The jury in the Tory Lanez shooting trial returned a guilty judgment after nine days of testimony and hours of deliberation.
Rapper Tory Lanez was convicted of three felonies by a Los Angeles jury on Friday in the 2020 shooting of hip-hop superstar Megan Thee Stallion, which left her wounded and with bullet fragments in her foot.
The 30-year-old Canadian rapper, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, was found guilty of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, possession of a loaded, unregistered firearm in a moving vehicle, and discharge of a firearm with gross negligence by the jury of seven women and five men after deliberating for one day. The charges carry a maximum 22-year prison sentence.
As the verdict was pronounced, Lanez exhibited no outward signs of emotion. When he entered the courtroom, he was handcuffed.
Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, testified in court that Lanez demanded that she dance as she exited an SUV in which they had been riding in the Hollywood Hills in the summer of 2020.
Lanez fired a handgun at the back of her feet and shouted at her to do so. She claimed that after she started criticizing his music, their argument between the two became very intense.
She had surgery to have the bullet pieces from her feet removed.
In a statement issued immediately following the decision, L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón lauded Megan Thee Stallion’s “bravery,” adding that she “showed remarkable courage and vulnerability” with her testimony “despite repeated and horrific attacks” that she “did not deserve.”
The incident sparked a flurry of discussions about cultural themes that peaked during the trial, including Black victims’ unwillingness to speak with police, Black women’s protection, gender politics in hip-hop, and internet toxicity.
According to CBS Los Angeles, Megan Thee Stallion said during the trial that she decided to get back in the car with Lanez, his bodyguard, and a third person despite being shot because she was donning a thong bikini and thought her manager would know what to do if she could reach him.
In her testimony, she claimed that Lanez had offered her $1 million to remain silent about the incident because he was on parole, but Lanez’s attorney refuted this claim.
Prosecutors highlighted the fortitude Megan needed to come forward and the abuse the 27-year-old has received in their closing statements. Her lack of motivation to lie, according to them, was her main motivation.
In his closing remarks, Lanez’s attorney claimed that Megan’s then-best friend Kelsey Harris actually fired the rounds during a jealous quarrel over Lanez, who intervened to halt the shooting. George Mgdesyan, the lawyer, believed Megan’s story was made more sympathetic by blaming Lanez for the shooting.
In 2009, Lanez started putting out mixtapes. As his popularity grew, he transitioned to major-label albums. His most recent two songs made the top 10 of the Billboard charts.
At the time of the shooting, Megan Thee Stallion was already a promising option star, and since then, her notoriety has increased. In addition to having two No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 with her own song “Savage,” which features Beyoncé, and as a guest on Cardi B’s “WAP,” she was awarded the Grammy for best new artist in 2021.
Credit: AP News and CBS.
