Tory Lanez sentenced to 10 years for Megan Thee Stallion shooting
Rapper Tory Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday in Los Angeles for shooting fellow artist Megan Thee Stallion.
Last December, Tory Lanez, whose given name is Daystar Peterson, was found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot in July 2020 as they left a party at the home of celebrity Kylie Jenner.
At his conviction, Peterson was found guilty of all three charges prosecutors had brought against him: assault with a firearm, illegal possession of a firearm and negligent discharge of a gun for shooting Megan.
When the shooting occurred, Megan Thee Stallion, whose given name is Megan Pete, had left the party with Peterson along with another woman, Kelsey Harris, who was at the time Megan's assistant and a close friend, as well as Peterson's bodyguard. After Pete and Peterson argued, she got out of the car, and he began shooting at her feet.
Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 13 years in prison for the rapper. After the shooting, they said, Peterson launched "a campaign to humiliate and re-traumatize the victim" and "weaponized misinformation" on social media to turn public opinion against Megan.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Pete told police that she had stepped on broken glass. During her testimony at Peterson's trial last December, she said that she was so afraid of the police and Peterson that she couldn't immediately tell the truth. "I don't feel safe in the car. I don't feel safe with the police," she said through tears.
She also testified that Peterson had offered her and Harris $1 million each to keep quiet about the shooting.
On an album released two months after the shooting, Peterson included lyrics denying that he had shot her and asserting that he had been framed.
During the first day of the sentencing hearing Monday, the judge heard statements supporting Peterson, while dozens of people submitted letters to the court on his behalf.
The maximum sentence for the crimes Peterson was convicted of is 22 years and eight months in prison. However, due to a recently passed California law that is meant as a measure of criminal justice reform, courts are now required to impose the middle length of a possible prison term unless there are aggravating circumstances.
Judge David Herriford had previously denied Peterson's request for a retrial. Peterson, who is a Canadian citizen, also potentially faces deportation from the United States after he serves his sentence.
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