Ex-wife of Eric Kay says Angels knew about his drug abuse - ESPN

SANTA ANA, Calif. — The ex-wife of former Los Angeles Angels communications employee Eric Kay testified Monday that the organization was aware of his drug abuse multiple times before Kay supplied the drugs that killed Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs in 2019.

Camela Kay testified in the wrongful death civil suit that she witnessed instances where team employees distributed non-prescription drugs to players, including once on a team plane where she described opioid pills being handed out. Her testimony was repeatedly interrupted with objections by team attorneys.

Camela Kay's testimony refuted that of the first two witnesses of the trial — Eric Kay's ex-boss Tim Mead, the former director of communications, and Angels traveling secretary Tom Taylor. Mead and Taylor both testified they were not aware of Kay's drug use and whether or not he was providing drugs to players until after Skaggs' accidental overdose death in a Texas hotel room in 2019.

Eric Kay was convicted in 2022 of giving a fentanyl-laced pill to Skaggs that led to his death. He is serving a 22-year federal prison sentence.

The Skaggs family is seeking $118 million and possible additional damages, claiming the team violated its own rules requiring intervention, including potential dismissal, of any employee known to be abusing drugs. The family asserts that allowing Kay to interact with Skaggs, when both had addiction problems, set the conditions for disaster.

Plaintiff's attorney Shawn Holley said in her opening statement last week that the Angels put Skaggs «directly in harm's way» by continuing to employ Eric Kay.

Camela Kay testified that, following an attempted intervention on Oct. 1, 2017, when the couple was still married, Mead and Taylor came to the Kay