A slain Arizona man was resurrected in the form of an AI avatar to directly address his killer during a recent hearing for sentencing.

The computer-generated avatar of Christopher Pelkey, who was slain in 2021 during a violet road rage incident, spoke before the court during a May 1 sentencing hearing for Gabriel Horcasitas, who was convicted of shooting Pelkey while both men were stopped at a red light, according to the Washington Post.

“Just to be clear for everyone seeing this. I am a version of Chris Pelkey re-created through AI,” the avatar said before thanking the judge and turning his attention to his killer.

“I would like to make my own impact statement to Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me,” the AI version of Pelkey said. “It is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances. In another life, we probably could have been friends. I believe in forgiveness and in God who forgives. I always have, and I still do.”

The video ended with Pelkey’s avatar saying goodbye to his family and signing off after saying: “Well, I’m going fishing now.”

A jury had convicted the shooter of manslaughter in March for opening fire on Pelkey during an incident in November 2021. Pelkey had gotten out of his car to address Mr. Horcasitas as he repeatedly honked his horn waiting for the traffic light to turn green.

The victim’s statement was created by Pelkey’s sister, Stacy Wales, who turned to AI after the victim’s attorney handling the case said, “Try to bring him to life,” during preparations for the family to provide an impact statement.

“I said to myself, ‘Well, what if Chris could make his own impact statement?’” Ms. Wales said to the Washington Post.

Her husband, a tech entrepreneur who had used AI tools to animate photos and replicated voices in the past, suggested creating an avatar in her brother’s likeness. She wrote the avatar speech herself, saying she based it on what she thought her brother would say to his killer if given the opportunity, despite wanting Mr. Horcasitas to receive the toughest sentence possible for his actions.

“I thought it was very effective,” Ms. Wales’s victims’ attorney, Jessica Gattuso, said to the Post. “It was appropriate. I didn’t know what kind of objections we might get or pushback.”

The digital likeness was enough to move the Maricopa County superior court judge, Todd Lang, nearly to tears.

“I love that, AI. Thank you for that,” Judge Lang said to Pelkey’s family in the courtroom after the video was played. “And as angry as you are, and justifiably angry as the family is, I heard the forgiveness and I know Mr. Horcasitas appreciated it, but so did I.” 

“As I said, I like to think that I would go through that, I don’t know that I would be as forgiving.”

Mr. Horcasitas was sentenced to a 10-and-a-half-year prison sentence.