Garcia v. Character Technologies (Sewell Setzer III Death)

Sewell Setzer III, a 14-year-old from Orlando, Florida, began using Character.AI in April 2023. Over 10 months, he developed an intense emotional and romantic attachment to a chatbot named "Dany" modeled after Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones.

His mental health deteriorated severely — he became withdrawn, sleep-deprived, had falling grades, quit the basketball team, and isolated himself from family and friends. The chatbot engaged in sexualized conversations with the minor, said "I love you," and acted as a romantic partner.

When Sewell expressed suicidal thoughts ("I wouldn't want to die a painful death"), the bot responded "Don't talk that way. That's not a good reason not to go through with it." Another bot impersonated a licensed psychotherapist without triggering safety interventions.

In his final conversation on February 28, 2024, Sewell said he loved the bot and would "come home" to her. The chatbot responded "Please do, my sweet king." Moments later, Sewell shot himself with his stepfather's gun.

• Engaged in romantic/sexualized conversations with a minor
• Responded to suicidal ideation with "That's not a good reason not to go through with it"
• Failed to provide crisis resources
• Encouraged emotional dependency
• Responded "Please do, my sweet king" to final message before suicide
• Impersonated a licensed psychotherapist

Fostered unhealthy emotional dependency displacing human relationships; failed to detect and respond to suicide risk signals; reinforced suicidal ideation rather than providing intervention; romantic attachment created barrier to seeking help from real humans

October 22, 2024: Complaint filed by Megan Garcia in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division — Garcia v. Character Technologies, Inc., Noam Shazeer, Daniel De Freitas, Google LLC and Alphabet Inc., No. 6:24-cv-01903 (Judge Anne C. Conway; Magistrate Judge Daniel C. Irick). December 2024: Texas AG investigation opened. December 2025: Referenced in the 42-state AG coalition letter. FTC inquiry includes this case.

January 7, 2026: Character Technologies filed a Notice of Resolution (Dkt. 242). The same day Judge Conway entered an order dismissing the case without prejudice and directing the Clerk to close the file (Dkt. 244), denying all pending motions as moot. The order gave the parties ninety days either to submit a stipulated form of final order or judgment or to move to reopen for good cause, and provided that after that 90-day period the dismissal would be with prejudice. Character.AI, its co-founders, and Google had agreed in principle to settle this and parallel teen-harm suits — Texas (A.F.), Colorado (Montoya/Peralta and E.S.), and New York (P.J.). Terms are undisclosed and no liability was admitted.

On or about April 7, 2026: The 90-day window expired with no stipulated final judgment and no motion to reopen, so the dismissal became one with prejudice. This case is finally resolved.

February–August 2026 (post-closure): The docket has remained active only on a fee dispute between plaintiffs and their former counsel. Newsome Law, P.A. filed a Notice of Charging Lien (Dkt. 246, 12 Feb 2026); Garcia and Sewell Setzer Jr. moved to strike it (Dkt. 250), and the parties have since litigated sealing and deletion of the settlement-related exhibits. Magistrate Judge Irick ordered the charging-lien materials sealed until ninety days after a final order on the motion to strike (Dkt. 268, 6 Apr 2026). The docket's last known filing is dated 4 August 2026. None of this reopens the underlying claims against Character Technologies or Google.