Ohio Teen Looked to ChatGPT After Killing Neighbor: Cops

A 14-year-old from Fairfax, Ohio, admitted to killing his 64-year-old neighbor after months of planning and online research, investigators revealed in court Monday. The teen, who was 13 at the time of the February killing of Sheila "Denise" Tenpenny, reportedly used AI tools like ChatGPT and other search engines to research topics including how to "choose the perfect victim," "how to strangle someone," and how to avoid police detection, a prosecutor says. An investigator says the teen also used ChatGPT to research how to beat a police interrogation. Under the plea deal he accepted, he will be held in a youth prison until age 21, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Prosecutors said he discussed the crime with others on social media, though the full extent of those conversations is still under investigation by Ohio's Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which is looking into the people he spoke to. He reportedly wrote in one communication, "This one was a fighter." According to police, Tenpenny did fight back during the attack, leaving scratches and pulling out the attacker's hair, which helped investigators identify the teen through DNA evidence. The teen was arrested 10 days after Tenpenny's brother found her dead on Feb. 2 with a pillow over her head, and has been held in a youth detention center since. Police say the teen found Tenpenny sleeping sometime between 2am and 5am and attacked her, beating her and then strangling her, WLWT reports. An autopsy found she had trauma to the head and neck, WCPO reports.

As part of the plea deal, the teen pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, and strangulation. Other charges, including a serious youth offender indictment that could have resulted in an adult prison sentence, were dropped. At the Monday hearing, family members of Tenpenny described her as kind and said the teen chose her because he believed she was alone and wouldn't be missed, but she was deeply loved. The defendant's family did not address his motives during the hearing, but his attorney emphasized the principle that actions at a young age should not define a person's entire life. He reportedly suffers from cerebral palsy.