Louisiana State Police released a video Tuesday explaining why they charged Kyren Lacy with negligent homicide and hit-and-run for a December car crash that left one person dead.
The video was released less than a week after Lacy’s attorney, Matt Ory, went to a Houma, La., television station to show his client’s Green Dodge Charger was traveling more than 70 yards behind the crash when it happened.
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Lacy, 24, was found dead of an apparent suicide after an April police chase in Houston. His death was just two days before he was scheduled for a grand jury hearing regarding charges in the December crash.
Surveillance footage from a gas station shows cars swerving on the two-lane highway before the crash. Ory did not dispute that Lacy had passed four cars before the crash, but that he was back in his travel lane 92.3 yards” behind the car carrying Herman Hall, 78, and was nearly 73 yards behind that car at the time of the crash.
Body CAM footage of a trooper responding to the incident shows the trooper getting out of his vehicle and walking toward a man driving an 18-wheeler at the time who asked if there was a Green Charger still driving north that “caused all of this.”
A separate man says Lacy “went around that truck” and a woman had to pivot to avoid a truck that hit its brakes because of Lacy’s car.
“The gold truck traveling north right to avoid a head-on collision with the green loader,” the LSP video said. “As the gold truck veered right, the driver of the Kia Cadenza saw the green Loader approaching. In response, the driver of the Kia Cadenza swerved left into the southbound lane and impacted a northbound Kia Sorento.
“Through the investigation, troopers determined that the driver of the gold truck reacted appropriately to avoid a head-on collision with the green loader which was approaching at a high rate of speed. Considering the high speed of the green charger compared to surrounding and opposing vehicles, the reaction time of the drivers involved was significantly reduced.”
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In her interview, Ory said the woman driving the Cadenza was initially ticked off for following the gold truck too closely and said in a January interview at the hospital that the truck “stopped in the middle” and that’s why she swerved.
He also noted that Bodycam footage from an LSP trooper who was going to get a statement from the driver of the gold truck showed that the trooper told the driver of the gold truck multiple times to make sure he wrote that he had to slam on his brakes to avoid contact with the loader because they were trying to find who was driving the loader.
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Lacy did not play in the Texas Bowl after the accident and had his invitation to the NFL scout combine rescinded after a warrant was issued for his arrest following the accident. Three months later, he died after a reported altercation with a family member that led to a police chase by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
