SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — The ex-wife of a Los Angeles Angels employee at the center of the overdose death of one of its star pitchers testified in a civil trial Monday that she saw players and clubhouse attendants passing pills and alcohol while partying on the team plane.
Camela Kay told jurors in a Southern California courtroom she had traveled on the Angels team plane with her then-husband Eric Kay, who was convicted of providing drugs that led to the 2019 death of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, and seen players partying, playing card games, gambling and drinking.
“They’re treated like kings,” Camela Kay said of her observations on the plane. “I had seen them passing out pills or drinking alcohol excessively.”
The testimony came in a trial for a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Skaggs’ family contending the Angels should be held responsible for letting a drug-addicted and dealing team communications director stay on the job and access its players. The Angels have said team officials did not know Skaggs was taking drugs and that any drug activity involving him and Kay happened on their own time and in the privacy of the player’s hotel room.
Camela Kay said she was concerned that her then-husband had a drug problem after observing his erratic behavior, and family members mounted an intervention with him in 2017. The next day, she said, two team officials came over to speak with him and one of them pulled a series of plastic baggies containing white pills from the bedroom, which fueled her concerns that Eric Kay was not only struggling with substance abuse but selling drugs to make money.
“Him being in the clubhouse with the players, my guess would be he is supplying to them,” she said.
After Skaggs’ death, Camela Kay filed for divorce, according to Orange County court records. She said she now works as a FedEx courier to support herself and her three sons.
She is expected to continue testifying on Monday afternoon.
The trial comes more than six years after Skaggs, then 27, 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. A coroner’s report said Skaggs choked to death on his vomit and a toxic mix of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone was found in his system.
Eric Kay was convicted in 2022 of providing Skaggs with a counterfeit oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl and sentenced to 22 years in prison. His federal criminal trial in Texas included testimony from five MLB players who said they received oxycodone from him at various times from 2017 to 2019, the years he was accused of obtaining pills and giving them to Angels players.
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.
Skaggs’ family is seeking $118 million in lost earnings, compensation for pain and suffering and punitive damages against the team.
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.
The trial is expected to take weeks and has included testimony from Angels outfielder Mike Trout and team employees.
