Arizona killer's sentence quashed because AI video of victim was shown in court

An appeals court in Arizona has ordered a new sentencing for Gabriel Paul Horcasitas, a road rage killer whose trial was shown an AI-generated video of his victim, ruling that the clip should never have been played in court.

Horcasitas, 55, was found guilty by a jury of shooting and killing Christopher Pelkey, 37, during a confrontation at a red light in 2021. He was sentenced to 10 years behind bars. His legal team appealed, arguing the trial judge should not have allowed an AI video created by Pelkey's family to be shown ahead of last year's sentencing.

What the appeals court ruled

The Arizona Court of Appeals agreed, ruling that Horcasitas must be resentenced because the AI clip "crossed that line". In its decision, issued on Wednesday, the court wrote: "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."

Horcasitas' lawyer, Kristen Reller, who filed the appeal, declined to comment. Jessica Gattuso, an attorney for victims in the case, did not respond to a request for comment.

The AI video and the victim's family

Pelkey's sister, Stacey Wales, told the BBC last year the family had used voice recordings, videos and pictures to recreate him for the AI video. Speaking in court in 2025, the AI version of Pelkey said: "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 always have and I still do," the AI version of Pelkey, wearing a grey baseball cap, continued.

How the judge reacted at the time

At the sentencing, the judge who oversaw the case, Todd Lang, appeared to appreciate 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."

The ruling means the case returns to court for a new sentencing. The appeals court drew a line between documenting an event and presenting a depiction of a victim's thoughts imagined by a family member, and found the video crossed it.