2025 NFL Draft Prospect Kyren Lacy Died After Houston Police Chase

Former Louisiana State University wide receiver Kyren Lacy was found dead at the age of 24 after a police chase.

According to a police report from Texas’ Harris County Sheriff’s Office, obtained by Us Weekly in the early hours of Monday, April 14, deputies responded to a disturbance involving Lacy and a female family member “at approximately 11:15 PM Saturday [April 12].”

The disturbance involved Lacy discharging “a firearm into the ground” before leaving the scene, situated within the Houston area. A Harris County constable then spotted Lacy’s vehicle “at approximately 11:35 PM,” leading him to attempt a traffic stop. Deputies then claimed that Lacy refused to pull over, initiating a “vehicle pursuit [that] took place spanning several miles” and ended in a crash.

The report, which was first reported on by FOX 8, noted that “upon attempting to take Lacy into custody and remove him from the vehicle,” Lacy was “pronounced deceased at the scene.” The car Lacy was driving was registered and insured in his name, per the report.

The NFL hopeful’s death was confirmed by relatives to local Louisiana news outlet WAFB 9 on Sunday, with no details regarding Lacy’s death confirmed at the time. An official cause of death has not yet been released, with the Sheriff’s Office telling Us, “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 Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences “will conduct an autopsy on Lacy.”

The official LSU Instagram account shared a tribute to Lacy on Sunday, as did several members of the sporting world including Odell Beckham Jr. and Rontrell Sandolph.

In the LSC Instagram Story, a black-and-white collage of Lacy featured, in addition to a caption that read, “The LSU Football family mourns the loss of Kyren Lacy.”

Lacy died days before a grand jury was set to commence arguments over the athlete’s alleged hit-and-run case, with the hearing scheduled to start on Monday, April 14.

Lacy was arrested in December 2024 and charged with negligent homicide, felony hit-and-run and reckless driving after authorities presumed he was involved in a fatal car accident that killed one individual and injured others. He was released on bond two days before declaring for the NFL Draft. He had maintained his innocence in the legal case.

In the hours that followed news of Lacy’s death, his lawyer released a statement to WAFB 9. “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,” Sunday’s statement read.

“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,” the statement continued. “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.”

The lawyer’s statement also noted that Lacy was a “young man with immense promise, and he was crushed under the weight of an irresponsible and prejudiced process.”

It continued further, “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 read. “There was never a presumption of innocence which was exemplified by the NFL pulling his draft card over mere accusations without affording him the slightest chance to defend himself. The pressure and perception likely became unbearable.”

The statement concluded, “Let us be absolutely clear: This is far from over. We will be demanding a full and transparent review of how this investigation was conducted and why. Those responsible for this gross miscarriage of justice must and will be held accountable. In the meantime, we again urge everyone to respect the Lacy family’s privacy and allow them the dignity to mourn the loss of their beloved son.”