Ex-Chiefs linebacker accused of murder consulted AI before calling police: Report
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- DA says ex-Chiefs linebacker asked ChatGPT how to cover up a crime scene.
- Lee told deputies he found his partner unresponsive on the couch after a nap.
- Victim had broken neck, severe brain injury and stab wounds; judge cited alleged torture.
Former Chiefs linebacker Darron Lee, who is accused of murdering his girlfriend, is alleged to have asked ChatGPT for advice one day before calling first responders.
Lee was charged in February with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in Hamilton County, Tennessee, after his girlfriend, Gabriella Perpetuo, was found dead in their home.
According to the Associated Press, Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp said Lee was using ChatGPT as a “legal advisor,” asking it “to basically give him advice on how you cover up a crime scene.”
Some of those messages from Lee, who played in 16 games for the Chiefs in 2019, were shown last week in a Chattanooga, Tennessee court.
Local 3 News said Lee wrote: “Don’t know what to do right now, fiancee did her crazy thing again and now she’s messed up. I wake up and she has two swollen eyes (I didn’t do anything, self inflicted) she stabbed herself, slit her eye? [I don’t know] but she isn’t waking up or responding, what do I do?”
In another message, Lee asked: “what should I tell my friend to handle someone non responsive but wants to call the police.”
Body camera footage played in court showed Lee tell a deputy that Perpetuo may have fallen in the shower and that when he went down after a nap he found her unresponsive on the couch. That’s when Lee said he immediately called 911, Local 3 reported.
NBC News said Perpetuo was found Feb. 5 with a broken neck, a severe brain injury and stab wounds, and the judge in the case “described her death as ‘especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel’ and said it was alleged to involve torture or physical abuse ‘beyond that necessary to produce death.’”
This story was originally published March 16, 2026 at 12:20 PM.
