On suicide watch, former SC “American Idol” contestant denied bond in DUI killing case

The lawyer for one-time “American Idol” contestant Caleb Kennedy told a Circuit Court judge his client is on suicide watch and having a bad reaction to Prozac.

The lawyer, Ryan Beasley, said during an emergency bond hearing Thursday that Kennedy should be freed or sent to Morris Village, an alcohol and drug treatment center in Columbia.

Judge Daniel Hall declined to set bond, saying Judge Edward Miller two weeks ago had ordered Kennedy held in jail until toxicology results are available from the State Law Enforcement Division. Results were still unavailable Thursday.

“I don’t know what we’re doing here,” Hall said.

Kennedy, 17, was charged Feb. 8 with felony driving under the influence resulting in death and has been held in the Spartanburg County Detention Center ever since. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.

Kennedy, driving a 2011 Ford F-150, ran over Larry Duane Parris, 54, who was standing outside his workshop in Pacolet, South Carolina. Parris died a few hours later at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center.

Parris’ wife, Donna, wept as she pleaded with the court to keep Kennedy in jail Thursday.

“He killed my husband,” she said.

Parris’ daughter Kelsey Harvell read a statement similar to one she made in the previous bond hearing, relating that her father cried out in pain as Kennedy held him, something she will have to live with for the rest of her life.

She and her mother were inside the house when the collision occurred. A friend who was on the phone with Paris told them to check on him because something had happened.

Harvell said Kennedy did not call 911.

Unlike the last bond hearing where Kennedy started crying several times, he looked sad but stoic, and dazed. He wore a yellow jail jumpsuit that Beasley said reflected the fact he was on suicide watch.

Barnette told the court Kennedy drove 175 yards down a driveway, ran over Paris and was stopped only by a large machine in Paris’ garage. Kennedy admitted to law enforcement on the scene that he had taken a hit off a vape and didn’t know where he was, Barnette said.

Beasley said Kennedy needed medical help that the jail could not give.

“They keep trying to up his Prozac,” Beasley said.

Beasley said he gave the court the medical records from Spartanburg Regional that showed Kennedy had THC in his system, indicating he had smoked marijuana.

But Barnette countered that the hospital test shows only alcohol, not an array of what could be in his system.

Hall said the prosecution should be aware of Kennedy’s medical condition and provide what is needed.

Kennedy, a Roebuck, S.C., 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 years old. 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 performed in local shows in South Carolina since he left “Idol.” He is a junior at Dorman High.