Matthew Perry was injected 'again and again' by an unqualified assistant, mother reveals in emotional letter

Suzanne Morrison, Matthew Perry’s mother, has shared a rather emotional letter, ahead of the sentencing of Perry’s former personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa. She shared a victim impact statement reflecting on the family’s trust in him and the heartbreak that followed after the actor’s death in October 2023.

Perry, best known for playing Chandler Bing on Friends, was found dead at the age of 54 in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home. His cause of death was later determined to be the “acute effects of ketamine.”

According to the Department of Justice, Iwamasa “repeatedly” injected Perry with ketamine despite having no medical training, including on the day he died. Court documents, according to People, stated Perry allegedly told him to “Shoot me up with a big one,” before asking him to prepare the hot tub. Iwamasa later left the home to run errands and returned to find Perry unresponsive in the water.

Iwamasa has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. His sentencing is scheduled for May 27, and prosecutors are recommending a 41-month prison sentence along with three years of supervised release.

In the statement obtained by PEOPLE, Morrison said the family had believed Iwamasa understood Perry’s long struggle with addiction.

She wrote that his “most important job” was to be Perry’s “companion and guardian in his fight against addiction,” helping ensure he remained “drug free.”

“But instead of protecting Matthew, he aided and abetted illegal drug taking, arranged for one source of supply, then another,” Morrison wrote. “Shot the drugs into Matthew's body, though he was not in the least qualified.. He did it even though he could see, anyone could have seen, it was so obviously dangerous. And he did it again and again.”

Morrison also described how Iwamasa remained in close contact with the family after Perry’s death.

“He sent me songs, he drew a little map to help me find my way around the cemetery," she said.

She claimed Iwamasa later “insisted” on speaking at Perry’s funeral and held onto her “as if he was somehow the good guy who tried to save Matthew.”

“He threatened legal action to pry a settlement from workmen's comp,” Morrison added. “We trusted a man without a conscience, and my son paid the price.”

Elsewhere in the statement, Morrison reflected on the pain of losing her son.

“And then one night he was just a body, lying all but naked on the cold, damp grass of his backyard,” she wrote. “Helicopters circled overhead, eager for a glimpse of my dead little boy, a picture they could show the whole world while I stood out on the street in the cold and begged for a blanket to cover him. Impossible, of course.”

While thanking investigators for their work on the case, Morrison said the idea of “closure” does not truly exist after such a loss.

“Ask any mother whose child has been torn away so mercilessly,” she wrote. “Nothing takes this pain away, nor will it, I am sure, for as long as [I] live.”

Iwamasa is one of five people charged in connection with Perry’s death. Authorities allege he conspired with Jasveen Sangha, Erik Fleming and Dr. Salvador Plasencia to illegally obtain and distribute ketamine to the actor.