LOS ANGELES — A judge in Los Angeles on Tuesday sentenced Canadian musician Tory Lanez to 10 years in prison for shooting rapper Megan Thee Stallion during an argument in 2020, the culmination of a case that polarized the music world, filled gossip pages and generated deeper discussion about violence against Black women.
“He not only shot me, he made a mockery of my trauma,” Megan Thee Stallion, the chart-topping artist born Megan Pete, wrote in a statement that was read in court Monday, as supporters on both sides made their final pleas to the judge.
Megan Thee Stallion, who did not attend the sentencing because she said she could not be in the same room as Lanez, added, “This is a statement for all survivors that their lives matter and there is zero tolerance for the torture that accompanies violence.”
Prosecutors had sought a 13-year sentence for Lanez, born Daystar Peterson, arguing that he lacked remorse and was “clearly incapable of accepting any responsibility for his own actions.” Before Lanez was sentenced Tuesday, he addressed the court in an orange jail jumpsuit, asking for “redemption and a second chance.”
Lanez faced a maximum of 22 years and eight months in prison after being convicted in December of three felony counts — assault with a semi-automatic handgun; carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
For sentencing, Judge David Herriford of Los Angeles County Superior Court took into account two aggravating factors in the case, including the fact that the victim was particularly vulnerable. He credited Lanez with 305 days served.
Jose Baez, a lawyer for Lanez, called the sentence “incredibly harsh,” adding, “It’s just another example of someone getting punished for their celebrity status.”
Lawyers for Lanez, 31, had argued for only probation, raising many mitigating factors through legal filings and court testimony, including abuse the musician suffered in childhood and his relationship to alcohol. Lanez’s “alcohol-use disorder, although not amounting to a defense, reduced his culpability,” his team said in a sentencing memo.
In court Monday, Herriford read aloud summaries of 76 supportive letters he had received from Lanez’s allies and associates, including family members and rapper Iggy Azalea. (After some backlash, Azalea said in an online post that was later deleted that she had not known her comments would be made public, and that she believed in “reasonable punishments” and “prison reform.”)
The court also heard testimony, which continued into Tuesday, about Lanez’s character, philanthropic work and commitment to his young son. A lawyer for Lanez called the shooting “one bad evening in a lifetime of good deeds.”
The prosecution had framed the assault as “an act of misogyny” against Megan Thee Stallion. “This case was a violent shooting over a bruised ego,” said Alexander Bott, a deputy district attorney.
In his statement, Lanez, who sat expressionless while the sentence was issued, apologized for his actions. “If I could turn back time on the series of events that night, I would,” he said. “The victim was my friend and someone I still care about to this day. Everything I did wrong that night I take full responsibility for.”
In handing down his sentence, Herriford said that he had rejected the defense’s claims that Lanez suffered from PTSD and that he had weighed Lanez’s conduct after the shooting with his lack of criminal history and record of community service.
“Sometimes good people do bad things,” the judge said. “Actions have consequences. There are no winners in this case.”
Public details of the July 2020 assault evolved gradually via law enforcement accounts and social media posts, resulting in internet drama and finger-pointing before the case ever entered a courtroom.
Lanez was initially arrested and charged only with weapons possession after an encounter as he, Megan Thee Stallion and a friend were being driven home from a pool party at reality star Kylie Jenner’s residence.
Megan Thee Stallion, who told responding officers that she had injured her feet by stepping on glass, said later that she had been on high alert after the police killing of George Floyd and was worried about how “snitching” on Lanez would affect her career as a rapper.
But after initial coverage of the case by hip-hop and celebrity blogs, as well as social media posts by Lanez, Megan Thee Stallion, 28, said she had been shot in both feet, requiring surgery, and named the rapper as her assailant on Instagram.
In court later, following more than a year of trading barbs with Lanez in songs and on social media, Megan Thee Stallion testified that he had fired at her several times after she left the vehicle during an argument about their brief romantic entanglement and respective careers.
Lanez “tried to position himself as a victim and set out to destroy my character and my soul,” Megan Thee Stallion wrote in her victim’s statement before sentencing. “He lied to anyone that would listen and paid bloggers to disseminate false information about the case on social media. He released music videos and songs to damage my character and continue his crusade.”
Megan Thee Stallion said Lanez had privately apologized for the shooting, offering her and the friend who was with them that night, Kelsey Harris, $1 million each to keep quiet.
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