"He would've been cleared": Kyren Lacy’s lawyer says people judged him too fast before knowing the truth

Before there were charges, there were headlines. Before investigations could finish, there were tweets, threads, and YouTube breakdowns. Kyren Lacy, a young football player with a promising future, found himself at the center of a fatal December 2024 crash — and instantly, people had made up their minds. “They decided he was guilty before he ever got a chance to speak.” That’s the heartbreaking sentiment behind attorney Matt Ory’s defense of former LSU wide receiver Kyren Lacy and the tragic reminder that once the internet picks a villain, it rarely waits for evidence.

According to attorney Matt Ory, who has represented Lacy from the start, the narrative pushed online and in the press was far from the truth. “He didn’t cause this accident,” Ory stated firmly. The real story, according to the defense, was that another car crossed the centerline, colliding with the vehicle of the 78-year-old man who died in the crash.

Lacy, according to Ory, had momentarily passed a line of vehicles but had already returned safely to his own lane by the time the accident occurred. He was not under the influence of any substances, was not driving at an excessive or dangerous speed, and, most notably, did not make any physical contact with the vehicles involved in the collision. In other words, he was neither the cause nor a direct participant in the crash.


Lacy died by suicide on April 12, just hours after a police pursuit that took place earlier that same morning. The heartbreaking incident immediately reignited public attention on the case, bringing a wave of renewed scrutiny and emotion. In the aftermath, Ory stepped forward and spoke out forcefully, refusing to stay silent about what he believed had gone wrong.
“This was a gross miscarriage of justice,” he told local media. He claims that if the legal process had been allowed to play out fully, Kyren would’ve been cleared. “The evidence was clear — he didn’t do what they said he did. But the damage had already been done.”
It wasn’t just the legal system he pointed fingers at, it was everyone. From the investigators to social media to the relentless online speculation, Ory believes Kyren was suffocating under the weight of a public verdict that came far too early.
At 23, Lacy was preparing for the NFL Draft. Instead, he was trying to survive a legal firestorm, online criticism, and a world that had seemingly turned on him. And, according to Ory, there was no relief in sight even though the facts, he claims, were on Kyren’s side.
No charges had been filed. Toxicology was clean. And yet, Lacy became the face of a crime he never committed, all while trying to prove his innocence silently. It’s a chilling reminder of how fast reputations are destroyed in the digital age — especially for young Black athletes.
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