An AI video brought a shooting victim’s likeness into court to deliver a message of forgiveness. Now, its use has led to his killer being resentenced.
Back in 2021, Gabriel Paul Horcasitas was found guilty of manslaughter after shooting and killing Christopher Pelkey during a confrontation at a red light in Chandler, Arizona. Following the trial, a jury rejected his claim of self-defense, and he was sentenced to 10.5 years in prison in 2025.
During the trial, however, the victim’s family shared an AI video of Pelkey appearing to forgive Horcasitas for the crime. The clip essentially recreated Pelkey’s appearance and voice, with his sister, Stacey Wales, writing the script, imagining what her brother would have said if he could address the courtroom himself.
However, Horcasitas’ legal team have officially appealed, arguing that the judge should not have allowed an AI video created by Pelkey’s family to be shown during the sentencing hearing.
Victim’s sister created the AI forgiveness video #
During the video, 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,” before going on to say: “In another life, we probably could have been friends.”
The recreation continued: “I believe in forgiveness, and a God who forgives. I always have, and I still do.”
Following the appeal, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled on September 30, 2026, that Horcasitas must be resentenced. The judges found that the AI clip “crossed that line” because it presented imagined thoughts as though they came directly from Pelkey.
“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 said.
The appeals court found that the clip had influenced the sentencing process, even though its precise effect on the punishment was unclear.
Horcasitas’ manslaughter conviction remains in place. His sentence will be reconsidered by the lower court after the appeals court found that the AI video’s use made the sentencing procedure fundamentally unfair.