Former LSU Tigers wide receiver Kyren Lacy died by suicide on April 12, 2025, as he was under investigation for involvement in a Dec. 17, 2024, crash, resulting in the death of 78-year-old Herman Hall in Chackbay, Louisiana. An arrest warrant from January stated that Lacy was cited with felony negligent homicide and misdemeanor reckless driving.

This week, Lacy’s attorney, Matthew Ory, released a video from the scene, further denying that his client caused the crash.

“We know from data that Kyren Lacy did in fact pass four cars. There’s no disputing that. Further north, Kyren Lacy passed four cars,” Ory said.

“However, he was back in his lane of travel, 92.3 yards — back in his lane — behind Mr. Hall. At the time of impact, he’s 72.6 yards behind the vehicles at the time of impact. Key word: behind the vehicles. That is not how this story was ever painted. Never.”

On Monday, multiple ESPN personalities covered the story and cited Ory’s claim as fact.

During the postgame coverage of Monday Night Football, Ryan Clark accused police officers of manufacturing evidence against Lacy, describing him as an “innocent man” and blaming law enforcement for his suicide.

Former LSU WR Kyren Lacy died by suicide amid a crash probe. After ESPN’s Ryan Clark, Scott Van Pelt, and Pat McAfee defended him, new police video contradicted their claims.

Former LSU WR Kyren Lacy died by suicide amid a crash probe. After ESPN’s Ryan Clark, Scott Van Pelt, and Pat McAfee defended him, new police video contradicted their claims.

(Imagn Images)

“Following the crash, LSP conducted a detailed investigation with the assistance of crash reconstruction experts and with all available information at the time,” Clark said, citing a video from Lacy’s lawyer Matthew Ory, in which it shows Lacy behind the other vehicles. 

Clark continued, “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. 

Host Scott Van Pelt added that he and Clark discussed the story earlier in the day, that he agreed with everything Clark said, and that the story left him shaking.

“I can’t recall ever seeing something that made me react viscerally to the point that I felt like my hands were trembling. There is video to show this is not what happened, and this young man took his life.”

Van Pelt eventually apologized for how he responded to the story Tuesday night on the air.

Earlier in the day, ESPN host Pat McAfee made similar statements about Lacy and the crash:

“[Lacy] ends up getting charged for this entire thing and ends up killing himself before we even get a chance to see what he could become, what he can do for his family, his community and everything like that. So this is another thing that was just like false allegations, falsely reported, [and] changed his entire life and then now we’re finding out after he’s dead that he didn’t do it… It’s not good. We gotta get that shit right.”

“Then in April is when he ended up taking his life. Allegedly, he was at a family gathering beforehand, like a cookout or something like that. Something took place, and then he leaves, crashes, and then shoots himself afterwards.”

However, it appears that the story of three ESPN personalities pushed is not accurate. On Tuesday, law enforcement released video that appears to contradict the story ESPN told. In the video, Lacy’s car is seen speeding and passing other drivers. It can then be seen braking and swerving back into the correct lane, seconds before a crash is heard off-screen:

On Tuesday, however, law enforcement released video contradicting ESPN’s story. The new video appears to show Lacy’s car, the Charger, speeding and passing other drivers. It can then be seen braking and swerving back into the correct lane seconds before a crash is heard off-screen. 

Following the release of the video, the Louisiana State Police released the following statement:

 “All evidence collected supports the conclusion that Lacy’s reckless operation of the green Charger in oncoming traffic triggered the chain of events involving the other drivers, ultimately resulting in the fatal crash.”

To his credit, McAfee issued an update Wednesday at the end of the first hour.

“We try to cover news that we feel is good for people to learn, to potentially provide more context. On Monday, we learned of a video that was made publicly available by Kyren Lacy’s lawyer. We thought it showed more context to the accident that led to the tragic loss of two lives: Herman Hall and Kyren Lacy, who ended up killing himself because of the fallout that he was accused,” McAfee began.

“We thought we had more context. Now, more video has been made available and it shows even more context. It shows Kyren Lacy driving on the wrong side of the road and could have easily made the case that he caused the car to swerve and the tragic accident. We apologize for adding any more heat. We will continue to stay on top of the news breakings and this story. This is tragically sad and involves an athlete’s legacy.”

In addition, Van Pelt tells OutKick that he plans to address the new video on Wednesday and was not on television Tuesday. 

That leaves Ryan Clark. 

OutKick has contacted Clark but has not heard back. We find this particularly notable as Clark voiced the strongest opinion, vilifying the Louisiana police officers. 

In a separate video on X, Clark denounced Officer Tyler Werner as a “criminal” and suggested his actions were racially motivated.

There is no evidence of that. There is no reason to view Werner as a “criminal.” As a factual matter, Clark owes Werner an apology and owes it to his audience to correct the record. Moreover, ESPN owes the entire Louisiana Police Department an apology.

ESPN did not respond to a request for comment.Â