NFL draft prospect Kyren Lacy, a wide receiver who played at Louisiana State, was found dead Saturday in Houston.
The school confirmed Lacy’s death, saying in a written statement Sunday: “We’re saddened to learn of the tragic passing of former LSU Football student-athlete Kyren Lacy. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones, as well as his former teammates and coaches impacted by his passing.”
A school representative had confirmed earlier that Lacy died Saturday night in Houston. That person was unable to confirm a cause of death.
Lacy, 24, played three seasons for LSU after beginning his college career at Louisiana.
“The LSU Football family mourns the loss of Kyren Lacy,” the school’s football program wrote Sunday on social media.
Lacy turned himself in to authorities in January after they issued an arrest warrant for his alleged involvement in a fatal crash on a Louisiana highway in December. WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, reported that a grand jury had been set to consider Lacy’s case Monday.
According to Louisiana State police, Lacy met with troopers Jan. 12 and was booked into the Lafourche Parish Correctional Complex on charges related to that arrest warrant. The state police had obtained the warrant through the Lafourche Parish 17th Judicial Court for negligent homicide, felony hit and run and reckless operation of a vehicle for Lacy’s alleged role in a Dec. 17 crash on Louisiana Highway 20 that killed a 78-year-old man, identified by police as Herman Hall of Thibodaux, Louisiana.
The police said in a written statement released in January that, according to their investigation, Lacy was driving a 2023 Dodge Charger that was traveling south on Highway 20. According to police, Lacy “recklessly passed multiple vehicles at a high rate of speed by crossing the centerline and entering the northbound lane while in a designated No-Passing Zone.”
The driver of a pickup truck traveling northbound “abruptly braked and swerved to the right to avoid a head-on collision” with Lacy’s vehicle, police said. The driver of a 2017 Kia Cadenza that was traveling behind the pickup truck “took evasive action to avoid impact” with Lacy’s vehicle and, according to police, crossed the highway’s centerline and collided head-on with a southbound 2017 Kia Sorento, in which Hall was a passenger. Hall died after being transported to a hospital, police said.
“Following the crash, Lacy drove around the crash scene and fled south on [the highway] without stopping to render aid, call emergency services, or report his involvement in the crash,” the written release from police said.
Lacy had 58 catches for 866 yards and nine touchdowns last season. He was not invited to the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis but participated in LSU’s pro day March 26 for scouts, coaches and front office executives.
