Witness Reveals Details in the Skaggs Case
In the trial for the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs, a former teammate of the [Los Angeles Angels](/mlb/team/_/name/laa/los-angeles-angels) testified about the secrecy surrounding drug use among players and a team employee. Mike Morin, who shared a team with Skaggs, stated that only he, Skaggs, and Eric Kay, an Angels communications employee who provided the pills, were aware of the use of illicit substances. Morin stated that he did not tell his wife or family about the matter, and that he was aware that what he was doing was illegal. He also shared his perception of Skaggs’ feelings about it.A Morin was asked three similar questions about whether he believed Skaggs was responsible for his decisions to consume alcohol and opioids the night of his death in a Texas hotel. His answer was clear.“I think he didn’t want a lot of people to know what he was doing,” Morin said. “That’s all.”
Mike Morin
This statement supports the Angels’ position, who argue that Skaggs’ reckless decisions led to his accidental overdose death in 2019. The team has maintained that it is not responsible for Skaggs’ death and was unaware of his drug problems. The Angels have denied having knowledge that Kay distributed drugs to Skaggs and other players. However, the Skaggs family’s lawyers allege that the team put Skaggs in danger by being aware of Kay’s drug use and continuing to employ him. Morin was put in contact with Kay by Skaggs in 2017, after suffering an injury. Morin admitted that before that, he would not have imagined that Kay would provide illegal pills to the players. Kay is serving a 22-year prison sentence after being found guilty in 2022 for supplying Skaggs with the fatal oxycodone pill mixed with fentanyl. During the criminal trial, several players testified to having received pills from Kay. “I had been on the team for several years,” Morin said. “I had no idea what Eric Kay was doing.” Morin testified that Kay provided him and Skaggs with blue 30-milligram oxycodone pills, which they called “blue boys,” and that on occasion they both crushed a pill and snorted it in a toilet paper dispenser in the locker room bathroom, similar to how he did with Pixy Stix candies in French class in high school. Defense attorneys showed several sets of text messages between Morin and Skaggs in which they discussed their pill use. Morin described the distribution of pills as “extremely discreet.” He would leave money in his locker, and Kay would pick it up, leaving the pills in the same place. During the 2017 season, he said he received pain pills from Kay between five and eight times. On one occasion, he waited with Kay outside the players’ parking lot for someone to deliver the pills. However, not feeling comfortable, he left. Morin stated that he never questioned how Kay obtained the illegal pills. He thought Kay was getting pharmaceutical-grade drugs.“I think he is responsible for his actions,” Morin replied after a long pause.
Mike Morin
Morin emotionally explained the pressures felt by professional players to stay in the major leagues and how difficult it is for others, who are not in the locker rooms, to understand “the immense ups and downs” that it entails. He stated that he would tell the young players about his experience and that the way he handled his injury was not the right one.“I was completely unaware, very naively, that a prescribed pill could be contaminated,” Morin said. “So I assumed that any pill we were going to receive wouldn’t be fatal.”
Mike Morin
Morin’s testimony came a day after Skaggs’ mother, Debbie Hetman, testified before the jury that she did not inform anyone with the Angels about her son’s Percocet addiction in 2013. She also stated that she would have if asked. During his continued testimony on Tuesday, defense attorneys questioned Hetman about parts of his previous testimony, in which he stated that he did not believe his son had an addiction to Percocet in 2013.“I am one hundred percent ashamed to be here and say this is what I did,” Morin said. “That is my own burden.”
Mike Morin
The trial continues on Wednesday with the testimony of expert witnesses on compensation, who are expected to explain how much Skaggs could have earned for the rest of his career.“I just didn’t use the word addiction,” Hetman said of her testimony in the deposition. “You can use whatever word you want. Problem, issue, addiction, it’s all the same.”
Debbie Hetman
