Former Penn State football player dies in high-profile crash. Program offers thoughts, prayers

Former Penn State cornerback A.J. Lytton died in a three-car accident Saturday morning, according to the Maryland State Police.

Lytton was one of two passengers — along with Minnesota Vikings cornerback and former high school teammate Khyree Jackson — in a vehicle driven by former high school teammate Isaiah Hazel. Their vehicle that was struck by another vehicle that investigators believe attempted to change lanes at a high rate of speed.

Jackson and Hazel were pronounced dead at the scene, while Lytton was taken to University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead. No other injuries involving drivers and passengers in the other vehicles were reported, and an investigation into the crash remains ongoing.

Lytton, Hazel and Jackson — all between the ages of 23 and 24 — played high school football together at Dr. Henry A. Wise before playing separately in college. Jackson competed for Alabama and Oregon before he was taken in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, Lytton played for Florida State before transferring to Penn State, and Hazel spent time between Maryland and Charlotte.

Penn State offered its thoughts and prayers in a post on the football program’s Twitter account Saturday afternoon.

“The Penn State Football Family mourns the loss of former Nittany Lion, A.J. Lytton. Our thoughts & prayers are with his family, friends, high school & all involved in the tragedy,” the post said.

Lytton played high school football in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. The former Nittany Lion was a top 100 player in the country coming out of high school and began his career at Florida State, where he spent two seasons, before transferring to Penn State for the 2021 season.

He was a special teams standout for the Nittany Lions as a gunner, playing in 11 games and contributing one tackle.

Lytton entered the transfer portal after his only season at Penn State but did not play at another program after that.