A man who was shot dead three years ago in a road rage incident appeared — sort of — at his killer’s sentencing with a message from beyond the grave, all thanks to AI.
Chris Pelkey, a lifelong resident of Upstate New York, was gunned down in 2021 at age 37 in Chandler, Ariz. At a state courthouse on Thursday, a digitally regenerated version of Pelkey spoke to the man who took his 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,” AI Pelkey says.
“I believe in forgiveness and a God who forgives. I always have, and I still do,” Pelkey added.
Pelkey was a devout Christian and a decorated army veteran who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Horcasitas shot Pelkey at a red light after Pelkey left his vehicle and walked towards Horcasitas’ car.
The digital regeneration used Pelkey’s voice profile to emulate his tone and video recordings to mimic his physical appearance, including his distinct beard.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
The idea to present an AI-generated victim statement from Pelkey was brought to fruition by Pelkey’s sister, Stacey Wales, after she collected dozens of impact statements for the trial, she told local news outlet ABC-15.
“All I kept coming back to was, ‘What would Chris say?’” Wales said, who described her brother’s digital resurrection as a “Frankenstein of love” to local outlet Fox 10.
As AI permeates everyday life, U.S. lawmakers are beginning to gather information on its potential application in the courtroom and will soon seek public comment on its use as evidence at trial to determine how best to regulate its potential introduction.
On Friday in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules voted 8-1 in favour of seeking public comment on a draft rule designed to ensure evidence produced by generative AI technology meets the same reliability standards as evidence from a human expert witness.
According to The Guardian, Judge Todd Lang was receptive to the use of AI during the proceeding.
“I loved that AI, thank you for that. As angry as you are, as justifiably angry as the family is, I heard the forgiveness,” Lang remarked. “I feel that that was genuine.”
Pelkey’s brother, John, also supported using AI in Pelkey’s case. He said that upon seeing his brother’s face, he felt “waves of healing,” adding that he is certain his brother would have forgiven the man who killed him.
“That was the man I knew,” John said.
Horcasitas was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison on manslaughter charges.
— With files from Reuters
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.