Former NFL linebacker Darron Lee has been indicted on a first-degree murder charge.
Lee, who previously played for the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, and Kansas City Chiefs, was arrested in connection with the death of his girlfriend, Gabriella Perpetuo, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee.
He was originally charged with both murder and tampering with or fabricating evidence, but prosecutors have since dropped the lesser count. As Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp said this week, according to WTVC, “We will focus solely on the murder of Gabriella.”
If convicted, Lee could receive a life sentence. The Associated Press reported that state officials are expected to decide in the coming weeks whether to seek the death penalty.
It remains unknown whether Lee has entered a plea. When contacted by Oxygen, defense attorney Mike Little declined to comment.
Authorities were called to a home in Ooltewah on Feb. 5 for a CPR-related emergency, where they found Perpetuo dead, according to an arrest report obtained by Oxygen.
Perpetuo’s injuries were severe: A stab wound to her abdomen, body bruises, black eyes with heavy swelling, dried blood on her face and neck and a large circular bitemark on her shoulder, according to the report.
At the time, Lee told authorities that he had discovered Perpetuo unconscious on the couch and suggested that she might have fallen in the shower earlier.
However, physical evidence did not support his story.
There was broken glass scattered across the kitchen and extensive amounts of blood throughout the home, including spatter on the walls and flooring, according to the report.
Using forensic testing, crime scene investigators later discovered suspected blood evidence in areas of the home they believed had been cleaned up after the crime.
Lee was detained, but he refused to speak to authorities.
Later, while collecting Lee’s clothing, investigators observed blood inside his cell phone case, according to the arrest report. They also observed what they described as injuries consistent with a physical altercation, including a facial injury, hand lacerations and chest wounds.
Lee was arrested on Feb. 6 and booked into the Hamilton County Jail.
In March, prosecutors presented evidence in court that Lee had allegedly used ChatGPT to cover his tracks.
He allegedly wrote on the AI platform, according to NBC News, that his fiancée had done “her crazy thing again and now she’s messed up.”
“She has two swollen eyes (I didn’t do anything, self inflicted) she stabbed herself, slit her eye?” he allegedly wrote, according to the news outlet. “Idk but she isn’t waking up or responding, what do I do?”
Prosecutors also alleged that Lee asked ChatGPT how to obtain medical assistance without alerting authorities, and whether falling could cause bruising and “two stabby looking wounds,” according to the Associated Press.
When Lee was arrested, he was on probation in Ohio and Florida for three alleged assaults that pertained to his mother, the mother of his child and another man, according to court records obtained by the Associated Press.
