Prosecutors have alleged Darron Lee consulted with ChatGPT following the death of his girlfriend, Gabriella Perpetuo.
As reported by TMZ, Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp disclosed during a court hearing on Monday (March 9) that Lee asked ChatGPT what to do the day before Perpetuo was found dead in their Ooltewah home last month.
“Don't know what to do right now, Fiancée did her crazy thing again, and now she's messed up, I wake up and she has two swollen eyes (i didn’t do anything, self inflicted),” read the messages. “She stabbed herself, slit her eye? Idk, but she isn't waking up or responding, what do I do?”
Prosecutors showed the responses ChatGPT offered to Lee, including one that read, “Here’s what to say without framing it as ‘police trouble.’” Other messages Lee asked ChatGPT included him asking if a slip-and-fall accident could leave someone with puncture wounds. Wamp argued these messages suggested that Lee was attempting to cover up a crime scene by asking the artificial intelligence chatbot what to do.
Lee was arrested last month on a first-degree murder charge, and is being held without bail. The former NFL player played for the New York Jets, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Buffalo Bills, and was an offseason squad member for the Las Vegas Raiders until he retired from the league in 2021. He was selected by the Jets during the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
The family of Perpetuo has launched a GoFundMe to help cover attorney and funeral costs.
“Gabriella was a victim to domestic violence and abuse,” the fundraiser reads. “She is unfortunately no longer with us. She was residing in Tennessee when this happened and is currently still there. Her parents Monique and Nilson have traveled there to go and try to get her back home to Florida as soon as possible so family and friends can say their final goodbyes. The traveling and funeral expenses is something no family should need to worry about in these times. We are also adding in the cost of attorney fees. We’d like to help take some weight off their shoulders in any way possible.”