Former Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs died on July 1, 2019, in a hotel room in Texas. An autopsy found a lethal mix of alcohol, fentanyl, and oxycodone in his system.
Since Skaggs' death, a lot has come out about how, when, and where he acquired the drugs that led to his death. Most notably, former team employee Eric Kay went to trial for distributing the drugs, a trial in which five big-leaguers testified to having gotten drugs from Kay while he was working in public relations for the Angels. Last month, Kay was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his crimes.
On the civil court side of things, Skaggs' parents filed a wrongful death suit in Texas and his widow filed one in California. Earlier this year, the parents joined the California suit and the Texas suit is expected to be withdrawn. The Angels had filed a motion to dismiss the California suit, but according to ESPN.com, that motion has been denied.
A California judge is allowing a lawsuit to proceed against the Los Angeles Angels over the drug-related death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Glenn Salter on Monday rejected the team's motion to dismiss and set the start of a 20-day jury trial for Oct. 2, 2023. ...
Skaggs' widow, Carli Skaggs, sued the Angels for wrongful death and negligent hiring and supervision, alleging that team officials knew Kay was distributing drugs to players but promoted him and allowed him continued access to them.
The Angels have denied the accusation, but the judge rejected a request from the team to dismiss the suit, saying, "There are enough factual allegations" to proceed to trial.
There's still a long way to go in this process, as the trial won't even begin for another 11 months. But with this news, we now know there will either be a trial or a settlement.
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