Ex-wife of Angels employee expected to testify over pitcher’s drug overdose death
SANTA ANA, Calif. — The ex-wife of a Los Angeles Angels employee is expected to testify in a trial to determine whether the MLB team should be held responsible for the drug overdose death of one of its star pitchers.
Camela Kay is expected to testify Monday to talk about her ex-husband, Angels communications director Eric Kay, who was convicted of providing a fentanyl-laced pill that led to the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs. He was later sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.
After Skaggs’ death, Camela Kay filed for divorce, according to Orange County court records.
Testimony is expected in a civil trial in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Skaggs’ family, saying the Angels should be held responsible for letting a drug-addicted, drug-dealing employee stay on the job and access his players. The Angels claim that team officials did not know that Skaggs was taking drugs and that any drug activity involving him and Kay took place on their own time and in the privacy of the player’s hotel room.
The trial comes more than six years after Skaggs, then 27, was found dead in the suburban Dallas hotel room where he was staying when the Angels were supposed to open a four-game series against the Texas Rangers. A coroner’s report says Skaggs choked to death on his vomit and a toxic mixture of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone was found in his system.
Eric Kay was convicted in 2022 of providing Skaggs with a counterfeit oxycodone pill containing fentanyl. His federal criminal trial in Texas included testimony from five MLB players who said they received oxycodone from him on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2019, years in which 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 several times during that span. He previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Skaggs’ family is seeking $118 million for lost income, compensation for pain and suffering and punitive damages against the team.
After Skaggs’ death, MLB reached an agreement with the players’ association to begin testing for opioids and refer those who tested positive to the treatment committee.
The trial is expected to last weeks and has included testimony from Angels outfielder Mike Trout.
