A former NFL first-round draft pick is charged with killing his fiancée in a home they had shared for just ten days. Prosecutors say that in the hours before calling 911, he used ChatGPT to ask questions about her injuries and how to describe what had happened. As investigators detail a history of prior violence, a severe autopsy report, and inconsistencies in his account, those AI conversations have become part of the evidence in a case that is now headed toward a grand jury.
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Former first-round NFL draft pick is behind bars in Tennessee charged with beating his fiancee to death in a home
They had shared for just 10 days, but the detail that has made this case national news is what prosecutors say
Darren Lee did in the 12 hours between the killing and calling 911
He opened chat GPT and asked it how to explain what happened
Darren Lee was a football prodigy. He grew up in Chattanooga before moving to suburban Columbus, Ohio where his mother a
Television news anchor had taken a new job at Ohio state
He helped the buckeys with their first ever college football playoff national championship in 2015 and was named
Defensive MVP of the sugar bull semi-final against Alabama
The New York Jets took him 20th overall in the 2016 draft
He later earned a Super Bowl ring with the Kansas City Chiefs
By the time his NFL career ended in 2021 he had played 58 games across four franchises
Gabriela Carvello Perpetuo was 29 years old. She grew up in framing him Massachusetts in a family of Brazilian heritage and later moved to Florida to study nursing at
Broward College, specializing in pediatric care
Her father told reporters that she was three months from graduating as a registered nurse
Friends described her as someone who could turn any stranger into a friend
The details of how Darren and Gabriela met have not been publicly reported
What is known is that by early
2026 they were engaged and had just moved into a rental home on snow cone way in a quiet suburb outside Chattanooga
The house still had unpacked boxes the mattress sat on the floor without a bed frame. They had been there for roughly 10 days
Darren had a documented history of violence that long predated Gabriela in October of 2022
He allegedly attacked the mother of his child in Dublin, Ohio placing his hand on her neck for 60 seconds
And threatening to kill her and their child in April of 2023 when his own mother came to the home out of concern
Darren allegedly threw her to the ground and punched her in the face eight or nine times with closed fists
She required hospitalization
He was charged with domestic violence and assault skipped his court date and eventually pleaded down to misdemeanor attempted assault with two years of probation
In October 2024 Darren was arrested in Florida for pointing a gun at a man at a fishing camp
He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and received probation
At the time of Gabriela's death
He was on active probation both in Ohio and Florida and had moved to Tennessee without his probation officer's approval
On February 5th
2026 Hamilton County deputies responded to a CPR in progress call at the snow cone way address shortly after 1.30 in the afternoon
They found Gabriela on the floor. EMS attempted chest compressions, but she was already dead
The autopsy documented 12 separate injuries
Gabriela had a massive subdural hematoma covering her entire right-sary brule hemisphere
A broken neck at the C1 and C2 vertebrae
Fractures of the left cheekbone in front teeth
Shallow saboons to her chest and left thigh and a human bite mark on her left shoulder
Her eyes were swollen shut dried blood covered her face and neck
Using chemical blood detection technology investigators found blood on the walls the kitchen island the staircase the bedroom mattress
The bathroom and inside of BMW in the garage a detective testify that there was blood in just about every room
Cleaning supplies were found near areas where hidden blood was detected
Staboons on Gabriela's legs were beneath pants with no corresponding cut marks
Suggesting the clothing was placed on her body after the injuries were inflicted
When deputies arrived Darren was inside wearing a Kansas City chiefs hoodie
He said he had come downstairs found Gabriela
Unresponsive and called 911 immediately. He suggested she had narcolepsy
She had narcolepsy and may have fallen in the shower
His story quickly fell apart
He gave inconsistent accounts of where he had found her and his claim of calling 911
Immediately was contradicted by what prosecutors found on his phone plus the scale of Gabriela's injuries a broken neck
Fractured skull stab wounds knocked out teeth was incompatible with any fall
The most extraordinary evidence came from a forensic download of Darren's phone
Prosecutors revealed dozens of conversations with chat GPT that began late on the night of February 4th
More than 12 hours before the 911 call
He had created an account under the name Zander Lee and named the chatbot persona Ali
His opening message told the chatbot that his fiance had done her crazy thing again and was now messed up
That she had two swollen eyes. He claimed or self-inflicted that she had stabbed herself and that she was not waking up
He asked what he should do. He asked what to tell a friend who wanted to call the police about someone non-responsive
But did not want to he went on to ask whether stab wound like punctures could result from hitting something
Specifying locations that matched Gabriela's actual injuries. He also asked about physical signs of a slip and fall in the bathroom
At one point he wrote that she had blood all over the place
District Attorney Cody Wamp argued to the court that Darren had been using chat GPT as a legal advisor
Essentially asking it how to cover up a crime scene. She confirmed this was the first local homicide case in which AI chatbot
Massages served as key evidence
Darren was charged with first degree murder and evidence tampering at his first court
Appearance on February 11th a judge denied bond citing his criminal history and probation violations in two states at a preliminary hearing on March 9th
Prosecutors presented body camera footage chat GPT transcripts autopsy findings and crime scene photographs
The judge bound the case over to a Hamilton County grand jury stating she was even more convinced the offense was especially heinous
atrocious or cruel
Deputy public defender Mike Little meanwhile has argued all the evidence is circumstantial
The case now awaits the grand jury which will decide whether to formally indict no trial date has been set
The district attorney has said her office is actively considering the death penalty
How courts handle AI chatbot evidence will be watched well beyond Chattanooga
Okay, well, we'll keep you guys updated on this case and many more until next time. I'm Jesse Prey and I'm Andy Cassette signing off for Love Murder
