La. State Police: Kyren Lacy’s operation of car set off events that caused fatal crash

Louisiana State Police released video and records on Tuesday related to a fatal crash in December 2024 they allege was caused by former LSU football player Kyren Lacy. Their investigation had come into question in recent days after a video was posted of an interview Lacy’s attorney conducted with a Louisiana TV station that cast doubt on whether Lacy was responsible for the crash that killed 78-year-old Herman Hall in Chackbay, Louisiana.

“Since the incident occurred, the Louisiana State Police never reported that the green [Dodge] Charger impacted any of the involved vehicles,” the Louisiana State Police department said in their video released Tuesday. “However, all evidence collected supports the conclusion that Lacy’s reckless operation of the green Charger in oncoming traffic triggered the chain of events involving the other drivers, ultimately resulting in the fatal crash.”

Lacy, 24, died April 12 in Houston of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in his car during a pursuit by authorities, according to a Harris County sheriff’s report. An arrest warrant from January stated that Lacy was cited with felony negligent homicide and hit and run driving and misdemeanor reckless driving. The Lafourche Parish district attorney’s office had not formally charged Lacy and had been preparing to send the case to a grand jury for an indictment on April 14.

According to Lacy’s attorney Matthew Ory and state police, around noon on Dec. 17, 2024, Lacy was driving southbound on Louisiana Highway 20 in a green Charger and was passing vehicles in a no-passing zone just before a collision. His car never collided with another car. Ory did not respond to ESPN’s requests for comment.

In an arrest warrant affidavit dated Jan. 8, police said Lacy’s 2023 Dodge Charger was traveling south at “an extremely high rate of speed in a posted 40 mph speed zone,” passing four vehicles — including an 18-wheel truck with a trailer — on a highly congested road in Chackbay. As Lacy’s vehicle attempted to pass, it “rapidly approached a northbound pick-up truck.” The affidavit said the pickup driver took emergency action by braking and driving off the roadway to the right, coming to a controlled stop. Police said the driver behind the pickup steered left to avoid a head-on crash “with the rapidly approaching” Charger.

That driver struck a southbound 2017 Kia Sorento in which Hall was a passenger.

In the compiled video narrative, police included video of Lacy returning to the southbound lane. “As the green Dodge Charger returns to the southbound lane,” the narrator says, “aggressive braking and engine deceleration are immediately followed by a crash that can be heard on surveillance footage.”

Lacy passed the crash scene and continued along the highway. On police body cam footage, one witness said, “a green Charger caused all this.” The witnesses’ faces were blurred on the video.

Police said they used 21 separate video cameras to capture the “uninterrupted path of the Charger” from the crash scene to a business 11 miles away. Police also said “evidence supports” that less than 10 minutes after the crash, Lacy’s first outgoing phone call was to a Baton Rouge-area personal injury and defense attorney.

In the interview Ory conducted with the local TV station, he cited data he said he received from an investigation by the Lafourche Parish District Attorney’s Office. Ory said that although Lacy passed four vehicles in a no-passing zone prior to the crash, Lacy returned to the proper lane 92.3 yards before the accident — enough time, he contended, to not have triggered the collision. He showed video of Lacy passing the crash scene post-impact.

Ory said that data from the crash investigation shows the car that hit the vehicle that Hall was riding in was tailgating the pickup truck, and the woman swerved left to avoid hitting the truck when the truck braked. Ory said police originally issued the woman a citation for following too close and later amended the ticket to one for crossing left of center.

Ory also showed body cam footage video that suggested an officer later coerced the pickup driver to testify that Lacy’s green car caused the accident. In the video, the driver of the pickup truck states: “That lady in the back of me, she didn’t see what’s happening. That’s how she caused that wreck.” The driver did not sign the witness statement, according to Ory.

The district attorney’s office did not return a call from ESPN.

Louisiana State Police provided redacted reports of the accident, body cam footage and a video narrative of the investigation.

“While we recognize that external narratives may arise, often based on selective information, we urge the public to rely on the full body of facts,” said Col. Robert P. Hodges, superintendent of the Louisiana State Police.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told ESPN through a spokesperson that she has been in touch with state police about independently reviewing all the witness statements and evidence in the case.

In a follow-up statement Tuesday morning, Murrill said, “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. 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.”

In Louisiana, a person can be guilty of vehicular homicide whether the death was “caused proximately or caused directly,” meaning a driver did not have to make contact with the vehicle to be at fault, according to state statute.

The statement said the district attorney planned to bring the matter to the grand jury on April 14 so it could decide if there were “appropriate charges to indict on, if any.” Shortly before Lacy’s death on April 12, a female relative called police around 11:15 p.m. to report that she had been in an argument with Lacy, who had discharged a firearm into the ground. When officers arrived, Lacy had already driven away. About 20 minutes later, when an officer tried to make a traffic stop on Lacy, he fled and officers pursued. Several miles later, Lacy’s vehicle crashed.

According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Department report, “information indicates Lacy shot himself during the pursuit and prior to the vehicle crashing.” A handgun was recovered inside the vehicle.

The report posted online does not identify the type of vehicle Lacy was driving. The Harris County Sheriff’s Department has not yet released additional records of the incident in response to ESPN’s request.