‘American Idol’ Top 5 Finalist Sentenced to Prison Over Fatal Crash

Heavy A former "American Idol" contestant has been sentenced to jail.

Former “American Idol” season 19 finalist Caleb Kennedy will spend more time behind bars after pleading guilty on November 18, 2024, to driving under the influence in 2022, which led to a fatal crash, according to the Greenville News.

On February 8, 2022, Kennedy was driving his Ford F-150 truck in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, when he veered off the road, hitting and killing 54-year-old Larry Duane Parris, who was working in his garage, per FOX Carolina News. Kennedy, who was 17 at the time, was arrested that day and has been in jail since, the outlet said.

Kennedy’s trial was scheduled to begin on November 18, WYFF reported, but the 20-year-old opted to plead guilty to a felony DUI resulting in death, among other charges, rather than go to trial.

Caleb Kennedy Will Serve Shortened Prison Sentence, Per Sources

After the 2022 crash, WSPA reported that Kennedy told police that he had taken a hit of a marijuana vape pen before driving. According to the outlet, officials theorized in court that day that Kennedy “may have had a bad reaction to a mixture of his prescribed medication and the vape.”

At the time, Kennedy’s defense lawyer, Ryan Beasley, told the court that “one thing they do know is that alcohol was not involved” and that Kennedy was “very scared and very sorry,” WSPA reported.

“He has never been in trouble,” WSPA reported Beasley telling the court. “I mean he was holding the victim in his arms when the police got there. He was distraught.”

After Kennedy pled guilty on November 18, Judge J. Derham Cole Jr. sentenced him to 25 years in prison, according to The State. However, the sentence will be suspended after eight years, with five years of active prison time and three years in home detention, the paper reported.

Kennedy was credited with serving 1,014 days, so his actual remaining prison time will likely be about a year, Beasley told The State. The judge also required Kennedy to undergo mental health and substance abuse counseling, random drug testing, and have no contact with the victim’s family, per the paper.

Beasley released a statement on Kennedy’s behalf, The State reported, which said, “First of all, Caleb again wants to express his heartfelt sympathies to the Parris family. Caleb fully accepts his responsibility for this accident and hopes for healing for everyone affected by this tragedy.”

Caleb Kennedy Withdrew From ‘American Idol’ Season 19 Amid Controversy

Kennedy, an aspiring country singer, had just turned 16 when he auditioned for “Idol” judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie, and landed a spot on season 19.

“I want to be like a legend, I want to be somebody who changed country music,” he told producers on his first episode in 2021, eerily adding, “Kinda want to be an outlaw, too.”

Kennedy said on the show that he “kind of just lost myself” after his parents divorced, but found himself through writing songs. He auditioned with a song he wrote called “Nowhere” that began with the lyrics, “Just you and me, I don’t get a lot of second chances, I get too deep before realizing my circumstances.”

The teen impressed the judges and earned his ticket to Hollywood, sailing through much of the competition until he reached the Top 5 and withdrew from the show when a video surfaced of him sitting next to someone in a KKK-style hood, TMZ reported at the time. His mom told the Herald-Journal in May 2021 that the video was taken when Kennedy was 12.