Family of LA Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs sue the team and two employees after communications director 'gave him the fentanyl-laced drugs which caused his overdose death' in Texas hotel room in 2019
The family of late Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs filed twin lawsuits Tuesday in Texas and California charging the team and two former employees with negligence and wrongful death in his 2019 drug overdose death.
The lawsuits - filed by Skaggs' parents in Texas and his wife in California - name the Angels organization as well as former Los Angeles communications directors Tim Mead and Eric Kay as defendants. Neither complaint specified how much money the family is seeking.
Skaggs, 27, was found dead in his suburban Dallas hotel room on July 1, 2019, before the start of what was supposed to be a four-game series against the Texas Rangers.
Kay was indicted by a federal grand jury in October on drug charges for allegedly providing Skaggs with the fentanyl-laced drugs that caused his overdose death.
The family of former Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, pictured in June 2019, filed lawsuits Tuesday charging the team and two former employees with negligence in his drug overdose death
The lawsuits name former Los Angeles Angels Director of Communications Eric Kay and Angels' Vice President of Communications Tim Mead
Kay was charged with drug distribution and drug conspiracy in Skaggs' overdose death, according to the indictment in Fort Worth, Texas. The charges carry a maximum of a life sentence and 20 years in prison, respectively. His trial is set to begin August 16.
A coroner's report said Skaggs had choked to death on his vomit with a toxic mix of alcohol and the drugs fentanyl and oxycodone in his system, which Kay was accused of providing.
Kay was the Angels' director of communications, and he served as their public relations contact on many road trips. He was placed on leave shortly after Skaggs´ death, and he never returned to the team.
Mead was Kay's boss, and the lawsuits allege that Mead knew about Kay's issues with drug addiction, including that he was distributing drugs to at least a half-dozen players.
'In spite of this knowledge, the Angels continued to allow Kay to have unrestricted access to the players and even permitted him to accompany the team when it traveled for away games,' the suit says.
According to an affidavit, text messages between Kay and Skaggs on June 30, 2019 revealed the pitcher requesting oxycodone pills from the team communications director.
'Hoe many?' Kay wrote that afternoon.
'Just a few like 5,' Skaggs responded.
'Word,' wrote Kay.
Mead left the Angels in April 2019 to become President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Mead left the Hall in May 2021, saying in a statement that 'these last 22 months have been challenging in maintaining my responsibilities.'
Team officials have said they had not been aware that Skaggs was an opioids user and didn't know any employees were providing drugs to players.
Tyler's wife, Carli Skaggs , filed her complaint in California. Her attorney said she lost her 'soulmate'
Skaggs' mother Debbie Hetman, second from right, and stepfather Danny Hetman, far left, pictured at a memorial service for him in July 2019, filed their suit in Texas
Kay was indicted by a federal grand jury in October on drug charges for allegedly providing Skaggs with the fentanyl-laced drugs that caused his overdose death. A coroner's report said Skaggs had choked to death on his vomit with a toxic mix of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone in his blood
Skaggs' parents, Debbie Hetman and Darrell Skaggs, filed their suit in Tarrant County District Court in Fort Worth, Texas. His wife, Carli Skaggs, filed her complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Carli Skagg's complaint alleges that the team owed her husband 'a duty to provide a safe place to work and play baseball,' which it breached when it allowed Kay - 'a drug addict' - to provide Tyler with illegal drugs, resulting in his death.
'As you might expect, the decision to file these complaints has been a very difficult one for Tyler´s parents and his wife,' said the family's attorney Rusty Hardin. 'Nothing will ease the pain and heartache of losing their only child and, for Carli, her husband and soulmate.
'But they want to get to the bottom of the circumstances surrounding Tyler´s tragic, untimely and completely avoidable death, and to hold the individuals and entities - including the Angels - accountable for the actions that contributed to it.
'As the federal grand jury indictment made plainly and painfully clear, were it not for the fentanyl in the counterfeit pill provided by Angels employee Eric Kay, Tyler would be alive today. And if the Angels had done a better job of supervising Eric Kay, Tyler would be alive today.'
The family are seeking jury trials but didn't specify the amount of damages being sought.