COLUMBIA, S.C. — Warrants allege that former “American Idol” contestant Caleb Kennedy was under the influence of marijuana when his truck crashed into a garage outside a home in Pacolet, killing a man.
Kennedy, 17, was charged Tuesday with felony driving under the influence resulting in death and is being held without bond at the Spartanburg County Detention Center.
If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
Killed was Larry Duane Parris, 54, who died at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center.
The arrest warrants, taken out by the South Carolina Highway Patrol, state Kennedy was driving a 2011 Ford F-150 pickup on West Murph Road in Pacolet shortly after noon Tuesday when the truck left the road, traveled down a long driveway and crashed into a garage.
Photos from the scene show the truck all the way inside the garage.
Kennedy was arrested at 7:21 p.m. Tuesday after being treated at Spartanburg Regional.
Ryan Beasley, Kennedy’s lawyer, said in an interview Wednesday that Kennedy had taken a hit from a vape, given to him by a friend at a local store. He had a bad reaction as he drove to his girlfriend’s house in Union, Beasley said.
“He was lost,” Beasley said.
Beasley said when Kennedy realized what had happened, he tried to resuscitate Parris, holding him in his arms and crying.
“He’s just a kid,” Beasley said.
During a bond hearing Wednesday, Kennedy cried when he heard the 911 tape of Parris’ daughter imploring, “Daddy, please. Daddy, please.”
Several Parris family members were in the courtroom for the bond hearing.
Beasley said he will ask for another bond hearing in General Sessions Court, hopefully to be held Feb. 21.
Beasley said in similar cases defendants have been given a bond.
Kennedy, a Roebuck native, sang his way to the final five contestants on “American Idol” in 2021 but left the show May 12 after he told producers about a video that showed him sitting with someone dressed in what appeared to be a Ku Klux Klan hood.The video was circulated at his school, Dorman High School, and made its way onto social media.
Kennedy’s mother, Anita Guy, said at the time the video was made when her son was 12. The hood was intended to look like one from the movie “The Strangers,” she said. She believed it was leaked by someone jealous of her son’s success.
Kennedy was on season 19 of American Idol, which premiered Feb. 14, 2021.
Kennedy has been performing in local shows in South Carolina since he left “Idol.”
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