One of the officials implicated in the death of former Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs is speaking out.
In his first media appearance since he was sentenced to 22 years in prison in October 2022, former Angels communications director Eric Kay spoke to The Athletic, opening up about his new reality and his perceived responsibility in Skaggs’ fatality.
Notably, Kay viewed his own punishment as unreasonably harsh, something which he hopes to rectify via a habeas corpus appeal.
“I’m going to fight this,” Kay told Sam Blum. “And I’m continuing to fight until I can’t anymore.”
The former Angels employee added that he “can’t do this time” in jail.
“I’m not built for this,” Kay said. “If I were to feel like, ‘You know what, I deserve this. This time is fair.’ That’s a different story. But it’s not. I was convicted on conjecture. I was convicted on falsehoods.”
Skaggs, 27, died of a fentanyl overdose after taking pills in a team hotel room in Texas on July 1, 2019.
In February 2022, Kay was found guilty of having provided Skaggs with the laced drugs that led to his asphyxiation, being charged with drug distribution resulting in death as well as drug conspiracy.
However, Kay is repudiating that, claiming that his drugs were not the ones that killed Skaggs.
“Kay said this month that he did not travel with the pills — a requisite for his conviction,” Blum wrote. “And he said there’s no way to prove if it was his pills that killed Skaggs.”
According to the article and police reports, Kay and Skaggs had a “codependent relationship” predicated on drug exchanges that began in 2015.
Additionally, after not disclosing any information about his whereabouts on July 30, 2019 to the jury, Kay revealed to Blum that he saw “lines of drugs” in Skaggs’ hotel room the night before he perished.
At the same time, Kay asserted that he had left Skaggs’ room before the pitcher began overdosing.
During Kay’s October 2022 sentencing, a call from Kay to his mother was played in which Kay called Skaggs a “piece of sh-t” and referred to his family as “dumb” and “white trash.”
“All they see are dollar signs,” Kay said about Skaggs’ family. “They may get more money with him dead than he was playing because he sucked.”
Nearly two years later, Kay apologized for his comments.
“I’m horribly sorry for what I said in a private moment of weakness,” Kay told Blum. “That is awful. There’s no explanation for that. I didn’t mean it. I was looking for anybody to blame and yell at.”
During Kay’s trial, other former Angels received discipline, including one-time All-Star pitcher Matt Harvey, who was suspended 60 games after admitting he gave opioids to Skaggs.
Despite displeasure over his conviction, Kay expressed contrition about having a role in Skaggs’ death.
“I feel horrible that I didn’t stop contributing to his addiction. He had so much more to live for than me. … “‘What are you doing?’ I should have said that. ‘Tyler, what are you doing, dude?’”