Witnesses Testify In Trial Of Eric Kay, Accused Of Providing Pitcher Tyler Skaggs With Fentanyl Pills

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - LA Angels staff, first responders, and police detectives testified in federal court in Fort Worth today about finding late baseball pitcher Tyler Skaggs dead in a Southlake hotel room.

Major league pitcher Andrew Heaney and Tyler Skaggs mother both testified today about drug use.

Heaney and Skaggs had shared texts about marijuana.

Skaggs had struggled with pills years before his death, battling stress and injuries, but his mother said there was no indication he had started using them again before he died.

A small blue pill marked with an "M" and "30" was in a bottle found in Skaggs' Southlake hotel room in July 2019, a detective testified on February 9.

It was made to look like oxycodone, but it was fake; made with fentanyl, it was among the drugs that contributed to Skaggs' death.

Skaggs' mother, Debbie Hetman, told the court, "He did not know there was poison in the pill that cost him his life."

Former team employee Eric Kay is accused of providing Skaggs with the pills.

Through testimony about traffic at baseball games, security protocols, and ticket procedures, prosecutors started to make the case that only someone with easy access to players would have been able to get Skaggs the pills the day he died.

Kays' defense team is already raising questions about other possible sources, though.

"Were you aware that prior to meeting Eric Kay, [a former roommate] became [Skaggs'] drug dealer in Arizona?" a defense attorney asked Skaggs' mother today.

They have also indicated there's a possibility pills came from other players and questioned some of the actions Wednesday of Skaggs' step-brother changing passcodes on his phone after the death.

More major league players are expected to testify as the trial continues, but all pointing right back at Eric Kay as someone they knew was providing pills purported to be oxycodone to Skaggs and others.