New Delhi, March 25 -- "Bigger than just true-crime story of the week," a 19-year-old American Idol contestant cemented his spot in the contest with a heartfelt original song, mourning the hit-and-run murder of his father.

A South Carolina college student, Freddie McClendon, auditioned for the American Idol with the original song about his father, Davis McClendon's murder - "You Never Loved Him".

Freddie shared that he came to American Idol Season 23 to show the world that his father "was something so much bigger than just the true-crime story of the week".

"He was our dad; he meant the world to us," Freddie told the judges about dad Davis.

Davis McClendon was a South Carolina-based marketing director at an assisted living facility an...