Whether Kyren Lacy was innocent of causing the December 2024 crash that killed 78-year-old Herman Hall has no settled answer. A Lafourche Parish District Attorney’s investigator concluded the evidence did not support holding Lacy responsible for the collision. Louisiana State Police and the state attorney general reached the opposite conclusion. Lacy died by suicide on April 12, 2025, two days before a grand jury was scheduled to hear the case, so no court or jury ever ruled on the question.1NPR. Video Evidence Suggests LSU’s Kyren Lacy May Not Have Been Involved in Deadly Crash
What Happened on Highway 20
On December 17, 2024, a multi-vehicle collision on Louisiana Highway 20 near Perez Lane in Lafourche Parish killed Herman Hall of Thibodaux, a passenger in a Kia Sorento. Two other people were injured.2Louisiana State Police. LSP Releases Evidence in Fatal Lafourche Parish Crash Involving Kyren Lacy
The sequence both sides accept at a basic level: Lacy, 24, was driving a green 2023 Dodge Charger southbound and passed multiple vehicles at high speed in a no-passing zone, crossing into the northbound lane. A northbound pickup truck braked and swerved right to avoid him. A Kia Cadenza behind the pickup swerved left, crossed the centerline, and struck the Kia Sorento head-on. Lacy’s Charger never touched any other vehicle. He drove around the scene and continued south without stopping.3ABC News. Police Release Video Evidence in Kyren Lacy Case4Louisiana State Police. Investigation Leads to Negligent Homicide Arrest Warrant for Driver in Fatal Lafourche Parish Crash
On January 12, 2025, Lacy turned himself in and was booked into the Lafourche Parish Correctional Complex. He was charged with negligent homicide, felony hit-and-run, and reckless operation of a vehicle, and released on $151,000 bail.5CNN. Kyren Lacy: What We Know The dispute is not over whether Lacy drove recklessly. It is over whether his driving legally caused the fatal collision that happened down the road.
The Case Against Him
Louisiana State Police built their case on a theory of chain causation: Lacy’s reckless pass forced the pickup to brake and swerve, which forced the Cadenza to swerve, which killed Herman Hall. On October 7, 2025, LSP released an 11-minute “Critical Incident Briefing Video” and footage pulled from 21 cameras along an 11-mile stretch, including a gas station clip showing the Charger passing vehicles in the opposing lane at high speed. The agency said its investigation was “grounded in science and supported by facts,” relying on forensic analysis, crash reconstruction experts, and eyewitness accounts.6WDSU. LSP Responds to New Evidence in Crash Investigation Involving Kyren Lacy LSP also noted that Lacy’s first phone call after the crash was to a personal injury and defense attorney.7WAFB. Louisiana State Police Defend Decision to Arrest Kyren Lacy
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said the video evidence “leaves no doubt into his role in the crash,” citing footage of the Charger traveling at roughly 80 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone. Murrill acknowledged the grand jury evidence showed Lacy returning to his lane before the crash, but said that “does not absolve Kyren Lacy of responsibility in this matter.” She concluded state police “did their job” and that she had seen no “wrongdoing on State Police’s part.” She also conceded it was unclear whether Lacy would have been convicted beyond a reasonable doubt.8Louisiana Radio Network. AG Murrill Comments on Kyren Lacy Investigation6WDSU. LSP Responds to New Evidence in Crash Investigation Involving Kyren Lacy
The Case for His Innocence
On April 11, 2025, an investigator for Lafourche Parish District Attorney Kristine Russell completed a report that broke sharply from LSP’s account. The report said the LSP crash report contained “several inconsistencies” used to reach its conclusions.9ABC News. Prosecutors Report Disputed Police Claims in Fatal Crash
The DA’s office concluded Lacy had returned to his correct southbound lane 92.3 yards before the collision and was 72.6 yards behind the vehicles at the moment of impact. If that stretch of road had been a legal passing zone, the report said, Lacy would have been at three times the required safe distance and “would not have been responsible for any crash.” The LSP characterizations that Lacy was “actively passing” at the time of impact and “abruptly slowing to a sudden stop” were, according to the report, “incorrect.”10KPEL. Kyren Lacy: Prosecutors Contradict State Police
The report attacked the chain-causation theory directly. Prosecutors concluded the Kia Cadenza driver swerved left because the driver was following the gold pickup truck too closely, not as a direct reaction to Lacy’s Charger. That matters: if the Cadenza driver’s own following distance caused the swerve, Lacy’s reckless pass was not the legal cause of Hall’s death. The report further concluded that “the evidence submitted in the crash report does not support that Kyren Lacy should have known that his actions were the cause of the crash that happened approximately 72 yards in front of him” — the finding that most directly undercuts the hit-and-run charge, which requires knowledge of involvement.11Fox 8. Lafourche Parish DA Report Finds Inconsistencies in State Police Investigation10KPEL. Kyren Lacy: Prosecutors Contradict State Police
The citation record also complicates LSP’s account. The Kia Cadenza driver was initially cited for following too close. That citation was later amended to driving left of center.3ABC News. Police Release Video Evidence in Kyren Lacy Case
In early October 2025, Lacy’s attorney Matt Ory released body camera footage he said showed a state police trooper coaching the pickup truck driver on what to put in a written statement. According to Ory, the trooper told the driver: “Just make sure you add in there that you had to slam on your brakes to avoid that Charger… That’s very important because we’re trying to locate this Charger right now.” Ory said the body camera was turned off before the driver provided a written statement, and the statement was ultimately marked “refused” rather than signed.12WAFB. Brian Kelly Reacts to New Video Evidence in Kyren Lacy Case
Why the Question Was Never Resolved
The Lafourche Parish DA’s office never formally filed charges. A grand jury hearing was scheduled for April 14, 2025, but did not take place.10KPEL. Kyren Lacy: Prosecutors Contradict State Police On April 12, 2025, one day after the DA’s report was completed and two days before the grand jury was to convene, Lacy died by suicide in Houston. Harris County deputies had responded to a weapons disturbance call involving Lacy and a female family member; Lacy reportedly discharged a firearm into the ground during an argument, then fled. A pursuit ended when his car crashed, and he was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.1NPR. Video Evidence Suggests LSU’s Kyren Lacy May Not Have Been Involved in Deadly Crash
No trial, no grand jury finding, no verdict. The record stops with two agencies disagreeing on paper.
The Wrongful Death Lawsuit
On April 10, 2026, Lacy’s parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the 19th Judicial District Court against the Louisiana State Police, Trooper Tyler Werner, and Sergeant Leeman Howard. The suit alleges a “cascade of errors,” including fabrication of the crash report, manipulation of video evidence, and witness coaching to falsely implicate Lacy. It specifically claims Trooper Werner instructed a witness to falsely state he “slammed on brakes” to avoid Lacy’s vehicle.13WAFB. Kyren Lacy’s Family Alleges State Police Botched Investigation Leading to His Death
The family claims Lacy’s suicide was the direct result of “being overwhelmed by the emotional distress, public scrutiny, reputational harm, loss of professional opportunities and mental anguish caused by defendants’ wrongful accusations, false arrest and malicious prosecution.” The suit asserts: “But for Defendants’ fabricated investigation, false arrest, and malicious prosecution, Mr. Lacy would be alive today.”14KALB. Parents of Former LSU Football Star Reportedly Suing Louisiana State Police for Wrongful Death15WDSU. Kyren Lacy Lawsuit Against State Police The family has requested a jury trial. As of mid-2026, the litigation is pending, and the Louisiana State Police have declined to comment further on the active case.13WAFB. Kyren Lacy’s Family Alleges State Police Botched Investigation Leading to His Death
The lawsuit may put the central factual dispute in front of a jury for the first time. Until then, the honest answer to the question is that Lacy was never convicted of anything, the only prosecutor’s office that reviewed the file concluded the evidence did not support the charges, and the police agency that built the case stands by it.