Tory Lanez found guilty in shooting of Megan Thee Stallion
Rapper Tory Lanez was found guilty Friday on all counts in his Los Angeles trial for shooting fellow rapper Megan Thee Stallion. Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, could face a maximum sentence of more than 22 years in prison and deportation back to Canada.
The jury found Lanez, 30, guilty of discharging a firearm with gross negligence, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle.
"The jury got it right," Megan Thee Stallion's attorney, Alex Spiro, told CBS News in a statement. "I am thankful there is justice for Meg."
Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, testified that Lanez shot at her feet five times following a party in the Hollywood Hills on July 12, 2020. She told the court that the shooting was preceded by an argument between Megan and Lanez that got heated, especially when they began attacking each other's music careers.
"I feel like that really rubbed him the wrong way," she said during her testimony, according to The Associated Press. "He kept yelling and cursing."
She got out of the vehicle and tried to walk away when Lanez leaned out and opened fire, she said, leaving the back of her feet wounded. At one point, he yelled "Dance, b----!" she testified. She eventually got back into the car, which was pulled over shortly after, CBS Los Angeles reported.
She said she needed surgery to remove bullet fragments in her feet.
In a statement released immediately after the verdict was read, L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón praised Megan Thee Stallion's "bravery," saying that she "showed incredible courage and vulnerability" with her testimony "despite repeated and grotesque attacks" that she "did not deserve."
"Women, especially Black women, are afraid to report crimes like assault and sexual violence because they are too often not believed," Gascón said.
George Mgdesyan, an attorney for Lanez, told CBS News by phone that the verdict was "disappointing," adding that Lanez's legal team will "be looking at all necessary options, including an appeal."
During the trial, Megan Thee Stallion said that, despite the shooting, she agreed to get back in the vehicle with Lanez, his bodyguard and a third person because she was wearing a thong bikini and also felt like her manager would know what to do if she was able to get in touch with him, according to CBS Los Angeles.
She also testified that Lanez had offered her $1 million to keep quiet about the incident since he was on probation, but a lawyer for Lanez stated that wasn't true.
In an April interview with "CBS Mornings" co-host Gayle King, Megan Thee Stallion described what led up to the shooting and how she reacted.
"The argument was with the two people in the back seat," she said. "So I asked the driver to pull the car over. Like, I'm done with this. And I should have stayed out of the car. Like, I should have not got back in the car. And they was like, 'Megan, just get back in the car. We're almost there.' And, like, just, 'Get back in.' So I get back in the car. It's... getting worse."
As the argument escalated, Megan Thee Stallion said she got out of the car, and that's when, she told King, that Lanez fired a gun at her several times.
"So I get out of the car and it's like everything happens so fast," Megan Thee Stallion told King. "And all I hear is this man screaming. And he said, 'Dance, b----!' And he started shooting. And I'm just like, 'Oh, my God.' Like, he shot a couple of times. And I was so scared."