Following a police pursuit, Kyren Lacy, a former wide receiver for Louisiana State University, was reportedly discovered dead at the age of 24.
In a report released on Sunday, April 13, FOX 8 reported that deputies were called to a disturbance involving Lacy and a family member “shortly after 11:00 PM Saturday [April 12].”
On Sunday, April 13, FOX 8 stated that Lacy and a family member were involved in a disturbance that was reported to deputies “shortly after 11:00 PM Saturday [April 12].”
Before fleeing the Houston region, Lacy reportedly fired “a gun into the ground during the argument” during the disturbance, according to the site. Then, “roughly 30 minutes later,” a Harris County constable claimed to have spotted Lacy’s car, prompting him to try to stop him. Lacy “refused to pull over, initiating a pursuit that lasted several miles and ended in a crash,” according to deputies.
Lacy was “pronounced dead at the scene,” according to the police report, the source reported.
Although no information of Lacy’s death was confirmed at the time, family members confirmed the NFL hopeful’s passing to local Louisiana news source WAFB 9 on Sunday. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office reportedly told FOX 8 that “Once the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Homicide investigation is complete, it will be forwarded to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office Civil Rights Division for review, as is standard for any death which takes place during an attempted arrest.” The Sheriff’s Office has not yet disclosed the official cause of death.
According to the report by FOX 8, the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences “will conduct an autopsy on Lacy.”
On Sunday, a number of athletes, including Rontrell Sandolph and Odell Beckham Jr., sent their respects to Lacy, as did the official LSU Instagram account.
A black-and-white collage of Lacy was included in the LSC Instagram Story along with the remark, “The LSU Football family mourns the loss of Kyren Lacy.”
Lacy passed away just a few days before the grand jury hearing on the athlete’s suspected hit-and-run case was supposed to begin on Monday, April 14.
Authorities believed Lacy was involved in a tragic vehicle collision that killed one person and injured others, leading to his arrest in December 2024 and subsequent charges of reckless driving, felony hit-and-run, and negligent homicide. Two days prior to his NFL Draft declaration, he was freed on bond. In the court proceedings, he had insisted on his innocence.
Lacy’s attorney gave a statement to WAFB 9 in the hours after the news of his passing broke. “Kyren was scheduled to have his matter heard before a grand jury tomorrow wherein we were very confident the evidence, after being fully collected and reviewed, would lead to a declination of charges,” the statement stated.
“From the very beginning, this so-called investigation took on the appearance of an overzealous, targeted effort – what can only be described as a witch hunt – fueled by who Kyren was and the public profile he carried,” according to the statement. “The decision by the investigating agency to charge him at all, in our view, was not only unjustified, it was disturbing. It’s imperative to understand the Lafourche Parish District Attorney, to this day, has not formally charged Kyren.”
In the statement, the attorney also mentioned Lacy’s “young man with immense promise, and he was crushed under the weight of an irresponsible and prejudiced process.”
It went on and on, “The negative barrage on social media, the circulation of his mugshot by nearly every news outlet rather than a standard photo, the recent civil lawsuit filed against him that named another defendant who mysteriously wasn’t charged with a crime, only him, and the overall tone of coverage painted a deeply biased picture before he ever had the chance to defend himself,” the statement continued. The NFL revoked his draft card based on unfounded allegations without giving him an opportunity to defend himself, demonstrating that there was never a presumption of innocence. It’s conceivable that the strain and impression grew intolerable.
“Let us be absolutely clear: This is far from over,” the statement said at the end. We will be calling for a thorough and open examination of the methods and motivations behind this probe. It is imperative that those accountable for this egregious injustice face consequences. Meanwhile, we would want to remind everyone to respect the privacy of the Lacy family and give them the time and space they need to grieve the loss of their cherished son.
