Former American Idol star Caleb Kennedy has been sentenced to jail after a DUI incident in February 2022 that killed a 54-year-old man
A former American Idol star has been sentenced after causing the death of a married man after driving under the influence.
Caleb Kennedy has been sentenced to jail two years after the incident in 2022 in South Carolina where he crashed his truck. Then aged 17, the country singer’s vehicle careened into a private driveway. Tragically, Larry Duane Parris, 54, was hit by the vehicle after being stood outside his home workshop. The impact of the incident drove Parris inside the shop. He was found by his daughter and pronounced dead at a local hospital three hours later.
Now 20, Kennedy pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and causing death. Kennedy was sentenced to 25 years in prison and received a $25,100 fine. The sentence was suspended to eight years and $15,100, according to WSPA. On top of his sentence, Kennedy has to undergo mental health and substance abuse counselling. He also will face five years of probation.
According to the Greenville News, warrants said he was under the influence of cannabis via a vape pen as he was driving to his girlfriend’s house at the time of the deadly crash.
“This case shows the dangers of vape pens to society,” prosecutor Barry J. Barnette revealed in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. The singer’s attorney Ryan Beasley said, per Greenville News: “He’s got no record, and he was a minor when this happened. This wasn’t such an egregious act that you see most of the time, where people were drinking and driving then they hit somebody at night or going the wrong way down the road. This was a weird reaction from his prescription medicine and possibly THC.”
He added: “A very good person (Larry Parris) died, and I feel so bad for the Parris family. Caleb’s very remorseful and his heartfelt sympathies are extended to the Parris family. This sentencing starts the healing process for everybody involved in this situation.”
During Season 19 of American Idol, Kennedy made it to the final five contestants. Despite coming close to winning the hit show, he was removed from the competition because of a social media controversy that sprung up after a video resurfaced. The clip captured him in a hood that many thought looked similar to a Ku Klux Klan robe.
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