Hayden Braun, Contributing Writer
There were so many questions left unanswered when the news first came out that Kyren Lacy took his own life, especially after his alleged negligent homicide and hit-and-run charges.
His death came just days before a grand jury was set to hear the case from the December 2024 car crash — authorities initially said he caused the accident, a narrative that is now under fierce dispute.
Lacy’s lawyer Matt Ory came out with new evidence in a video segment on Oct. 3 from Louisiana news station HTV10. Surveillance footage shows Lacy likely did not cause the fatal crash as he was about 72 yards behind the collision when it happened.
Ory also claims the driver of the vehicle that fatally struck the victim Herman Hall allegedly told authorities she swerved to avoid a gold truck, not Lacy’s Dodge Charger, as was previously reported. Lacy did pass four people illegally in a no-passing zone but was not “actively passing” any vehicles at the time of the collision, Ory later clarified, according to People.
Louisiana State Police stated Ory’s claims are misleading because he hasn’t shown the full video. Their crash-reconstruction analysis used 21 surveillance videos that together “clearly show” Lacy’s car illegally crossing into oncoming traffic, forcing other drivers to take evasive action that led directly to the fatal collision, according to Bleacher Report.
A lot of people, myself included, were left asking not just why, but how it came to this outcome.
A star at Louisiana State University who just declared for the NFL draft facing serious legal allegations being crushed by unfathomable public scrutiny as well as institutional failure.
The case isn’t just a standalone incident either — it shines a harsh reality on how institutions often fail college athletes, from law enforcement, legal systems and the media to the universities themselves.
Social media will always be reactionary, and I wish people who claim to be journalists or work for big media outlets actually had journalistic integrity. When the news first broke, everyone automatically assumed he was guilty, completely disregarding the legal principle of “innocent until proven guilty.”
Jack Mack of Barstool is one of many who helped push a negative narrative around Lacy. Mack shared a news article about Lacy’s charges on X and added an out-of-context screenshot of Lacy doing his touchdown celebration, paused at a moment where it seems like he’s making gun gestures.
“Kyren Lacy is wanted on homicide charges, I tweet a photo of Kyren Lacy pretending to shoot somebody, called racist, all you can do is laugh,” Mack wrote in a tweet after receiving backlash from his original tweet.
Mack is a joke of a journalist and shouldn’t claim to be one after pushing such a dangerous and racist narrative around Lacy. Mack later gave an actual apology and posted a GoFundMe link to support Lacy’s family after Ory came out with the claims of Lacy’s innocence.
“I apologize for this tweet and want to properly acknowledge that I was wrong,” Mack said in a tweet. “I judged based off evidence reported and could have waited for further evidence to come out, like it did today.”
It doesn’t matter that Mack apologized. What’s done is done, and he can’t ever take back what he said or what his actions may have caused.
Lacy was young with his whole life ahead of him. It’s truly heartbreaking to see the collapse of someone put under so much pressure, surrounded by systems unwilling to help or uplift him. Whether Lacy is indicted or not, the real tragedy is that he had to fight this battle alone.