Kyren Lacy was a standout wide receiver at Louisiana State University and an NFL prospect when he was falsely charged with negligent homicide in January 2025.
The 24‑year‑old took his own life in April 2025 — one day after a prosecutor’s investigation cleared him of wrongdoing, according to a lawsuit his family filed last week against the Louisiana State Police in state court.
But it does not appear Lacy had been informed of the district attorney’s decision because the report was not made public until months later.
Lacy’s suicide also took place two days before what the family calls the fabricated evidence against him was scheduled to go before a grand jury, and less than two weeks before the NFL draft, where he feared he would go undrafted even though he had once been projected as a top‑50 pick.
In essence, the fabricated evidence manufactured by the Louisiana State Police drove him to suicide, according to the claim filed on April 10.
Tragically, on or about April 12, 2025-one day after the District Attorney’s report cleared him-Mr. Lacy died by suicide in Houston, Texas, 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.
At the time of his arrest and prosecution, Mr. Lacy was a promising wide receiver for Louisiana State University with aspirations of playing in the National Football League.
The false charges destroyed his athletic career, subjected him to nationwide public condemnation, and caused him to lose endorsement opportunities, draft prospects, and his reputation in the community.
The extreme emotional distress inflicted by Defendants’ intentional and reckless misconduct was the direct and proximate cause of Mr. Lacy’s decision to take his own life. But for Defendants’ fabricated investigation, false arrest, and malicious prosecution, Mr. Lacy would be alive today.
Listed as defendants in the lawsuit are Louisiana State Trooper Tyler Werner and Sgt. Lehman Howard, who are accused of driving Lacy to suicide through “negligent, reckless, and intentional acts and omissions, including the fabricated investigation, false arrest, malicious prosecution, and continued public defamation.”
The Crash
Lacy’s arrest stemmed from an incident that took place on Dec. 17, 2024, that resulted in the death of a 78-year-old man named Herman Hall in a head-on crash with another car not driven by Lacy.
Louisiana State Police said Lacy had been driving his Dodge Charger on a southbound stretch of a two‑lane highway in Chackbay, Lafourche Parish, when he pulled into the opposite lane to pass several cars at a high rate of speed.
Meanwhile, upon seeing the Dodge Charger approaching, the man driving the pickup truck in the northbound lane pulled off to the side of the road to avoid a collision.
And the Kia Cadenza driver behind the car then pulled into the oncoming lane and struck the car head-on, killing Hall.
Louisiana State Police arrested Lacy on Jan. 12 on charges of negligent homicide, felony hit-and-run and reckless operation of a vehicle, according to a press release that stated the following:
The driver of the Dodge, later identified as 24-year-old Kyren Lacy of Thibodaux, recklessly passed multiple vehicles at a high rate of speed by crossing the centerline and entering the northbound lane while in a designated No-Passing Zone.
As Lacy was illegally passing the other vehicles, the driver of a northbound pickup truck abruptly braked and swerved to the right to avoid a head-on collision with the approaching Dodge.
Traveling behind the pickup was a 2017 Kia Cadenza whose driver swerved left to avoid the on coming Dodge Charger. As the Kia Cadenza took evasive action to avoid impact with the Dodge, it crossed the centerline and collided head-on with a southbound 2017 Kia Sorento.
Following the crash, Lacy drove around the crash scene and fled south on LA Hwy 20 without stopping to render aid, call emergency services, or report his involvement in the crash.
Video Evidence
But video evidence that surfaced after his death apparently contradicted the police report, showing Lacy had pulled back into the southbound lane 92 yards from where the crash occurred and 73 yards away when it did occur.
“The crash was caused by the driver of the northbound Kia Cadenza following too closely behind a gold pickup truck,” the claim states.
“When the pickup truck slowed (without emergency braking), the Cadenza driver swerved left into the southbound lane to avoid rear-ending the truck, colliding head-on with the oncoming Sorento.”
“This action was not prompted by Mr. Lacy’s vehicle, as he was already back in his proper lane and at a safe distance,” the claim continues.
The claim also states that Lacy continued driving, believing he had nothing to do with the crash.
The claim also accuses Louisiana state police officers of making false statements in their reports, misrepresenting the positions of the vehicles, fabricating witness statements and attempting to coach and coerce the man driving the pickup truck in the northbound lane to say he slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting Lacy.
But the driver had told police he merely pulled to the side of the road without applying his brakes because he was driving less than 30 mph.
“That lady behind me … she caused the wreck,” the driver told the cops at the scene, according to the claim.
But the driver of the Kia Cadenza was not cited, even though she had a “documented history of tailgating violations,” the claim states.
Watch the video evidence below that shows three different clips of the green Dodge Charger passing vehicles in the opposite lane before making its way back into its own lane before the sound of the crash can be heard.
‘To the NFL, Shame on You’
Lacy was unaware he was being investigated for the crash when he announced on Instagram that he had declared for the NFL draft on Dec. 19, 2024, two days after the crash.
The response from his followers was very positive and supportive with commenters expressing hope he would be drafted by their favorite team.
At the time, Lacy was named the country’s sixth-best prospect at the wide receiver position, meaning he could possibly be drafted in the first round.
But his future began falling apart a month later after police announced his arrest. Within minutes, the Instagram post that had generated such positive feedback was inundated with negative comments, telling him to “enjoy prison” and “your career is over, man.”
“Declaring for the draft after you killed someone racing your car is crazy work dawg. I hope for nothing but the worst for you sick individual fr,” said one comment that received 100 likes.
Lacy was also disinvited from the NFL Scouting Combine in February, the annual event that allows college players to perform physical and mental tests in front of National Football League coaches, general managers, and scouts.
“One day everybody loved him, and then the next day everybody hated him,” Lacy’s girlfriend, Cydney Theard, told Men’s Health in an in-depth report on his arrest.
Believing his future was about was falling apart, Lacy took his own life on April 12, 2025, one day after an investigation by the Lafourche Parish District Attorney’s Office determined “uncovered the extensive inconsistencies and falsifications in Werner’s crash report,” the claim states.
Lacy, who was visiting family in Texas, had gotten into an argument with his brother and a cousin, demanding the keys to his car, threatening to take his own life if they would not give him the keys. They gave him the keys and he drove off, and his cousin called 911.
Harris County constables spotted him and tried to pull him over, pursuing him for several miles before he crashed the car. When the constables approached the car to arrest him, they discovered he had shot himself to death.
Prosecutors were planning on presenting their evidence on April 14 to a grand jury, which would have cleared him, but they never got the opportunity, the claim states.
Lacy’s suicide also took place 10 days before the NFL draft that had been scheduled for April 24-26, 2025.
On April 18, 2025, Lacy’s agent, Rocky Arceneaux, issued a statement on the social media platform, X, berating the NFL for rushing to judgment.
“To the NFL, shame on you for revoking Kyren’s Combine invitation without acknowledgment or consideration of the facts,” Arceneaux wrote.
“As stated by his attorney, there was a high probability the felony charge of negligent homicide would have been declined by a grand jury this past Monday.”
The district attorney’s report was released to the media in October 2025, stating that the “report provided to this office by Louisiana State Police has several inconsistencies which were used to base their opinion and conclusion of the crash.”
“The evidence submitted in the crash report does support that Kyren Lacy was passing four vehicles (including an 18-wheeler) in a clearly marked no passing zone,” the report states.
“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.”
