(CelebrityAccess) — Country music singer Caleb Kennedy is facing prison for his role in a 2022 DUI crash that left one person dead.
According to Taste of Country, the former “American Idol” star was sentenced to 25 years and a a $25,100 fine for his role in crash in South Carolina which left 54-year-old Duane Paris dead.
However, Kennedy won’t spend the full term behind bars, with all but eight years suspended. Additionally, Kennedy will be allowed to serve three years in home detention and will be credited for two years and nine months already served.
Kennedy was charged with driving under the influence after he crashed into a workshop, killing Paris, who was working inside at the time. Subsequent testing revealed that Kennedy tested positive for prescription drugs and THC after the crash, Taste of Country reported.
According to the Greenville News, the victim’s family sought the maximum sentence of 25 years for Kennedy but his attorney, Ryan Beasley, told the newspaper that he believed the sentence was fair.
“He’s got no record, and he was a minor when this happened,” Beasley told the Greenville News. “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.”
Kennedy was a contestant on the 19th season of the televised talent show, “American Idol” and made his way into the season’s top five before he was forced to withdraw after video surfaced that appeared to show Kennedy with someone wearing a Ku Klux Klan-style hood.
“Hey y’all, this is gonna be a bit of a surprise, but I am no longer gonna be on American Idol,” Kennedy said in a statement at the time. “There was a video that surfaced on the internet and it displayed actions that were not meant to be taken in that way. I was younger and did not think about the actions, but that’s not an excuse.”
Kennedy’s mother told the Spartanburg Herald-Journal that the video clip was taken out of context and the hood was not connected to the Klan or racist activities.
“This video was taken after Caleb had watched the movie ‘The Strangers: Prey at Night’ and they were imitating those characters,” she reportedly told the Herald-Journal. “It had nothing to do with the Ku Klux Klan, but I know that’s how it looks. Caleb doesn’t have a racist bone in his body. He loves everyone and has friends of all races.”
