US road rage killer's sentence quashed because AI video of victim was shown in court
The Arizona appeals court ruled that airing an AI message from the dead victim "crossed that line".
An Arizona road rage killer will be resentenced after an appeals court found that an AI-generated video message from his dead victim was improperly shown in court.
Gabriel Paul Horcasitas was convicted by a jury of shooting and killing Christopher Pelkey, 37, during a confrontation at a red light in 2021. He received a sentence of 10 years in prison.
His legal team appealed, arguing that the trial judge should not have allowed an AI video, made by Pelkey’s family, to be played in court before last year’s sentencing.
The Arizona Court of Appeals agreed, saying Horcasitas, 55, must be resentenced because the AI clip “crossed that line”.
“Rather than document an event or recording a particular moment, the AI video presents a depiction of the victim and his thoughts created from the imaginings of the victim's sister,” the court of appeals wrote on Wednesday.
Pelkey’s sister, Stacey Wales, told the BBC last year that the family had used voice recordings, videos and pictures to recreate him for the AI video.
“To Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me, it is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances,” said the AI version of Pelkey in court in 2025. “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 AI version of Pelkey — wearing a grey baseball cap — continued.
At the time of sentencing, the judge in the case, Todd Lang, appeared to welcome the use of AI.
“I loved that AI, thank you for that. As angry as you are, as justifiably angry as the family is, I heard the forgiveness,” Judge Lang said. “I feel that that was genuine.”