Falcons fire LaTroy Lewis amid investigation into sexual assault allegations while at Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Atlanta Falcons fired assistant coach LaTroy Lewis on Friday after the Ann Arbor Police Department confirmed an investigation into an alleged sexual assault involving Lewis that occurred in 2024 when he was a staffer at Michigan.
The assault accusations were first made public on social media on Thursday night by reporter Justin Spiro.
“The Ann Arbor Police Department was just recently made aware of allegations regarding a sexual assault reported to have occurred on December 5, 2024,” strategic communications manager Chris Page wrote in an email to The Athletic. “The AAPD Detective Bureau launched an immediate investigation into the incident. This investigation remains active and ongoing.”
The initial statement did not identify a suspect, but Page later confirmed that Lewis is the suspect in the investigation.
The Falcons fired Lewis as assistant defensive line coach hours after they issued a statement saying they were aware of allegations involving Lewis and were “in the process of gathering information.”
The allegations stem from Lewis’ time at Michigan, where he worked from 2022 through early 2025, first as a graduate assistant and later as assistant defensive line coach. The woman in this case met Lewis through a dating app, her lawyer Karen Truszkowski told The Athletic, and communicated with Lewis primarily through text messages and social media.
Truszkowski said the two met in person for the first time in December 2024 at a hotel in Ann Arbor, where the woman was staying for a work function. Truszkowski said the woman had decided to end the relationship and was meeting with Lewis so he could return gifts she had given him. The alleged assault happened that night.
“He raped her, assaulted her, beat her up,” Truszkowski said.
Truszkowski said the woman reported the assault to Michigan coach Sherrone Moore the following day. The woman did not have a physical relationship with Moore, Truszkowski said, but communicated with him through text messages and social media.
“As a lay person, she assumed that because he was the head football coach that he would want to address it, knowing it was one of his coaches that had done this,” Truszkowski said.
Moore told the woman there was nothing he could do, Truszkowski said, and later attempted to pursue a physical relationship with the woman.
“Instead of being supportive and reporting it, as he was required to do, he started to weaponize it against her,” Truszkowski said.
Ellen Michaels, an attorney representing Moore, said those claims against her client are false.
“Sherrone Moore did not fail to report misconduct, did not reward wrongdoing, and did not harass anyone,” Michaels said in a statement released to The Athletic.
A court clerk confirmed to The Athletic that the woman involved in this case initiated a personal protective order case against Lewis in Washtenaw County 22nd Circuit Court, but no documents were publicly available, and the order had not yet been granted.
Police in Milford, Mich., responded to a separate incident involving Lewis and the same woman who initiated the protective order in January 2025. According to an incident report obtained by The Athletic, police responded to reports of a loud argument but closed the case due to a lack of evidence to support criminal charges.
The alleged sexual assault occurred near the end of the 2024 football season, shortly before Lewis was hired as the defensive line coach at Toledo. Lewis was hired by the Falcons on Feb. 10.
Allegations involving Lewis add to the turmoil already surrounding Michigan’s football program. Michigan fired Moore for cause in December, citing credible evidence that he engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Moore was taken into police custody later that day and faces charges of third-degree home invasion, stalking, and breaking and entering.
Truszkowski said she approached Michigan’s general counsel in January to report the alleged assault. She said she’s also spoken with Jenner & Block, the law firm conducting an external investigation of Moore’s tenure as head coach and the culture and practices of Michigan’s athletic department. However, Truszkowski said her client has not yet spoken to investigators because of confidentiality concerns.
In a statement, Michigan spokesman Paul Corliss called the allegations involving Lewis “deeply concerning” and urged anyone with relevant information to contact Jenner & Block.
“The work is ongoing, and we will be able to share more when it is completed,” Corliss said of the external investigation.
