In an interview with HTV 10, the attorney representing former LSU football star Kyren Lacy disputed Louisiana State Police’s statements that his client was at fault in a deadly crash in December.
Lacy was arrested in January for charges of negligent homicide, felony hit-and-run and reckless operation of a vehicle after police said he “recklessly passed multiple vehicles at a high rate of speed,” resulting in a head-on collision and the death of 78-year-old Herman Hall.
Lacy took his own life while driving in Houston on April 12, two days before he was set to appear before a grand jury.
Lacy’s attorney, Matt Ory, provided the findings of the Lafourche Parish district attorney’s office compared to the surveillance footage and the state police’s report of the accident in the interview.
Ory disputed the fact that Lacy is at fault for the accident. He said that Lacy did pass four vehicles in a no-pass zone, but Ory claimed Lacy returned into the lane about 90 yards behind where the crash happened.
“He was 72.6 yards [away] before they collide. He is almost a football field away back in his lane. You can see another car come to a stop and then Kyren Lacy come to a stop,” Ory said.
LSP issued a statement to media regarding the new claims.
“Investigative findings revealed that Mr. Lacy’s reckless driving while approaching oncoming traffic led to the events of the crash. The findings were presented to the 17th Judicial District Court, which approved an arrest warrant based on the evidence collected. As with all investigations leading to arrest, the subjects of the investigation are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law,” the statement said.
LSP also said it doesn’t dispute that Lacy was behind the crash scene, but said “his swerving, passing cars and reckless operation caused the series of crash events.”
Ory claimed that Lacy was too far away from the crash to fit the definition of him actively passing at the time of the crash.
“In the conclusion of the district attorney’s report, [state police] gave the impression that Kyren Lacy was actively passing vehicles when the crash occurred, which is incorrect,” Ory said.
Ory also said the driver of the second vehicle involved, which was the one that hit Hall’s vehicle, gave statements saying she tried to avoid a gold truck she was behind rather than Lacy’s green Dodge Charger.
Ory provided bodycam footage of a law enforcement officer speaking with the driver of the gold truck. The footage shows the trooper asking the driver to write a written statement and include that “you had to slam on your brakes to avoid that Charger.”
The gold truck’s driver said the woman driving the car behind him caused the wreck when she pulled into the other lane to avoid hitting the back of the truck.
The officer’s body cam was also turned off as the driver wrote his report, Ory said.
Ory said Lacy had a passenger in his vehicle at the time of the crash that the LSP failed to bring in for questioning.
“There was another passenger in Kyren Lacy’s car. They knew this. They have video footage of this individual getting out of the car. Why didn’t you ascertain his identity? Why would you not want to hear the person with one of the best views of this incident? Why would you not bring him in for questioning?”
