Canadian rapper Tory Lanez shot and injured hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion. Now, he would spend a decade behind bars.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Herriford sentenced 31-year-old Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, to ten years in prison without the possibility of parole. Lanez was found guilty and convicted by a jury of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, having a loaded and unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
On July 12, 2020, the defendant and 28-year-old Stallion had been at a party hosted at Kylie Jenner's Hollywood Hills home. According to prosecutors, Lanez had fired gunshots at the back of the hip-hop star’s feet as she walked away from the car the pair had been traveling in.
"Megan got lucky that night, but her luck shouldn't negate [Lanez's] culpability... her luck is not his luck. This was a heinous act of violence against a defenseless woman and a multi-year campaign of harassment,” stated Prosecutor Edward Welbourn, according to SKY News.
During the trial, Stallion testified how Lanez made a mockery of her trauma, assuming the victim role while he paid bloggers to disseminate false information about the case on social media.
Later, the defendant pleaded for mercy, telling the court he regretted his actions and accepted full responsibility. In addition, family members, including Lanez’s father, Sonstar Peterson, testified about the trauma his son went through after losing his mother at the age of 11.
However, prosecutors argued for the defendant to be sentenced to a harsher sentence of 13 years.
"Tory did not get the sentence that we had certainly hoped for. I think the sentence that was handed down was incredibly harsh. This is another example of someone being punished for their celebrity status and someone being utilized as a -- to send an example, and he's not an example he's a human being. I think it's incredibly unfortunate, and it's something that we plan on appealing," said Lanez’s Defense Lawyer, Jose Baez, reported ABC News.
Lanez rose to prominence after his release of mixtapes in 2009, while Stallion won a Grammy for Best New Artist in 2021.
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