Former New York Jets player Darron Lee appeared for the murder trial of his girlfriend, Gabriella Perpétuo, in a courtroom in Tennessee. Prosecutors outlined the evidence against him, including messages sent to ChatGPT about injuries and how to handle an unresponsive person, WDEF reported.
Gabriella Perpétuo was murdered and former NFL player Darron Lee stands accused. (X/@NatCon2022, X/@hannyjewel)
Gabriella Perpétuo was murdered and former NFL player Darron Lee stands accused. (X/@NatCon2022, X/@hannyjewel)
Lee, 30, appeared in court on Tuesday, as he stands charged with murder in the first degree in the case related to Perpétuo, at their Ooltewah home, which is about 20 miles northeast of Chattanooga.
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Deputies had been called to their home last month for a reported medical emergency and found Perpétuo unconscious on the floor of the living room. Local reports said that medics were not able to save her and that she had suffered a stab wound apart from other injuries.
Lee had told officials at the time, about his girlfriend being unresponsive, “I don’t know. I thought she would’ve said something but I have no idea. I was upstairs.”
Here is all you need to know about Gabriella Perpétuo.
Gabriella Perpétuo: 5 things to know
Perpétuo was born to Monique and Nilson Perpétuo, and was known as ‘Bella’ to her friends and family.
She was raised in Farmingham, Massachusetts, along with her younger sister Isabella, who her parents said, Perpétuo would watch over.
The family moved to Florida when Perpétuo was 15 and after graduating high school, she decided to pursue a career in healthcare.
Perpétuo moved to New York to be a clinical journalist but realized soon after that she had an interest in nursing. She enrolled for a program at Broward College.
Perpétuo was killed three months before she graduated.
"All those studies, long hours at the hospital with clinicals, but she did it. She was capable of doing it, and she was capable of finishing and she was going to be great", her mother had said to Local3News. A preliminary autopsy had found Perpétuo had suffered multiple injuries that together made up blunt force trauma. This included facial contusions, a fractured cheekbone, broken teeth and a fracture of the upper cervical spine. As per the report, there was also a bite mark on her shoulder and stab wounds to her chest and thigh.
During the trial Hamilton County district attorney argued “You have Mr Lee using ChatGPT as a legal adviser, as a defense attorney, asking ChatGPT to give him advice on how to cover up a crime scene.”
Lee's defender Mike Little said “We know something happened inside that house but we don’t know what.” Lee remains in custody at the Hamilton County jail without bond. As per the district attorney, her office is considering the death penalty.
Lee was picked by the Jets in 2016 after a stint at Ohio State. He left the team in 2019, despite a four-year contract, following disciplinary problems and poor play. He was also part of the Kansas City Chiefs roster that won the 2020 Super Bowl. Lee did not play in the game. His final NFL appearance was in November 2020 against the Buffalo Bills.
Shuvrajit Das Biswas
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shuvrajit Das Biswas
Shuvrajit has over seven years of experience covering US, India, and world news. An English Literature postgraduate from Jadavpur University, Shuvrajit started off covering entertainment, gaming and all things pop culture. There were brief periods away from the media industry, with short stints in content marketing, ed-tech and academic editing. However, the newsroom beckoned and over the last few jobs, Shuvrajit has exceedingly focused on team functioning as well, including tracking news and assigning tasks, working on everyday breaking news, framing detailed coverage plans, and creating immersive and data-driven stories. In his time as a digital journalist, he has covered a Lok Sabha election, multiple state elections, Union Budgets and award ceremonies. He has also helped in planning content for company event panels in the past. For work, Shuvrajit enjoys dabbling with data visualization, editing tools, and AI chatbots and attempts to incorporate AI workflows in everyday tasks. He is deeply interested in geopolitics, sports, films and music. Prompting is a new fascination for Shuvrajit now. Apart from that, he can be found doom-scrolling, sharing memes, or cheering on his favorite football team.Read More
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