Former Angels Employee Charged In Death Of Pitcher Tyler Skaggs

ANAHEIM, CA — A former Los Angeles Angels employee is accused of distributing a fatal cocktail of drugs that led to pitcher Tyler Skaggs untimely death, officials report.

Public relations director Eric Kay, formerly of the Angels organization, surrendered to federal authorities in Texas Friday morning on a drug-distribution charge stemming from the overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Dallas, Kay, 45, was charged with conspiracy to distribute a mixture containing detectable amounts of fentanyl. He was arrested in Forth Worth, Texas, and made his initial appearance before a federal judge Friday morning.

The U.S. Attorney Nealy Cox released a statement on the arrest, saying: "Tyler Skaggs's overdose – coming, as it did, amid an ascendant baseball career – should be a wakeup call: No one is immune from this deadly drug, whether sold as a powder or hidden inside an innocuous-looking tablet. Suppressing the spread of fentanyl is a priority for the Department of Justice."

The complaint was filed July 30 and unsealed Friday upon Kay's arrest, over one year after Skagg's death.

Skaggs, 27, was found dead in his hotel room at the Southlake Town Square Hilton on July 1, 2019. The Angels were staying at the hotel while in town to play the Texas Rangers.

Nicknamed "Swaggy," Skaggs, grew up in Woodland Hills, played baseball at Santa Monica High School, before he made his way to professional baseball. The Angels drafted him in 2009. He made his major league debut in August 2012. A left-handed pitcher, he underwent "Tommy John" surgery in 2014 after suffering an ulnar collateral ligament tear in his elbow.

His family was outraged at the organization, saying that the death was "completely out of character for someone who worked so hard to become a major league ballplayer."

Upon learning that an employee of the Los Angeles Angels was involved, the family released a statement in 2019, expressing their shock:

"We will not rest until we learn the truth about how Tyler came into possession of these narcotics, including who supplied them. To that end, we have hired attorney Rusty Hardin to assist us."

Skaggs is survived by his wife, Carli, whom he married in December of 2018. They had no children.