Tyler Skaggs Family Settles Suit with Angels

The family of former Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs reached a settlement with the team on Friday in a Santa Ana, California, courtroom, abruptly ending a wrongful death lawsuit that had accused the organization of negligence in the 27-year-old's 2019 overdose death. The agreement came after more than two days of jury deliberations in a trial that spanned nearly two months, with terms undisclosed.

Skaggs died on July 1, 2019, in a Southlake, Texas, hotel room during an Angels road trip to face the Texas Rangers. An autopsy determined the cause as accidental asphyxia from aspirating his own vomit after consuming a fentanyl-laced oxycodone pill, combined with alcohol. The pill had been provided by Eric Kay, the Angels' longtime communications director, who was later sentenced to 22 years in federal prison for distributing opioids, including to Skaggs.

The lawsuit, filed in June 2021 by Skaggs' widow, Carli, and his parents, Debbie Hetman and Darrell Skaggs, sought more than $118 million in damages, including lost future earnings estimated by experts at up to $102 million. The family argued that the Angels bore significant responsibility for failing to supervise Kay...