As a writer for The Battalion, I’m supposed to write about things that affect our campus. I can talk about greater situations in the world, sure, but I should keep my topics narrow so they align with ideas that are relevant to Texas A&M students. 

But this topic has nothing to do with A&M — rather, another SEC school — and I don’t care. This is bigger than you can imagine, and it would be unacceptable for me not to use my voice to address something that means so much to me and has greater implications on our society. 

Kyren Lacy, a former LSU football wide receiver and NFL hopeful, was charged with negligent homicide, felony hit-and-run with death and reckless operation of a vehicle in connection with a fatal car crash involving a 78-year-old veteran, Herman Hall. 

After the incident in December 2024, he turned himself in on Jan. 12, 2025, and he was later released on bail. After being pursued by authorities in Houston, he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, ending his professional football dreams. 

Lacy was one of the most exciting players I have seen in college football. I remember during A&M’s 2024 game against LSU — where he torched our team for over 100 yards — being more excited to see him play than our Aggies. 

He was a showman, a force on the field and a pleasure to watch. 

When I heard about his passing, I couldn’t believe it. I sat in my car and wept for him, pleading with God to be with his family. Lacy struggled with mental health issues, and as someone who deals with that too, it oddly made me feel attached to him and the struggles he went through. 

But, there was another reason for my reaction to his death. Ever since the incident, I genuinely couldn’t believe that he would do something like that. I had a gut feeling that maybe there was more to the story than what the public knew, that there was an inconsistency with the entire situation that hadn’t been revealed. 

That gut feeling was correct. 

This past month, Lacy’s lawyer revealed that he was not liable for the accident, with new evidence to back up his claim released by Louisiana State Police.. Not only did he not commit the crime, but he was well past the crime scene. Law enforcement manipulated witnesses to say that he was at the crime scene and used minimal evidence to try and convict him. 

Police brutality and wrongful enforcement of the law have been a topic of interest for decades among Americans. With George Floyd’s death, that moment of protest and political unrest during COVID-19 felt like the first time since the Civil Rights Movement that people could see a need for change in the systems that oppress minorities in policing. 

Yet, it’s clear that we’re still facing the same issues. Lacy was wrongfully convicted, a familiar tale of intentional brutality that stretches back way beyond the Central Park Five arrests. When someone as famous as Lacy can fall victim to these kinds of injustices, imagine the number of people that it happens to that we don’t hear about. 

And not only did the injustice of this case kill him, but the media abetted it too. 

People like Barstool’s Jack McGuire made claims that cemented opinions of Lacy’s guilt without actual evidence behind it, with some, including McGuire, now apologizing for it. This perpetuated criticism on social media for something that he didn’t do. 

What happened to innocent until proven guilty? To be blunt, people need to learn to shut up when they don’t know all of the facts. Spewing misinformation and hate led the internet to make fun of him, probably causing Lacy’s mental state to deteriorate even more. 

Imagine people accusing you of something that you didn’t do, knowing you didn’t do it. Imagine what that can do to your head. The media and social media are powerful drugs — it can be used for good, but it’s often used for evil, just like in this situation. 

Through all of this, there is one thing that can objectively be said through all of the finger-pointing: We failed him. 

At the end of Lacy’s life, he had nowhere to turn to. He clearly felt that no one could help him, and that’s a world no one should live in. It saddens me that this was his outcome, but I’m not surprised. We have become too quick to treat human life like a headline, thinking the first thing we see is the absolute truth when it most of the time is far from it. 

Mental health is not focused on enough, not as much as it should. What happened to Lacy shouldn’t have happened, and this tragic situation should have been prevented. Instead, we now talk about him in the past tense and talk about “What ifs” and “Could have been-s.” 

Lacy died thinking the entire world hated him. He died feeling that any chance of hope in his life was gone. We, as a society, alienated him when he needed us most, and we should never be forgiven for it. The only thing we can do is learn from our mistakes and make sure it doesn’t happen again. 

When A&M played LSU this football season,  I hope you took a moment to stop and think about Lacy. He should be here with us, celebrating the game he loved to play. Instead, he is now a symbol and evidence of an already broken law enforcement system and society, the systems that failed him. 

If you are struggling, there are resources that are waiting to help you. University Health Services has mental health resources for you to use, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can also be accessed by calling 988. There are people in your life who love you more than you know yourself. It’s not worth it. Lacy had all the talent in the world, yet the pain he felt was too overwhelming. 

We just never told him he wasn’t alone, and that’s the biggest regret we will all share. 

Joshua Abraham is a kinesiology senior and opinion columnist for The Battalion.