THERE. State Police: Kyren Lacy’s operation of car triggered events that led to fatal crash

Louisiana State Police on Tuesday released videos and records related to a December 2024 fatal crash they say involved former LSU football player Kyren Lacy. Their investigation had been called into question in recent days after the release of video of an interview Lacy’s attorney conducted with a Louisiana television station that cast doubt on whether Lacy was responsible for the crash that killed Herman Hall, 78, in Chackbay, LA.

“Since the incident occurred, Louisiana State Police has never reported that the Green (Dodge) Charger impacted any vehicles involved,” the Louisiana State Police Department said in its video released Tuesday. “However, all collected evidence supports the conclusion that Lacy’s reckless operation of the Green Charger into oncoming traffic started the chain of events involving the other engines, which ultimately resulted in a fatal accident.”

Lacy, 24, died April 12 in Houston of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in her car during a chase by authorities, according to a Harris County sheriff’s report. A January arrest warrant said Lacy was cited with negligent homicide and misdemeanor battery and reckless driving. The Lafourche Parish Prosecutor’s Office had not formally charged Lacy and had prepared 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 south on Louisiana Highway 20 in a green Charger and passing vehicles in a no-pass 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 within a posted 40 mph speed zone,” passing four vehicles – including an 18-wheeler truck with a trailer – on a heavily congested road in Chackbay. As Lacy’s vehicle attempted to pass, he “rapidly approached a northbound pickup truck.” The affidavit said the pickup driver took emergency action by braking and driving down the roadway to the right, coming to a controlled stop. Police said the driver behind the pickup truck was heading left to avoid a head-on crash “with the Loader approaching.”

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

In the compiled video story, 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 drove past the crash scene and continued along the highway. On police body CAM footage, a witness said: “A green charger caused all this.” The witnesses’ faces were blurred in the video.

Police said they used 21 separate video cameras to capture the Charger’s “uninterrupted path” from the crash scene to a business 11 miles away. Police also said “the 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 did with the local television station, he cited data he said he received from an investigation by the Lafourche Parish Prosecutor’s Office. Ory said that although Lacy passed four vehicles in a passing zone before the crash, Lacy got back on track 92.3 yards before the crash — enough time, he argued, to not have triggered the collision. He showed video of Lacy passing the post-impact crash scene.

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

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

The district attorney’s office did not return an appeal to ESPN.

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

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

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

In a follow-up statement Tuesday morning, Murrill said, “The evidence is not in dispute 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. 78-year-old veteran Herman Hall.”

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

The release said the district attorney planned to take the case to the grand jury on April 14 so it could decide whether there were “appropriate charges to indict, if any.” Shortly before Lacy’s death on April 12, a 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 the police arrived, Lacy had already driven away. About 20 minutes later, when an officer attempted a traffic stop on Lacy, he fled and the 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 before the vehicle crashed.” 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 Office has not yet released additional records from the incident in response to ESPN’s request.