Former New York Jets linebacker Darron Lee asked ChatGPT for help explaining away his girlfriend’s fatal injuries a day before she was found dead in their Tennessee home, prosecutors said Monday.
Lee, 31, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in the death of his girlfriend, 29-year-old Gabriella Perpetuo, on Feb. 5. He has been jailed without bond since trying to convince police she had fallen in the shower.
Investigators found the exchange between the one-time Jets first-round pick and the generative-AI program when they searched his phone, according to court testimony reported by WRCB-TV.
“Don’t know what to do right now. Fiancee [sic] did her crazy thing again and now she’s messed up,” Lee asked the artificial intelligence program, according to screen shots presented by prosecutors. “I wake up and she has two swollen eyes (I didn’t do anything, self-inflicted) she stabbed herself, slit her eye? Idk but she isn’t waking up or responding, what do I do?”
Darron Lee with the New York Jets in 2017.
Darron Lee with the New York Jets in 2017. (Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
He also asked the program, “what should I tell my friend to handle someone non responsive but wants to call the police,” and sought information on what injuries someone would suffer from falling in the shower, according to WRCB.
However, prosecutors say Lee’s questions did not accurately describe the bloody scene or his girlfriend’s body, which showed multiple injuries and blunt force trauma that could not be explained by an accidental fall and instead indicated a violent struggle. Blood was oozing from her nose and mouth, and she was covered in stab wounds, had black eyes and bite marks, authorities said, according to WRCB.
Gabriella Perpetuo. (GoFundMe)
Gabriella Perpetuo. (GoFundMe)
Even ChatGPT appeared dubious, with its response including, “Here’s what to say without framing it as police trouble,” prosecutors said, alleging that in essence Lee was asking ChatGPT to be an accomplice.
“You have Mr. Lee using ChatGPT as a legal adviser, as a defense attorney, asking ChatGPT to basically give him advice on how you cover up a crime scene,” District Attorney General Coty Wamp said, according to WTVC-TV.
Lee had been caught on video back in 2017 shouting at a woman who was reportedly his girlfriend, manhandling her and calling her names, in a confrontation allegedly broken up by a teammate. It was not clear at the time whether Perpetuo was the woman in the video.
With News Wire Services