Matthew Perry and this aspiring trainer both died after taking ketamine from the 'Ketamine Queen,' prosecutors say

CNN
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When her brother died, Kimberly McLaury sent a text message to the person she believed had sold him the drug that killed him.

After getting her brother's phone number back from police, McLaury found a text chat with the alleged dealer that revealed her brother had paid for the ketamine through Venmo.

“After his death certificate came out, I wrote back and said, 'Just so you know, the ketamine you sold my brother was listed as the cause of death,'” she told CNN.

McLaury never received a response. “I just assumed she didn't care,” she said.

On Thursday, Jasveen Sangha, the alleged dealer, was one of five defendants in an 18-count indictment in connection with the death of actor Matthew Perry. Authorities detailed a disturbing connection between the world-famous actor and Cody McLaury, an aspiring personal trainer: Both died after taking ketamine allegedly supplied by the same dealer, a woman whose street name was “the Ketamine Queen,” prosecutors said.

During the investigation into Perry's death, the U.S. Attorney's Office said it uncovered an underground network of doctors and drug suppliers believed to be responsible for distributing ketamine, a potentially lethal controlled substance that contributed to Perry's death in October at age 54.

Sangha has pleaded not guilty to several drug charges, including one from August 2019, the year Cody McLaury died. She is not directly charged with his death.

CNN has contacted her attorney for comment.

McLaury was living in Los Angeles when he died of an overdose at age 33 – four years before Perry and hours after U.S. prosecutors alleged that Sangha sold him ketamine.

“He had very good, solid friendships in LA,” his sister said. “He loved life there. He was a very kind soul.”

Kimberly McLaury said her family raised suspicions that Cody's death might be connected to Perry's when Los Angeles Police Department investigators visited their Washington home earlier this year.

Court documents state that after receiving the text from Kimberly McLaury, Sangha did a Google search and typed in “Can ketamine be listed as the cause of death?”[?]”

Prosecutors relied on the Google search to allege that Sangha knew that “unsupervised and improper use of ketamine can be fatal,” the indictment said.

In Perry's case, prosecutors also charged four other people, including two doctors and a live-in personal assistant, with supplying Perry with the drugs.

McLaury attended Thursday's press conference on the charges in her home state of Washington. “It brought up a lot of emotions. Sadness, but also a sense of satisfaction,” she said.

“I just assumed she didn't care, that she was a callous person, that she was selling drugs, and that she just wanted to get on with her life,” McLaury said of Sangha.

After Perry's death, the discussion about ketamine intensified, especially because it offers a wide range of possible uses.

Ketamine is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a short-acting anesthetic for humans and animals in the medical setting, where it is often given intravenously. It is not approved for mental illness, but is increasingly prescribed off-label to treat chronic pain, depression and anxiety.

A ketamine derivative, esketamine, is approved for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression in adults. The drug, called Spravato, is administered as a nasal spray.

While additional medical uses of the drug are being researched, some experts raise concerns about potential abuse or addiction that can occur if used improperly.

Ketamine has long been used as a party drug, and a recent study found that the supply of illegal ketamine is increasing in the United States.

Taking ketamine without medical supervision can cause dangerous side effects, including loss of consciousness and dangerously slowed breathing.

Several arrests in connection with Matthew Perry's death

According to the coroner, Perry's death was due to the “acute effects of ketamine” and subsequent drowning.

Perry was found floating facedown in a freestanding hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home on October 28, 2023. Authorities said at the time that there was no foul play.

Cody McLaury's death did not make as many headlines as Perry's, and his sister said she “never thought his death would make a difference, but I'm glad he's being included in this investigation.”

“I'm just glad that justice was done and that (my brother's) death was investigated after five years,” she said.

CNN's Jamie Gumbrecht and Deidre McPhillips contributed to this report.