DALLAS — Closing arguments are set to begin Thursday morning after the defense and prosecution rested in the trial for a former Los Angeles Angels employee accused of providing the drugs that killed pitcher Tyler Skaggs.
Eric Prescott Kay, the former communications director for the Angels, is charged with drug distribution and drug conspiracy for allegedly providing the opioids that contributed to Skaggs’ overdose death.
Skaggs, 27, was found dead inside a Southlake hotel room before a 2019 series with the Texas Rangers.
During court proceedings Wednesday, the defense called Blake Parker, who pitched for the Angels in 2017 and 2018 and was friends with Skaggs. Parker testified that Kay was someone to go to for pills, and described how he had at one time received 10 of them from Kay, but only took half of one because his hand went numb.
Parker, who became emotional during testimony Wednesday, spoke of how, when Skaggs died, he kept thinking of how that could have been him, instead.
Parker was the fifth MLB player to take the stand in the trial, testifying that they received oxycodone pills from Kay. Pitchers Matt Harvey, Mike Morin and Cam Bedrosian and first baseman C.J. Cron - who all played for the Angels - previously took the stand.
Also on Wednesday, Kay's one-time colleague Adam Chodzko said Kay confided that he watched Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs do drugs the night before he was found dead. Chodzko said Kay told him he turned down an offer from Skaggs to do drugs with him.
A police detective also testified that Kay lied about whether he saw Skaggs the night before he was found dead.
Kay, who had been thought would take the stand, did not testify on his behalf.
Prosecutors rested their case Tuesday, a day that also included testimony from Skaggs’ widow about the last time she saw her husband and the last text she received from him.
Now that the defense has rested, too, closing arguments will begin when court resumes Thursday morning.
Alex Rozier, Addie Haney and material from the Associated Press contributed to this report.
