Caleb Kennedy, who appeared on Season 19 of American Idol, has been arrested and charged with a felony DUI following a deadly car crash in South Carolina, police tell E! News.
Kennedy was driving his 2011 Ford pickup on West Murphy Road around noon on Tuesday, Feb. 8, when he drove into a private drive and "struck" a building, the South Carolina Highway Patrol's Mitchell Ridgeway told E! News. He said the person inside the building died due to the collision.
The 17-year-old singer, who is from Roebuck, S.C, was charged with felony driving under the influence resulting in death, authorities said.
Ridgeway added, "This crash remains under investigation by the South Carolina Highway Patrol."
He was booked in the Spartanburg County Detention Center on a felony DUI death charge, said Murray Glenn, a spokesman for the 7th Circuit Solicitor's Office, in a statement to E! News. A bond hearing will be held at 11 a.m. on Feb. 9.
E! News reached out to Kennedy for comment directly through social media and has not heard back. No lawyer information was available as of Tuesday evening.
This is not the first time Kennedy has made headlines. Last year, after making it to the Top 5 on American Idol, the teen exited the singing competition after a video surfaced online that allegedly showed him next to someone in a white hood reminiscent of those worn by the Ku Klux Klan. (E! News could not verify the authenticity of the video.)
"Hey y'all, this is gonna be a bit of a surprise, but I am no longer gonna be on American Idol," Kennedy shared in a statement on Instagram in May. "There was a video that surfaced on the internet and it displayed actions that were not meant to be taken in that way."
He explained, "I was younger and did not think about the actions, but that's not an excuse. I wanna say sorry to all my fans and everyone who I have let down."
At the time, Kennedy said would be taking time away from social media to "better" himself, adding, "I know this has hurt and disappointed a lot of people and made people lose respect for me. I'm so sorry! I pray that I can one day regain your trust in who I am and have your respect!"
A month after his departure from the competition, Kennedy opened up about his experience on reality television, admitting he "wasn't ready for it."
"On Idol, that wasn't me," he told GoUpstate.com. "That world is so different. Now that I'm home, I try to be me, but I'm also scared of someone videoing me when I go to Academy or Wal-Mart. You have to worry about things like that now."