rewrite this content and keep HTML tags
The last known words of Matthew Perry, who died in October from an accidental overdose following repeated injections of ketamine, were revealed in court documents after five people were charged in connection to the actor’s death.
According to a plea agreement reported on by multiple media outlets last week, the actor’s personal live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, said Perry’s last words were: “Shoot me up with a big one.”
The late “Friends” star had navigated substance abuse issues for years and chronicled his addiction struggle in a memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” only to be found dead in his jacuzzi on Oct. 28 by Iwamasa.
Jordan Strauss/Invision/Associated Press
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed in December that Perry had died from the “acute effects of ketamine.” The Department of Justice announced last Thursday that Iwamasa had admitted to “repeatedly injecting Perry” with the drug on the day that he died.
The other defendants charged in connection to the actor’s death include alleged drug dealer Jasveen Sangha and physicians Dr. Mark Chavez and Dr. Salvador Plasencia. A fifth defendant, Erik Fleming, said he obtained 50 vials of ketamine from Sangha and provided them to Iwamasa.
Sangha could face a life sentence if found guilty, while the remaining defendants face sentences of up to 10-25 years.
Plasencia, specifically, was found to have callously messaged Chavez after learning about Perry’s interest in buying ketamine.
“In text messages to Chavez,” the Justice Department wrote in its press release on Thursday, “Plasencia discussed how much to charge Perry for the ketamine, stating, ‘I wonder how much this moron will pay.’”
Iwamasa, meanwhile, reportedly admitted to administering “6-8 shots per day” of ketamine to Perry and found the actor “unconscious at his residence on at least two occasions” in the weeks before his fatal dose, according to the Justice Department.
“We were and still are heartbroken by Matthew’s death, but it has helped to know law enforcement has taken this case very seriously,” the actor’s stepfather, Keith Morrison, said in response to the charges. “We look forward to justice taking its course.”
Need help with substance use disorder or mental health issues? In the U.S., call 800-662-HELP (4357) for the SAMHSA National Helpline.