{"id":226583,"date":"2026-10-05T07:57:36","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T07:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/court-throws-out-killers-sentence-after-judge-said-he-loved-ai-video-of-slain-man-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T07:57:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T07:57:36","slug":"court-throws-out-killers-sentence-after-judge-said-he-loved-ai-video-of-slain-man-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/court-throws-out-killers-sentence-after-judge-said-he-loved-ai-video-of-slain-man-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Court throws out killer\u2019s sentence after judge said he \u2018loved\u2019 AI video of slain man – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The family of a road rage victim in Arizona used his likeness to create a posthumous AI video played at his killer\u2019s sentencing last year. Now, an appeals court has vacated the sentence, calling the decision to allow the video a \u201cfundamental error.\u201d
Last May, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Todd Lang gave Gabriel Paul Horcasitas the maximum sentence for the fatal shooting of Christopher Pelkey, 37, on Nov. 13, 2021. Horcasitas, 54, was convicted of manslaughter and endangerment.
The 10\u00bd-year sentence was handed down after an AI-generated video was played in court in which a replica of Pelkey voiced \u201cforgiveness\u201d for Horcasitas.
On Wednesday, the Arizona Court of Appeals in Phoenix ordered a resentencing<\/a>, writing that the video \u201cclearly impacted the sentencing judge, who said he \u2018loved\u2019 the video and felt it \u2018was genuine.\u2019\u201d
\u201cOn this record, the judge\u2019s consideration of the AI video so prejudiced Horcasitas as to render the sentencing procedure fundamentally unfair,\u201d the appellate judges stated. \u201cAccordingly, we vacate the sentence for manslaughter and remand for resentencing.\u201d
Horcasitas\u2019 lawyer, Kristen Reller, declined to comment on an active case. A lawyer for Pelkey\u2019s family didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment.
At the 2025 sentencing, the AI version of Pelkey<\/a>, created by his sister Stacey Wales, appeared to ask the judge for leniency.
\u201cTo Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me: It is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances,\u201d the artificial version of Pelkey said. \u201cIn another life, we probably could have been friends. I believe in forgiveness.\u201d
Lang appeared to be moved by the presentation.
\u201cI loved that AI. Thank you for that, and as angry as you are and justifiably angry as the family is, I heard the forgiveness and I know Mr. Horcasitas appreciated it, but so did I,\u201d Lang said at the hearing.
He added that he felt the video was \u201cgenuine, that his obvious forgiveness of Mr. Horcasitas reflects the character I heard about [Pelkey] today.\u201d
\u201cBut 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\u2019s what you wanted you allowed [Pelkey] to speak from his heart as you saw it,\u201d Lang said. \u201cI didn\u2019t hear him asking for the maximum sentence.\u201d
The defense had requested the lowest possible sentence, but Lang imposed the maximum, saying that despite Horcasitas\u2019 \u201cremorse\u201d and otherwise \u201clawful life,\u201d the loss described by Pelkey\u2019s family \u201ccould not be more profound.\u201d
According to the appeals court, Horcasitas argued he was denied due process because the sentencing court heard and relied on the AI video. The state countered that the video reflected what Pelkey\u2019s sister believed he \u201cwould have said\u201d and that it was \u201cconsistent\u201d with Pelkey\u2019s written account of his beliefs and values.
But the appeals court found the video \u201ccrossed that line\u201d from permissible to unduly prejudicial, noting that it \u201cdoes not reflect actual events.\u201d
\u201cIndeed, rather than documenting an event or recording a particular moment,\u201d it stated, \u201cthe AI video presents a depiction of the victim and his thoughts created from the imaginings<\/em> of the victim\u2019s sister.\u201d
Angela Yang is a culture and trends reporter for NBC News.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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For YouSettings news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeThe family of a road rage victim in Arizona used his likeness to create a posthumous AI video played at his killer\u2019s sentencing last year. Now, an appeals court has vacated the sentence, calling the decision to allow the video a \u201cfundamental error.\u201dLast May, Maricopa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":226584,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-226583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}