MESA, Ariz. (WFLA) — “Hello,” an AI-crafted video starts. “To clarify for everyone watching, I am an AI-generated version of Christopher Pelkey, using my images and vocal patterns.”

This video was presented in an Arizona courtroom on May 1 during the sentencing of his murderer, with Pelkey identifying himself as the victim of a road-rage incident from November 2021.

Pelkey was digitally created to share his story and impact in the video posted to YouTube by his sister, Stacey Wales.

The scene transitions to a flashback of the actual Pelkey speaking to a camera, where he introduces himself as a native of upstate New York and a former U.S. Army infantry member.

“This number one thing is God,” Pelkey continues in a 2021 home video. “Having your relationship with the Lord and being close with him is really the only answer to every problem we have, everything we go through.”

Pelkey added that he loves God and loves people, emphasizing the impact of community and uplifting each other.

The video cuts back to the AI version of Pelkey, who says that the home video accurately portrays him, counteracting how the courtroom is portraying him in the deadly road-rage case.

“So, I would like to make my own impact statement,” he adds.

He begins by thanking everyone who showed up and spoke up for him during the three-and-a-half years and two trials.

“To Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me,” Pelkey’s AI version said. “It is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances. In another life, we probably could’ve been friends.”

In the augmented video, Pelkey addresses 54-year-old Horcasitas, saying he believes in forgiveness and in a God who forgives.

Shifting his focus to family, Pelkey tells them he loves them and reminds them always to show each other love, make the most of each day and live life to the fullest.

“Getting old is a gift that not everybody has,” he added.

Pelkey shared a story of playing with an aging filter a few years prior. That image was shared in the video, as his AI version tells the courtroom that it is the only time people will see what he may have looked like, had he had the opportunity to grow old.

“Love you all. See you on the other side,” Pelkey concluded.

Wales told Storyful that she wrote the script for the AI video that her husband, Tim, and Scott Yentzer created. She said she wrote it “organically,” without the help of ChatGPT or AI.

Horcasitas was convicted of manslaughter and one count of endangerment to others, according to records from the Maricopa County Superior Court. Wales said Horcasitas was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison.

Judge Todd Lang responded to the video, saying, “I love that AI. Thank you for that. And as angry as you are, and justifiably angry you are as a family, I heard the forgiveness, and I know that Mr Horcasitas appreciated it, but so did I.”

The AI video was not shown as evidence or during the trial. The jury did not see the video or factor it into their decision.