Wife, parents of pitcher Tyler Skaggs sue Los Angeles Angels, 2 former executives
The wife and parents of former Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs filed on Tuesday lawsuits in Fort Worth and Los Angeles, accusing two former high-level employees and the Major League Baseball team of being responsible for his wrongful death.
Skaggs was found dead in a Southlake hotel before the start of a series of games with the Texas Rangers in July 2019.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death as “mixed ethanol, fentanyl and oxycodone intoxication with terminal aspiration of gastric contents.”
The lawsuits named as defendants former Angels communications directors Tim Mead and Eric Kay and three entities that own or control the Angels.
Kay was indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2020 on federal drug charges linked to Skaggs’ death. His trial is scheduled for Aug. 16 in Fort Worth.
“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,” said attorney Rusty Hardin of Rusty Hardin & Associates in Houston, a law firm representing the Skaggs family, in a Tuesday news release. “And if the Angels had done a better job of supervising Eric Kay, Tyler would be alive today.”
The lawsuit in Los Angeles identified the plaintiff as Carli Skagss and the estate of Tyler Skaggs. In Tarrant County, the plaintiffs are Skaggs’ parents, Debbie Hetman and Darrell Skaggs.
Both lawsuits seek a jury trial and unspecified damages to be determined at trial.
The lawsuits state that Skagg’s death could have been avoided because the Angels knew or should have known that Kay was supplying illicit drugs to not only Skaggs, but at least five other Angels players.
Kay had a long history of drug abuse, having to go to rehab several times when he worked for the Angels and he overdosed at least once, according to the lawsuits.
The lawsuits noted that it had been reported that Kay told federal agents that Mead, the vice president of communications for the Angels, and at least one other individual within the Angels organization knew that Kay was dealing drugs to players including Skaggs.
“As you might expect, the decision to file these complaints has been a very difficult one for Tyler’s parents and his wife,” Hardin said. “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.”
Mead’s attorney Eric D. Vandevelde denied the allegations, according to the Associated Press.
“Before Tyler Skaggs’ tragic death, Tim Mead was not aware, informed, or had any knowledge whatsoever that Tyler may have used opioids, or that Eric Kay or any Angels employee had ever provided opioids to any player. Any statement to the contrary is reckless and false,” Vandevelde said in a statement.
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, the AP reported.
“In 2019, Angels baseball hired a former federal prosecutor to conduct an independent investigation to comprehensively understand the circumstances that led to Tyler’s tragic death,” Angels spokesperson Marie Garvey said in a statement to the AP.
“The investigation confirmed that the organization did not know that Tyler was using opioids, nor was anyone in management aware or informed of any employee providing opioids to any player.
“The lawsuits are entirely without merit and the allegations are baseless and irresponsible. The Angels organization strongly disagrees with the claims made by the Skaggs family and we will vigorously defend these lawsuits in court.”
This story was originally published June 29, 2021 at 3:39 PM.
