Tory Lanez; Megan Thee Stallion.Photo: Roy Rochlin/Getty; P. Lehman / Barcroft Media via Getty
RapperTory Lanezhas been sentenced to 10 years after being found guilty on all three felony counts for shooting Grammy-winning starMegan Thee Stallionthree years ago.
Judge David Herriford had been expected to sentence Lanez Monday at a hearing that usually only takes a few hours, but Herriford had attorneys for both sides argue each factor of his potential sentence, allowing seven witnesses to give statements on Lanez’s charitable contributions, his childhood trauma and being a father to his 6-year-old son, according toNBC News.
According toThe Associated Press,at the start of Monday’s proceedings, Lanez had over 70 submitted letters of support, including a note from “Fancy” rapperIggy Azaleato Judge Herriford asking for leniency"that was transformative, not life-destroying" when determining his sentence. “I am not in support of throwing away anyone’s life if we can give reasonable punishments that are rehabilitative instead. I support prison reform. Period,” she later wrote on Twitter.
Tory Lanez; Megan Thee Stallion.Jerod Harris/Getty, Rodin Eckenroth/Getty
“The jury got it right,” her lawyerAlex Spiro told PEOPLEin 2022. “I am thankful there is justice for Meg.”
The charges stemmed from a dispute after Lanez, Megan and her former assistant and ex-friendKelsey Harrisleft a pool party atKylie Jenner’s home in Los Angeles on July 12, 2020. As driver Jaquan Smith was shuttling them around in a Cadillac Escalade, an argument erupted in the vehicle and moved outside onto a sidewalk in the Hollywood Hills.
According to prosecutors in court, as Megan began walking away, she heard the Canadian rapper shout, “Dance, bitch!” as Lanez began shooting a 9mm pistol at her feet, injuring her so that she dropped to the ground and crawled to safety. County Assistant District Attorney Alexander Bott said in court that her ex-friend Harris freaked out when Lanez approached the two women after he fired five shots at Megan while she “lay bleeding in a random driveway.” Megan was later hospitalized and underwent surgery.
“I’m in shock. I’m scared. I hear a gun going off. I couldn’t believe he was shooting at me,” Megan testified in the packed courtroom last year. “He was holding the gun, pointing it at me.”
Megan Thee Stallion; Tory Lanez.P. Lehman/Barcroft Media via Getty; Cassidy Sparrow/Getty
Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, looked “stoic” in court on Monday and Tuesday, according to a source. He spoke for several minutes before the judge handed down his decision, asking for leniency and for a sentence that would allow him to “prove” himself,Rolling Stonereported.
“If I could turn back the series of events that night and change them, I would," Lanez says, according toThe Associated Press. “The victim was my friend. The victim is someone I still care for to this day." He added, “Everything I did wrong that night, I take full responsibility for.” The rapper was given about 10 months of credit for time he’s servedsince his conviction in December,The Associated Pressnoted.
Lanez’s father,Sonstar Peterson, who was present in the gallery on Monday, grew emotional as he described his son losing his mother Luella at age 11 to a rare blood disorder,according to The Associated Press. As he continued, Peterson choked back tears as he apologized in court to Judge Herriford for his outburst last year in court.
“I want to personally apologize to you,” Sonstar told the judge,the AP reported. “It was an overwhelming time.” Back then, pandemonium erupted as Sonstar lunged toward prosecution after his son was convicted. Hepointed and shouted, “This wicked system! You are wicked, you are evil. Shame on all of you!” before he was removed from the courtroom.
In the years after the shooting, Megan stepped away from social media and took personal time for herself. She suffered severe public blowback — and a wave of harassment and misogyny from the hip-hop community — after she talked to police and spoke out publicly in a statement on Instagram after the incident. Two years later she opened up toGayle KingonCBS Morningsabout the incident, explaining why she initially lied to investigators.
“I don’t remember everything [the police] said to me, but I remember them asking me, ‘What’s happening? What— what happened to you?’ And I didn’t want them to kill any of us or shoot any of us,” she told King. “So I just said, ‘I stepped on glass.'” Later in the segment, Megan admitted, “I was lying to protect all of us. And I— sometimes I wish I really would have never said that.”
In January of this year,50 Centapologized for calling her a liar andSoulja Boyblasted Lanez in anInstagram Live videowhile calling out other rappers for not sticking up for her. OnDrakeand21 Savage’s song “Circo Loco,” the “Hotline Bling” performer appeared to reference the situation andimply that Megan made up the shooting.
On June 6, prosecutorsrequestedthat Judge Herriford sentence Lanez to at least 13 years in prison for his crime, but the rapper’s defense argued in a41-page sealed memoposted on Aug. 2 that Lanez should instead be sent to rehab, citing his alcohol addiction and severe childhood trauma, journalistMeghann Cuniff of Legal Affairs and Trials’ reported.
The prosecution initially sought a harsher sentence of a maximum of 22 years and eight months behind bars,per a DA’s office press release in October 2020. In May, Judge Herriford — who the defense argued should have been disqualified from the case — denied the request for a new trial.
During the blockbuster trial last year, prosecutors highlightedMegan’s heart-wrenching testimonywhen she fought back tears and recounted what happened to her. “I wish [Lanez] had just shot and killed me if I would have known I was going to go through this torture,” she said during her testimony.
Lanez’s defense team characterized the shooting as a jealous dispute between Megan and Harris, attempting to cast doubt on who pulled the trigger and forcing Megan to disclose her intimate relationship with Lanez. He did not testify in his own defense but haslong maintained his innocenceand refuted the claims in his17-track albumDaystar,released in September 2020.
According to legal reporterCuniff on Twitter,Judge Herriford explained that one jail mate wrote him a letter explaining that Lanez was “remorseful” and has “talked in detail about the event and what he could have done to prevent it.”
Last month, Lanezwrote about his time in prison on Instagram. “I want ya’ll to know I haven’t lost my faith in God and that I’m in high spirits. I’m praying for the best and remain confident that God will bring me through this. I have spent the last 7 months rehabilitating my mind, my body and my soul. Though I came to jail a good person, I will leave a great person,” he posted on June 18. “I won’t let anything stop me from being a positive light and a help to those in need.”
source: people.com
