Former NFL linebacker Darron Lee has been indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the death of his partner, 29-year-old Gabriella Perpetuo, in Tennessee, prosecutors said this week.
A Hamilton County grand jury returned the indictment this week, formally moving the case from an initial criminal complaint to a first-degree murder charge in Perpetuo's death at a home in Ooltewah, near Chattanooga.
Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp said prosecutors dropped an earlier tampering-with-evidence charge so the state could focus on the murder count, which carries a potential life sentence. Wamp has said a decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be made later in the process, according to NBC Sports.
Investigators allege that before calling 911, Lee used an AI chatbot, ChatGPT, to ask how to respond to an "unresponsive" person, how to explain injuries consistent with a fall in the shower, and how to handle blood at the scene.
Prosecutors say those queries conflict with Lee's earlier statement that Perpetuo might have slipped and fallen in the bathroom. They contend the messages will be a key piece of digital evidence at trial.
Deputies were called to the residence in early February and found Perpetuo unresponsive with extensive injuries; she was pronounced dead at the scene, National Today reported.
A medical examiner ruled her death a homicide caused by multiple blunt force injuries and documented numerous wounds, including fractures, stab wounds, bite marks, and severe bruising. Authorities have also described blood in several rooms and signs of a violent struggle inside the home.
Lee, 31, was a first-round pick of the New York Jets in 2016 and later spent time with the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, and Las Vegas Raiders, last playing in the NFL in 2020.
He was arrested at the scene and initially charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence, then ordered held without bond and later denied release by a judge. Lee has not yet entered a plea to the indictment, and his defense attorneys have not issued a detailed public response to the latest charge, as per the Associated Press.
