Tory Lanez sentenced to 10 years for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the feet in 2020
Rapper Tory Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday in Los Angeles after he was convicted last year of shooting Grammy winner Megan Thee Stallion in the feet in 2020, prosecutors said.
Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, was convicted in December of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and two other felonies.
"Over the past three years, Mr. Peterson has engaged in a pattern of conduct that was intended to intimidate Ms. Pete and silence her truths from being heard," Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said. "Women, especially Black women, are afraid to report crimes like assault because they are too often not believed."
During the trial, Megan, whose legal name is Megan Pete, testified that Lanez shot at the back of her feet and told her to dance when she was walking away from an SUV that was carrying them in 2020. The rappers had been at a party at Kylie Jenner's house.
In an interview last year with "CBS Mornings" co-host Gayle King, Megan said she wanted to get out of the vehicle because Lanez was having a heated argument with one of her friends. She said after she left the vehicle, shots rang out.
"He is standing up over the window shooting," Megan told King. "And I didn't even want to move. I didn't want to move too quick. Like, cause I'm like, oh my God, if I take the wrong step, I don't know if he's going to shoot something that's, like, super important. I don't know if he could shoot me and kill me."
Lanez was also convicted of having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
"Every day, I think of others across the world who are victims of violence and survive. It is truly the most powerless feeling, especially when you question whether the justice system can truly protect you," Megan said in a statement read by Gascón.
At a press conference after the sentencing, Gascón and Deputy District Attorney Alex Bott described the years of harassment Megan faced after the shooting. Lanez subjected Megan to "years of hell," Bott said.
"He intimidated her, he harassed her," Bott said. "Nevertheless, in the face of all that abuse and vitriol, Megan showed the courage to come forward and speak her truth."
Prosecutors were seeking a 13-year sentence from Superior Court Judge David Herriford. Lanez's attorneys wanted him to be sentenced to probation.
His lawyers tried to get a new trial earlier this year. They argued that Lanez's attorney in the original trial wasn't given enough time to prepare, that Lanez didn't ask Megan to not speak to the police as she testified and that authorities didn't follow industry standards when using DNA evidence to tie Lanez to the shooting. Herriford rejected their arguments.
"We're extremely disappointed," Lanez's lead attorney Jose Baez said outside the courthouse, according to the Associated Press. "I have seen vehicular homicide and other cases where there's death, and the defendant still gets less than 10 years."
Baez called the sentence "really just another example of someone being punished for their celebrity status and someone being utilized to set an example. And he's not an example. He's a human being."
During Monday's hearing, Lanez's father, Sonstar Peterson, apologized for saying Lanez was convicted in a "wicked system" following the jury's guilty verdict. Peterson also said music became his son's outlet after his mother died from a rare blood disorder when he was 11. In a letter, rapper Iggy Azalea urged the judge to impose a sentence that was "transformative, not life-destroying."
The Associated Press and Aliza Chasan contributed reporting.
