Got A Tip?

Star Seeker

American Idol

American Idol Alum Caleb Kennedy Denied Bond After Deadly DUI Crash

caleb kennedy : american idol alum denied bail after fatal DUI crash

Caleb Kennedy will remain in prison after allegedly crashing a car while driving under the influence, resulting in the death of Larry Duane Parris.

The former American Idol contestant was arrested earlier this month following the fatal incident, in which his car crashed into Parris’ garage. According to South Carolina NBC affiliate WYFF, the arrest warrant stated that Caleb was “driving a vehicle in the state of South Carolina on a private property under the influence of drugs [marijuana] as a result he struck the building with a victim inside and hit [him] causing death.”

Related: Arnold Schwarzenegger Involved In Terrifying Multi-Car Accident 

During a hearing on Thursday, the victim’s daughter Kelsi Parris Harvell made a statement asking the judge to deny Caleb’s bond.

She said in court:

“For two weeks now I’ve laid down at night and closed my eyes only to see and hear the same things over and over again. My daddy laying in his own shop moaning and groaning and hollering with a stranger. A stranger that wasn’t calling 911 or even calling for help. Just sitting there with a blank look on his face. I hear my screams begging for him to look at me and stay awake. I hear the firefighters cutting the door to get in there to him. I hear the surgeon telling us he’s not going to survive.”

And the grieving daughter added:

“He killed my dad, point blank. I wish I could pay a little bit of money or a lot of money to have my daddy back.”

Devastating.

WYFF reported that the 17-year-old began to cry during multiple points of the hearing, including during Kelsi’s statement.

The circuit court judge ultimately declined to set Caleb’s bond “until results of blood tests are completed by the State Law Enforcement Division.”

The singer’s attorney, Ryan Beasley, protested the judge’s decision, pointing out that Caleb “just barely turned 17.”

Beasley argued:

“This could be months and months before we could get back in court and there are much more egregious cases than this on a felony DUI that are given bond. It is unfair to this kid to be sitting in jail for months on a backlog with [State Law Enforcement Division] and the fact that a magistrate judge down in jail didn’t do his job anyway and set a bond. I am just sorry judge, but I am standing up and saying a bond should be set today.”

Related: Tiffany Haddish Speaks Out About Her DUI Arrest

Beasley claimed that his client had recently been prescribed Prozac and doctors had doubled his prescription before the crash, per WYFF. He told the court:

“He had some bad reaction and got lost on the way to his girlfriend’s house and randomly wrecked down this dirt road into someone’s garage and unfortunately Mr. Parris was in the garage.”

This is a deeply sad situation from any angle.

Our thoughts are with the Parris family, and we hope that justice is served adequately in this case.

[Image via WYFF/YouTube]

Related Posts

CLICK HERE TO COMMENT
Feb 25, 2022 10:05am PDT