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An Arizona appeals court has thrown out a manslaughter sentence in which a video generated by artificial intelligence portrayed the slain man forgiving his killer before a judgment was rendered.
Gabriel Paul Horcasitas, 55, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a November 2021 road rage incident in which he shot and killed Christopher Pelkey, 37, CBS News reported.
In a decision released last Wednesday, a three-judge panel in the Arizona Court of Appeals tossed Horcasitas’ sentence because the AI-generated video featuring an avatar in Pelkey’s likeness and voice that was played in court before a judge during his May 2025 sentencing hearing “crossed” a line.
What the AI avatar said
The video was created by the victim’s sister, Stacey Wales, and portrayed her slain brother speaking about forgiveness.
“To Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me, it is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances,” the AI version of Pelkey reportedly said in court. “In another life, we probably could have been friends.”
“I believe in forgiveness, and a God who forgives. I always have and I still do,” the avatar of Pelkey said.
NEW: Deceased man who was k*lled in a road rage incident, makes an impact statement in the courtroom with help from AI.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 9, 2025
Bizarre.
Christopher Pelkey, then 37, lost his life after being shot during a 2021 road rage incident in Chandler, Arizona.
Stacey Wales, the sister of… pic.twitter.com/kD35W1YabM
Judge Todd Lang reportedly said he “loved that AI” before he issued his sentence.
While Lang didn’t indicate in court that the video was considered when he made his ruling, the judges delivering last week’s appellate decision said Lang’s “consideration of the AI video so prejudiced Horcasitas as to render the sentencing procedure fundamentally unfair,” ABC News reported.
The appellate judges ruled that Horcasitas must be resentenced.
Reaction to the ruling
The killer’s lawyer, Kristen Reller, declined to comment about the decision to CBS News and ABC News .
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office also didn’t comment on the ruling, but told both news outlets that its prosecutors knew the victim’s family would be addressing to the court during sentencing, “but were not aware of the nature of it.”
Wales told ABC News that she created the video using AI because she wanted to give her brother a chance to speak in court.
She also said she’s ready to head back to court for Horcasitas’ resentencing hearing and plans to read the script she wrote for the AI-generated video herself.
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