A judge was left shocked and impressed after a man murdered during a road rage incident made a statement at his killer’s sentencing.
According to 404Media, Christopher Pelkey died back in 2021 during a road rage incident. His killer, Gabriel Horcasitas, was found guilty in March 2025 and was sentenced in May.
As part of the sentencing, Pelkey’s friends and family filed statements about how his death has impacted them over the years. On top of that, the Arizona judge accepted a statement from an AI-generated version of Pelkey himself.
Videos of the AI avatar, as well as the judge’s reaction, were quickly uploaded to YouTube and have amassed tens of thousands of views in the days since.
AI of murdered man makes court statement
The video details various parts of Pelkey’s life and addresses the man directly, posthumously offering his murderer forgiveness.
“Hello, just to be clear for everyone seeing this, I am a version of Chris Pelkey recreated through AI that uses my picture and my voice profile,” it says. “I was able to be digitally regenerated to share with you today. Here is insight into who I actually was in real life.
“To Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me, it is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances. In another life we probably could have been friends. I believe in forgiveness and a God who forgives. I still do.”
The video was uploaded to YouTube by Pelkey’s sister, Stacey Wales. It wasn’t the only one, either, as she also shared the judge’s reaction to the AI-generated avatar and its statement to the court.
“I loved that AI, and thank you for that. As angry as you are, and as justifiably angry as the family is, I heard the forgiveness, and I know Mr. Horcasitas could appreciate it, but so did I,” said Judge Todd Lange.
“I love the beauty in what Christopher, and I call him Christopher—I always call people by their last names, it’s a formality of the court—but I feel like calling him Christopher as we’ve gotten to know him today. I feel that that was genuine, because obviously the forgiveness of Mr. Horcasitas reflects the character I heard about today.
“But it also says something about the family, because you told me how angry you were, and you demanded the maximum sentence. And even though that’s what you wanted, you allowed Chris to speak from his heart as you saw it. I didn’t hear him asking for the maximum sentence.”
This isn’t the first time somebody has tried to use AI in court. Back in April, a man’s attempt at using an AI avatar in the New York Supreme Court was quickly thwarted as the judge yelled across the courtroom to get it to stop.
According to the attorney who worked with Pelkey’s family on the case, Jessica Gattuso, Arizona laws made the AI statement possible.
“[Victims] have the discretion to pick what format they’d like to give the statement. So I didn’t see any issues with the AI, and there was no objection. I don’t believe anyone thought there was an issue with it,” she said.
Content shared from www.dexerto.com.