died due to his reckless decision to mix large amounts of alcohol with narcotics on the night he died, and he did that to get high,’ Theodora told jurors.

‘The evidence will show that Angels Baseball did not know that Tyler had a drug problem or that Eric Kay was distributing drugs to any player. Period. End of story.’

Skaggs’ wife and mother were in court as were Angels owner Arte Moreno, the team’s president John Carpino, lawyers and news reporters.

The civil case in a Santa Ana courtroom comes more than six years after Skaggs was found dead in the suburban Dallas hotel room where he was staying as the Angels were supposed to open a four-game series against the Texas Rangers. 

The civil case in Santa Ana comes more than six years after Skaggs was found dead 

Kay, the Angels’ ex-communication director, was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison

A coroner´s report says Skaggs choked to death on his vomit and that a toxic mix of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone was found in his system.

Kay was convicted in 2022 of providing Skaggs with an oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl and sentenced to 22 years in federal prison. 

His federal criminal trial in Texas included testimony from five MLB players who said they received oxycodone from Kay at various times from 2017 to 2019, the years he was accused of obtaining pills and giving them to Angels players.

Holley told jurors Angels players were buying drugs from Kay at the clubhouse, in the locker room and in the parking lot of the team’s Southern California stadium to help them play through the pain. 

In 2019, Kay went to the hospital and later outpatient rehab due to his own drug use and his wife found text messages on his phone indicating he had been providing drugs to the players, which she shared with Angels officials, Holley said.

‘Eric regularly supplied the drugs they needed to perform and they trusted him,’ Holley said. ‘It was rampant, out of control and incredibly dangerous.’

When Kay returned to work in June 2019 after attending rehab, he had medical clearance to do so and no restrictions, Theodora said. 

After Skaggs’ death, the MLB reached a deal with the players association to start testing for opioids and to refer those who test positive to the treatment board. 

Along with her husband’s parents, Carli filed a lawsuit accusing the MLB team of responsibility

Skaggs had been a regular in the Angels’ starting rotation since late 2016 and struggled with injuries repeatedly during that time. He previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The trial is expected to take weeks and could include testimony from players including Angels outfielder Mike Trout and the team´s former pitcher, Wade Miley, who currently plays for the Cincinnati Reds.

Back in June it was revealed that the wrongful death lawsuit over Skaggs’ overdose has led to renewed suspicion about ex-teammate Miley.

Miley, who recently resurfaced with the Cincinnati Reds this season, is accused by Skaggs’ former agent, Ryan Hamill, of providing drugs to his client.

As Hamill said in his deposition, Skaggs was showing erratic behavior, which led his parents to confront him. He ultimately admitted to his drug use and told his parents he had received drugs from Miley, Hamill said. Hamill’s deposition is part of the wrongful death lawsuit by Skaggs’ family against the Angels in Los Angeles County court.

The 38-year-old Miley is not facing criminal charges. He was previously named in connection to Skaggs’ death during Kay’s sentencing. Prosecutors played a recorded conversation between Kay and his own mother in which Kay said Miley was one of Skaggs’ drug suppliers.