Angels reach settlement with Tyler Skaggs’ family in wrongful death case

Los Angeles Angels and the family of Tyler Skaggs have reached a settlement in the family's wrongful death lawsuit against the team.

Bearded died 2019 after taking oxycodone laced with fentanyl, provided by former team communications director Eric Kay, mixed with alcohol. Kay is serving 22 years in prison.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Skaggs' family initially sought $118 million in compensation for Skaggs' lost earnings, compensation for pain and suffering, and punitive damages against the team.

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The Angels argued that Skaggs, despite being given a pill by Kay, took the drugs on his own time of his own accord and that the team was not responsible for his death.

According to ESPN, the jury was already in its third day of deliberations, and there were rumors that the decision would go in favor of the family.

Skaggs was 27 years old when he was found in a hotel room in Southlake, Texas, before the Angels were scheduled to play Texas Rangers. The coroner's report states that he choked on his own vomit after ingesting the toxic mixture.

“We are deeply grateful to the jury members and our legal team. Their participation and determination gave us confidence and we now have a final result,” the family said in a statement. “This trial has revealed the truth, and we hope that Major League Baseball will now do its part to hold the Angels accountable. While nothing can bring Tyler back, we will continue to honor his memory.”

Former New York Mets player Matt Harvey admitted during Kay's trial that he supplied Skaggs with drugs. The two were Angels teammates the year Skaggs died. Harvey, C.J. Cron, Mike Morin and Cam Bedrosian also said in court that Kay gave them drugs. Morin argued in the case that Skaggs was responsible for his actions.

Carly Skaggs, wife of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, sits with Tyler's mom, Debbie Hetman, on the bench before a game against the Seattle Mariners on July 12, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Mike Trout revealed that players would pay Kay for fancy tricks, causing Trout to raise an eyebrow. At one point, a club employee suggested the players stop, Trout said, because Kay might be using the money for “bad purposes,” which Trout said he immediately assumed were drugs. The three-time MVP said he only saw Skaggs smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol and never thought he was using other drugs.

Last month Skaggs' widow Carly and motherDebbie Hetman also testified. Carly Skaggs said she knew Skaggs had struggled with Percocet addiction before they dated, but didn't know he was still using drugs at the time of his death.

Skaggs developed an addiction to Percocet during his time with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the early 2010s, which Carly didn't discover until about a year after they started dating. Carly admitted that her husband took an ecstasy tablet during their honeymoon and they smoked marijuana together, but stopped when they wanted to start a family.

The lawyer representing the Skaggs family asked Carly if she “could think of any incident” in which she could understand that Skaggs was using drugs.

“No. And I was scratching my head over what I might have missed,” she responded via The Orange County Register.

The Los Angeles Angels stand for a moment of silence before their game against the Seattle Mariners at Angels Stadium in Anaheim on July 12, 2019 in Anaheim, California. The entire Angels team wore number 45 on their jerseys in honor of Skaggs, who died on July 1, 2019. (John McCoy/Getty Images)

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Getman testified that the Angels never asked her about her son's previous addiction and would have told the team if asked. She also said she asked Dr. Neil ElAttrache, the doctor who performed Tommy John surgery in 2014, to prescribe a different pain medication because of his prior addiction.

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