Watch: Conner Smith Opens Up About Tragic Fatal Car Accident

Conner Smith opened up about his involvement in a tragic fatal car accident in his first interview since it happened.

The country artist, 25, was behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Silverado when he allegedly struck Dorothy Dobbins, 77, in a crosswalk on June 8 in Nashville, Tennessee. First responders transported Dobbins to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she died. Attorney Worrick G. Robinson IV confirmed first to TMZ about a month later that the Metro Nashville Police Department issued a misdemeanor citation. Smith posted a statement for the first time on July 11, saying, in part, that “not a day has gone by that I haven’t grieved, prayed, and mourned for Ms. Dobbins and her family. My heart is broken in a way I’ve never experienced, and I still struggle to fully process the weight of it all. …Through tragedy, I have learned that God is more faithful than I could have ever known before.”

Smith further spoke about the accident — and the aftermath — in his first in-depth interview since it happened. He recently sat down with iHeartRadio’s Brooke Taylor and Pastor Mark Evans on a new episode of the faith-based podcast The Upload with Brooke Taylor, which premiered on Wednesday (December 3).

“On June the 8th I was involved in an accident that caused someone to lose their life,” Smith said on the podcast, going on to explain that he turned off his phone and disconnected for weeks after the accident. “It’s like a tornado runs through your house, and there’s so much grief and there’s so much trauma from that. Intense trauma. There’s a darkness in that. There’s no words. …I’ll never forget pulling out my phone (and) the first recommended video was NBC News with my picture. And I just quickly was like, ‘oh, oh, not yet.’ …I have Jesus and I have people around me that love and respect me and know the truth, and inside of that I need nothing else.”

Smith — known for “I Hate Alabama,” “Creek Will Rise” and more — spoke with Taylor and Evans about how the accident reshaped his faith and redefined his life. The singer-songwriter shared “how God met him in the shock and silence, the community that rallied around him, and the spiritual ‘crushing and stripping’ that has reshaped him in ways he never expected. He talks about learning to trust God in the valley, surrendering the weight he can’t carry alone, and how the peace he has today is only because of the presence of Christ in the darkest hours,” The Upload describes of the new episode. “This is a powerful conversation about suffering, healing, and the God who restores what feels shattered beyond repair.”

Listen to The Upload with Brooke Taylor on iHeartRadio, and watch Smith’s interview below.