NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
The wrongful death trial of former Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs has entered its sixth week, and his widow and mother took the stand Monday.
Carli Skaggs, who began dating the MLB pitcher in 2014, knew she knew Skaggs struggled with a previous addiction to Percocet before they dated, but did not know he was still using drugs at the time of his death.
Skaggs died in 2019 after taking fentanyl-laced oxycodone provided by the team’s former communications director, Eric Kay, who is serving 22 years in prison, mixed with alcohol.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
The wife of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, Carli, with Skaggs’ mother, Debbie Hetman, in the dugout before a game against the Seattle Mariners played on July 12, 2019, in Anaheim, California. (John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Skaggs had developed his Percocet addiction during his time with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the early 2010s, which Carli didn’t find out about until about a year after they started dating. Carli admitted that her husband took an ecstasy pill on their honeymoon and they smoked marijuana together, but stopped when they wanted to start a family.
An attorney representing the Skaggs family asked Carli if she was “able to think of any occasion” where she might have realized Skaggs was using.
“No. And I’ve been racking my brain for something I might have missed,” she replied, via the Orange County Register .
Debbie Hetman, Skaggs’ mother, testified that the Angels never asked her about her son’s past addictions and would have told them if they had. She also said she asked Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the doctor who performed his Tommy John surgery in 2014, about prescribing a different pain medication because of his past addiction.
Tyler Skaggs of the Los Angeles Angels pitches during the first inning of a game against the Oakland Athletics at Angel Stadium on June 6, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
EX-YANKEES STAR GOES TO BAT FOR ISAGENTS AMID ‘DANGEROUS THREATS’
Skaggs’ family is seeking $118 million for Skaggs’ lost earnings, damages for pain and suffering and punitive damages against the team. The Angels claim that despite being given the pill by Kay, Skaggs took the drugs in his private time on his own and is not responsible for his death.
Skaggs was 27 when he was found in a hotel room in Southlake, Texas, before the Angels were to play the Texas Rangers.
Former New York Mets ace Matt Harvey admitted during Kay’s trial that he supplied drugs to Skaggs. The two were teammates with the Angels the year of Skaggs’ death. Harvey, CJ Cron, Mike Morin and Cam Bedrosian also said in court that they had been given drugs by Kay.
Members of the Los Angeles Angels look on after the team placed their jerseys on the mound in honor of Tyler Skaggs after throwing a combined no-hitter to defeat the Seattle Mariners on Friday, July 12, 2019, in Anaheim, California. (Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
Mike Trout testified that players would pay Kay for bizarre stunts, leaving Trout to raise an eyebrow. At one point, a clubhouse assistant suggested the players quit, Trout said, because Kay might be using the money for a “bad purpose,” which Trout said he immediately assumed was drugs. The three-time MVP said he had only seen Skaggs smoke marijuana and drink alcohol and never believed he used other drugs.
