BATON ROUGE — The parents of former LSU football star Kyren Lacy allege Louisiana State Police's "fabricated investigation" into a deadly traffic crash blamed on their son is responsible for their son taking his own life months later.

Kenneth Lacy and Kandace Washington filed the lawsuit Friday against State Police and two troopers who investigated the traffic collision in Chackbay, north of Thibodaux, in January 2025. Kyren Lacy was arrested and his case was about to go before a grand jury when the football player died three months later. 

"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. "But for Defendants' fabricated investigation, false arrest and malicious prosecution, Mr. Lacy would be alive today."

Kyren Lacy was initially accused of negligent homicide in January 2025 after LSP said he "recklessly passed multiple vehicles at a high rate of speed," resulting in a head-on collision and the death of Herman Hall, 78. The driver of a truck abruptly braked and swerved to the right to avoid a head-on collision with an approaching Dodge Charger, believed to be driven by Lacy, troopers said.

The lawsuit claims that the troopers authored a false crash report blaming Lacy for the crash, which the suit says goes against video evidence. The lawsuit was filed two days before the 1-year anniversary of his death.

It also accuses one of the troopers of instructing a witness to say that Lacy caused the wreck, despite the witness saying "that lady behind me... she caused the wreck." The lawsuit says that when that witness refused to sign a written statement, the trooper marked it as "refused" and turned off his body camera.

The lawsuit says the troopers failed to identify or interview a passenger in Lacy's vehicle who was visible on video.

About three weeks after the crash, LSP interviewed the driver whom the lawsuit claims is responsible at the hospital. Body camera footage shows a trooper told her and her mother she would not be charged with anything, according to the lawsuit.

The trooper said "she's not being charged with nothing, so y'all don't stress about that at all," the lawsuit says. He also told them not to worry about the following too close ticket, saying the trooper who wrote it "kind of jumped the gun on that one a little bit."

The lawsuit also says the driver had been cited for following too closely in 2015 and 2020. LSP did not mention that history during the interview.

Based on the investigation, police obtained an arrest warrant for Lacy on charges of negligent homicide, felony hit and run and reckless operation of a vehicle. He was arrested Jan. 12, 2025, and booked into the Lafourche Parish Correctional Complex.

The suit goes on to say the troopers on scene ticketed the actual driver who caused the wreck for "following too close" before altering the citation to "crossing left of center" as a means to shift the blame toward Lacy. 

The lawsuit cites an independent review by the Lafourche District Attorney that found "several inconsistencies" in LSP's investigation, saying troopers falsely gave the impression that Lacy was actively passing vehicles at the time of the crash. Investigator Warren Callais completed the review April 11, 2025, the day before Lacy's suicide.

Lacy's parents say their son committed 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."

Lacy's parents seek damages for wrongful death, survival action and intentional infliction of emotional distress.