The family of late Louisiana State University football star Kyren Lacy has filed a lawsuit against the Louisiana State Police, claiming the investigation into Lacy contributed to his untimely death..
Lacy’s family blames state authorities for what they claim was “reckless misconduct,” arguing the stress of the investigation into the young athlete led to his death by suicide in April 2025. Lacy was 24.
The football player was accused of causing a fatal car crash in Louisiana that killed a 78-year-old man and injured two others in December 2024. In April 2025, right before his case was scheduled to go before a grand jury, Lacy was found dead in his vehicle after fleeing police.
“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,” the lawsuit said, obtained by local news outlet WBRZ. “But for Defendants’ fabricated investigation, false arrest and malicious prosecution, Mr. Lacy would be alive today.”
Lacy’s family claim he was driven to commit suicide after “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 lawsuit claimed authorities authored a false crash report, which goes against video evidence presented by Lacy’s attorney, Matt Ory, in October 2025.
One police officer is accused of instructing a witness to say Lacy was responsible for causing the car accident, despite the individual saying on body camera, “That lady behind me… she caused the wreck.”
According to the lawsuit, the witness refused to sign a written statement. The officer involved then allegedly marked it as “refused” and turned off his camera.
Three weeks after the accident, Louisiana State Police spoke to the individual that the lawsuit claimed was actually responsible for the wreck. Per the lawsuit, officers told the woman and her mother, “She’s not being charged with nothing, so y’all don’t stress about that at all.”
The lawsuit cites an independent review by the Lafourche District Attorney that found “several inconsistencies” in the initial police investigation, including the allegedly false impression that Lacy was actively passing vehicles at the time of the crash.
When Lacy’s lawyer presented new evidence suggesting Lacy was not responsible for the crash in October 2025, LSP countered with their own new video.
“All evidence collected supports the conclusion that Lacy’s reckless operation of [his] green [Dodge] Charger in oncoming traffic triggered the chain of events involving the other drivers, ultimately resulting in the fatal crash,” authorities claimed.
Us Weekly has reached out to Louisiana State Police for comment.
Lacy was arrested in January 2025 and charged with negligent homicide, felony hit and run and reckless operation of a vehicle. He was released on $151,000 bail.
The former LSU player died by suicide just months after he declared for the 2025 NFL Draft, where he was expected to garner attention from multiple teams.
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