The ex-wife of a former Los Angeles Angels employee testified in court Monday that she witnessed players and clubhouse staff exchanging pills and alcohol while traveling on the team plane. Camela Kay, who was married to Eric Kay at the time, described scenes of partying, card games, gambling, and excessive drinking among team members.
“They’re treated like kings,” Camela Kay told jurors. “I had seen them passing out pills or drinking alcohol excessively.”
Her testimony is part of a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the family of Tyler Skaggs, an Angels pitcher who died from an overdose in 2019. The suit alleges that the Angels organization should be held liable for allowing Eric Kay—who was later convicted of providing drugs that led to Skaggs’ death—to remain employed and have access to players.
According to Camela Kay, she became concerned about her then-husband’s drug use after noticing erratic behavior. She said her family staged an intervention in 2017. The following day, two team officials visited their home; one reportedly found several plastic baggies containing white pills in their bedroom. This discovery heightened her suspicion that Eric Kay might not only be using drugs but also selling them.
“Him being in the clubhouse with the players, my guess would be he is supplying to them,” she said.
After Skaggs’ death, Camela Kay filed for divorce and now works as a FedEx courier supporting her three sons.
Skaggs was found dead at age 27 in a hotel room near Dallas as the Angels were set to play against the Texas Rangers. A coroner determined he choked on his vomit with alcohol, fentanyl, and oxycodone present in his system.
Eric Kay was convicted in 2022 for supplying Skaggs with a counterfeit oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl and sentenced to 22 years in prison. During his federal trial in Texas, five Major League Baseball players testified they received oxycodone from him between 2017 and 2019.
Skaggs’ family seeks $118 million for lost earnings as well as compensation for pain and suffering and punitive damages from the team.
Following Skaggs’ death, Major League Baseball began testing players for opioids under an agreement with its players association; those who test positive are referred to treatment rather than disciplined (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/12/sports/baseball/mlb-opioid-testing.html).
Camela Kay is expected to continue her testimony later Monday afternoon.
