A Los Angeles Angels human resources official, after learning that team communications staffer Eric Kay was facing criminal charges for providing a pill that led to the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs, texted a former colleague that Kay had “tweaker vibes,” according to testimony Wednesday, Oct. 22 in the ongoing wrongful death trial against the ballclub.
Mayra Castro, an Angels’ HR director, admitted that she initially deleted the text about Kay when she was turning records over to attorneys for the Skaggs family in connection to their wrongful death lawsuit. But Castro said she quickly realized that she shouldn’t have deleted the text and recovered the message so it could be turned over to the family attorneys.
In the August 2019 text to a former coworker, Castro wrote of Kay, “Dude he gave me tweaker vibes,” with the former coworker responding “Omfg, I always thought he definitely looked like a tweaker and sketch.”
Under questioning by a Skaggs family attorney, Castro denied that she knew Kay had any drug issues prior to Skaggs’ death. She also denied deleting the text in an attempt to help the Angels by hiding potential evidence that they could have known about Kay’s drug use.
“You deleted this message, because you knew it reflected at least your suspicion he was on drugs?” Attorney Leah Graham asked.
“I deleted it because I was afraid my bosses would see it and they would say ‘Mayra talks like this’ and they would question my professionalism,” Castro said. “I said it, but I know I didn’t know anything and I didn’t think he was doing drugs.”
Castro explained that the “tweaker” reference was prompted by a combination of what she learned that month about the criminal charges Kay was facing along with what in hindsight seemed to be a “weird energy” surrounding him. But she denied that any of her interactions with Kay while he worked with the Angels raised any red flags with her.
“When you worked with Eric, was there anything that gave you a sense that he was on drugs?” Angels Attorney Kevin Dorse asked.
“No,” Castro responded.
Kay is currently in federal prison after being convicted of providing Skaggs with a counterfeit pill containing fentanyl that combined with oxycodone and alcohol led to the pitchers death in a Texas hotel room in July 2019 at the start of an Angels road trip.
Jurors in the ongoing civil wrongful death trial in Orange County Superior Court will have to decide whether the Angels knew, or at least should have known, that Kay was providing illicit pills to Skaggs prior to the pitchers death.
Two of Kay’s former coworkers have have acknowledged that Kay’s behavior was occasionally “abnormal,” but said they believed it was due to issues with prescription medication related to mental health issues.
Attorneys for the Skaggs family allege that Kay’s wife has said that Angels’ officials were long aware of Kay’s addiction to opioids and that he was providing pills to players, including Skaggs.
Testimony in what is expected to be a more than month-long trial continues Friday in a Santa Ana courtroom.