Nearly half a year after former LSU wide receiver Kyren Lacy took his life, two contrasting narratives are publicly emerging over how Louisiana State Police handled the investigation that led to his arrest three months before his death.
Lacy was accused of causing a Dec. 17, 2024, crash that killed 78-year-old Herman Hall, a military veteran from Thibodaux. While his car never collided with others, State Police claim Lacy’s reckless driving caused a chain of events that led to the crash.
In January, the 24-year-old turned himself in to State Police on counts of negligent homicide, felony hit and run and reckless operation of a vehicle.
Lacy was seen by many as destined for a bright future in the NFL. A former transfer from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, he was the SEC co-leader for receiving yards during the 2024 season. After the accident, the NFL withdrew its invitation for him to participate in the annual draft combine.
Then, in April, two days before Lacy’s case was set to appear in front of a grand jury, he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Houston while fleeing police as a result of a separate incident.
On Friday, attorney Matt Ory, who represented Lacy and has claimed his innocence from the beginning, appeared on a news station in Houma to reveal evidence collected by the Lafourche Parish District Attorney’s Office.
The findings — which Ory says absolve Lacy of responsibility for the crash — have sparked a mix of public outcry and confusion on social media, among sports commentators, and among public officials.
On Monday, the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus demanded an independent investigation into the State Police handling of the case, while the NAACP has called for the resignation of the State Police Colonel. On nationally televised “Monday Night Football,” former LSU player Ryan Clark described Lacy’s fate as an injustice, a sentiment echoed by other figures in the sports world, including Pat McAfee and Scott Van Pelt.
“Guys, Kyren Lacy was supposed to be in the NFL,” Clark said. “Kyren Lacy was being accused of something and was being investigated for something that he didn’t do.”
Meanwhile, Louisiana State Police have doubled down, defending their investigation. On Tuesday, LSP released 11 minutes of surveillance and body camera footage recorded on the day of Lacy’s crash, plus additional evidence, including Lacy’s arrest warrant and witness statements. Attorney General Liz Murrill has said the findings support accusations of Lacy being responsible for the crash, but added she is continuing to review the case.
Ory told a local ESPN radio host Tuesday evening that the evidence released by LSP didn’t change “a single thing.” Kyren’s dad, Kenny Lacy, was also present during the emotional interview.
“The last four days have almost been like getting that phone call saying Kyren is gone again,” Kenny Lacy said. “This is difficult for everyone involved.”
Ory’s evidence vs. State Police.
According to his arrest warrant, Lacy was driving southbound at around noon on a busy, two-lane portion of La. 20 in Thibodeaux, when he crossed into the northbound lane and illegally passed four vehicles, including an 18-wheeler. One witness claimed he saw the green Dodge Charger driving “at least 80 mph” in the 40 mph speed zone, the warrant says. The Charger rapidly approached a gold truck, which was forced to “emergency brake” and drive off the roadway to the right, the warrant adds.
Immediately behind that gold truck, a Kia Cadenza also took evasive action, but swerved left into oncoming traffic and crashed head-on with a Kia Sorento.
Hall, a passenger in the Sorrento, was transported to a hospital where he died from his injuries. More than 20 surveillance videos were used to identify Lacy as the driver of the Charger.
During his 45-minute interview with HTV’s Martin Folse, Ory presented findings from an independent investigation conducted by the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office.
“I’m here simply comparing and contrasting the District Attorney’s Office and State Police with this matter,” Ory said.
In the footage of the crash Ory presented, Lacy’s Charger can be seen driving into the frame about four seconds after the collision. Despite Lacy illegally passing four vehicles, Ory said the DA’s Office determined Lacy was over 70 yards behind the cars involved in the crash — and back in the correct lane — during the time of impact. That was much too far away for him to be considered responsible, Ory said.
“That is not how this story was ever painted, never,” he said.
Ory also presented police body camera footage of a State Police trooper taking a witness statement from the driver of the gold truck. The driver had left the scene of the crash before police arrived, and the questioning took place five days after the incident occurred.
“Just make sure you add in there that you had to slam on the brakes to avoid that Charger,” the trooper said.
“I didn’t skidmark or nothing, I wasn’t even going fast,” the witness said in the video. “That lady in the back of me, she didn’t see what’s happening. I say she caused that wreck.”
“But the Charger was going right at you, right? … make sure you include that,” the trooper responded.
Ory said the video indicated a “clear suggestive nature” by the officer. Ory showed the driver’s witness statement, which did not include any mention of the woman driving behind him. Over the witness signature portion of the paperwork, “refused” is written.
Meanwhile, LSP’s 11-minute video, released to the public Monday, does not include that body camera footage. Instead, it includes body camera footage of a trooper as he interviews two witnesses at the scene of the crash, both of whom immediately describe a green Dodge Charger driving into oncoming traffic.
“When the green Charger came, he went and caused this whole big traffic, so everybody went and hit their brakes,” said the driver of an 18-wheeler that Lacy had allegedly passed.
“The green Charger had stopped, but then kept going,” another witness said.
The trooper then interviewed the driver of the Cadenza while she was still being extricated from her car. She claimed she remembered the truck attempting to avoid an oncoming car before she did so herself.
“The other car was trying to pass the other car,” she said. “I was trying to dodge by not hitting him.”
State Police also included additional surveillance footage of Lacy’s vehicle speeding, before abruptly breaking and returning to the correct lane.
“As the Dodge Charger returns to its proper lane, immediate braking and deceleration can be heard,” a narrator of the LSP video says.
And then the sound of a crash can be heard, though Ory claims the audio and video are out of sync.
“Since the incident occurred, State Police never reported that the green Charger impacted any of the involved vehicles,” the narrator said.
More footage shows the green Charger driving in the correct lane, two cars behind the Kia Sorento, slowing after the collision before driving around the scene.
Ten minutes after the crash, Lacy stopped at a business 11 miles away and called a personal injury and defense attorney in the Baton Rouge area, LSP said. Both Ory and Kyren’s father have said that attorney was Kyren’s stepfather, who he had a close relationship with.
“The evidence is not disputed here. The Lafourche Parish District Attorney’s Office was prepared to present the case to a grand jury that showed Kyren Lacy returning to his lane. However, that does not absolve Kyren Lacy of responsibility in this matter,” Murrill said in a statement. “Every witness identified the green Charger Kyren Lacy was determined to be driving, as having put the events in motion that led to the head-on collision, which killed 78-year-old veteran Herman Hall.”
‘There is so much more coming’
On the day he died, Lacy was fleeing police in Houston after a family member reported he shot a gun toward the ground during an argument.
According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, he was involved in a car chase that spanned several miles before he crashed. Lacy shot himself before the car crashed, according to a preliminary investigation by the Sheriff’s Office homicide detectives and crime scene units.
“I’m following it just like you guys are,” he added. “Let’s just be patient, be sure all information gets out. He’s loved by us, was loved before and is loved after. There’s not really a need to talk to our team. They follow it and love Kyren. He was a great teammate and is going to be missed.”
As the story becomes more viral, Kenny Lacy has warned against vilifying the woman whose car swerved into the victim’s vehicle. “Y’all gonna push that young lady into the same mind state Kyren Lacy was in, and I don’t wish that on nobody’s kid,” Kenny Lacy wrote on Facebook.
He ended the Tuesday evening interview by addressing those who judged his son without knowing him: “I wish them the best. I promise he would have changed your mind.”