Darron Lee ChatGPT interactions have become a key focus in the investigation of the alleged killing of his fiancée, Gabriella Perpetuo, prosecutors revealed during a preliminary hearing on Monday. Evidence presented in Hamilton County court showed that Lee, 31, used the artificial intelligence assistant to ask questions about medical emergencies and injuries without involving law enforcement.
Lee was arrested on February 5 after deputies discovered Perpetuo, 29, dead at their Ooltewah home on Snow Cone Way. He faces charges of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. Prosecutors introduced messages Lee sent to ChatGPT, which he referred to as Allie, under the alias Xander. In these exchanges, Lee asked whether a fall could result in bruising to both eyes and “two stabby looking wounds.”
Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office detective Brian Lockhart testified that Lee sent dozens of messages to the AI, describing the injuries and the presence of blood at the scene. Some messages were framed as if Lee was seeking advice for a friend, although detectives said they clearly referred to Perpetuo. One message, sent the day before his arrest, stated: “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? Idk but she isn’t waking up or responding, what do I do?”
Lockhart read responses from ChatGPT in court, noting that the AI provided guidance on handling the situation while avoiding police involvement. “Here is exactly what to tell your friend. This is the safest way to handle it without framing it as police trouble,” the detective quoted. The exchanges also included casual language and acronyms like LOL, suggesting a mix of levity and urgency in Lee’s messaging.
District Attorney Coty Wamp emphasized the significance of these messages. She said they demonstrated Lee seeking advice on covering up the scene and on legal strategy, effectively using the AI as a defense consultant. Wamp also outlined the medical examiner’s findings, which documented severe trauma, including knocked-out front teeth, stab wounds, a broken neck, and blunt force injuries as the cause of Perpetuo’s death.
Lee told authorities that Perpetuo fell in the shower and denied that anyone else entered the home. The DA argued that consulting ChatGPT to discuss how to manage someone unresponsive without contacting police suggested consciousness of guilt. “If that’s not enough, you have Mr. Lee using ChatGPT as a legal adviser, asking exactly the questions someone would ask after committing a violent crime,” Wamp said.
Deputy Public Defender Mike Little noted the circumstantial nature of the evidence, emphasizing that the exact events remain unclear. “All I can remind the court is that we don’t know what happened. The court doesn’t know what happened. Something happened, but we don’t know what happened,” he said.
General Sessions Judge Tori Smith found probable cause to send Lee’s charges to the grand jury. After considering the 24-hour delay between the ChatGPT exchanges and the call to authorities, she decided to leave Lee’s bond conditions unchanged, citing the extreme nature of the alleged crime. “I’m even more convinced now that the offense was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel and involved torture or serious physical abuse beyond that necessary to produce death,” she said.
The case now moves forward with Lee facing serious criminal scrutiny, while the role of artificial intelligence in the investigation has drawn new attention to how digital communications can serve as both evidence and insight into behavior in high-profile criminal cases.
