In what is believed to be a first in a U.S. courtroom, an artificial intelligence-generated video of a deceased victim was presented during a sentencing hearing in Arizona. The video featured a digital rendering of Christopher Pelkey, who was fatally shot in a 2021 road rage incident in Chandler, addressing the man convicted of his killing.
The AI video was played by Pelkey’s sister, Stacey Wales, during the sentencing phase of the retrial in 2025. The original trial in 2023 was invalidated due to procedural errors. Wales stated that she had spent two years compiling her victim impact statement, but ultimately found it difficult to express her emotions directly. She said the idea to create an AI-generated statement in her brother’s voice emerged from her struggle to articulate her thoughts, as she kept imagining what he might say.
To construct a comprehensive portrait of her brother, Wales contacted dozens of individuals from different stages of Pelkey’s life, including former teachers, friends, and military colleagues. She ultimately gathered 48 victim impact statements. While she said she was not ready to express forgiveness herself, Wales indicated that composing the statement from Pelkey’s perspective helped her communicate his values and beliefs more effectively.
