Tyler Skaggs' mother gives emotional testimony in trial of former Los Angeles Angels employee Eric Kay

FORT WORTH, Texas — Tyler Skaggs' mother painted a portrait Wednesday of the late Los Angeles Angels pitcher as a loving son who first struggled with a Percocet «issue» in 2013.

Debbie Hetman appeared as a prosecution witness in the federal criminal case against former Angels communications director Eric Kay, providing emotional testimony on a day that otherwise was filled largely with dry technical details.

Hetman said she was angry that Kay was the last person to see her son alive and that «someone» could have saved him and didn't. There has been no evidence presented that Kay was indeed the last person to see Skaggs, or that anyone had a chance to revive him.

Kay is charged with distributing opioids and causing Skaggs' opioid-related death in July 2019 while on a road trip to Texas. An autopsy found that Skaggs had oxycodone, fentanyl and grain alcohol in his system when he asphyxiated on his vomit. Kay's attorneys have described their client as an addict who frequently bought and used drugs with Skaggs, not a dealer. The government says Kay distributed opioids to several Angels players — who are expected to take the witness stand this week — and gave Skaggs the fentanyl that they say caused his death.

Hetman said Skaggs first discussed a problem with Percocet, a prescription opioid painkiller, in 2013, and that he quit «cold turkey» at the time.

Jurors were shown photos of Skaggs' lifeless body for the first time, including closeups of his purplish face, which rested face down in a small pool of blood on his hotel bed. Hetman and her husband were in court for the testimony but were seated in a part of the courtroom where the photos could not be seen. She listened tensely with her left hand at her mouth as a police