Matthew Perry’s mum comes out fighting ahead of doctor’s trial: “You are going down, baby”

28 October, 2024

Matthew Perry

Matthew Perry’s mother and stepfather have come out fighting ahead of the upcoming trial surrounding his death one year ago.

The Friends star was found dead exactly a year ago at his Los Angeles home, aged 54. An autopsy report ruled his manner of death as an accidental drug overdose, and showed that he died from the acute effects of ketamine, with contributing factors including drowning.

Now, on the anniversary of his passing, his mother Suzanne Morrison and stepfather Keith Morrison have given an interview with The Today Show, in which they have said they are “thrilled” that a trial date has been set for March next year for two of the people accused of supplying him with drugs.

“What I’m hoping, and I think the agencies that got involved in this are hoping, that people who have put themselves in the business of supplying people with the drugs that will kill them are now on notice,” Keith Morrison said. “It doesn’t matter what your professional credentials are, you are going down, baby.”

In the same interview, Suzanne spoke about one of the final conversations she had with her son, noting that something felt off with him. “He went through a period, interestingly enough just before he died, when he was showing me one of his new houses,” she said. “He came up to me and he said, ‘I love you so much and I’m so happy to be with you now.’ It was almost as though it was a premonition or something. I didn’t think about it at the time but I thought, ‘How long has it been since we’ve had a conversation like that. It’s been years.’”

She continued by suggesting she believed that Perry was at peace with what was going to happen next. There was an inevitability to what was going to happen next to him, and he felt it very strongly. But he said, ‘I’m not frightened anymore.’ And it worried me,” she said.

Earlier this month, Dr Mark Chavez was charged in connection with the actor’s death and had pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute ketamine. Two others – Perry’s assistant Kenneth Iwasama and friend Erik Fleming –have pleaded guilty to their involvement in the Friends star’s fatal overdose.

Iwasama, Fleming and Chavez were offered lesser charges by prosecutors in exchange for their cooperation as they pursue others they believe to be more responsible for Perry’s death, namely Dr Salvador Plasencia and Jasveen Sangha – the so called ‘Ketamine Queen’ – who allegedly supplied Perry with ketamine.

Sangha has pleaded not guilty and claims she never met Perry. Dr Plasencia has also pleaded not guilty to illegally selling ketamine to Perry in the month before his death. Both will go on trial in March 2025.

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