Current:Home > FinanceTory Lanez sentenced to 10 years for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the feet in 2020 -ProfitSphere Academy
Tory Lanez sentenced to 10 years for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the feet in 2020
View
Date:2025-04-13 12:57:42
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.
- In:
- Megan Thee Stallion
Alex Sundby is a senior editor for CBSNews.com
TwitterveryGood! (1712)
Related
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- Royal insider says Princess Kate photo scandal shows wheels are coming off Kensington Palace PR
- Author Mitch Albom, 9 other Americans rescued from Haiti: 'We were lucky to get out'
- Georgia House speaker aims to persuade resistant Republicans in voucher push
- Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
- Dollar Tree to shutter nearly 1,000 stores after dismal earnings report
- How to Deep Clean Every Part of Your Bed: Mattress, Sheets, Pillows & More
- Scott Peterson's lawyers ask for new DNA test in push to overturn Laci Peterson conviction
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- Oklahoma outlawed cockfighting in 2002. A push to weaken penalties has some crowing fowl play
Ranking
- Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
- HIV prevention drugs known as PrEP are highly effective, but many at risk don't know about them
- Star Wars’ Child Actor Jake Lloyd in Mental Health Facility After Suffering Psychotic Break
- Biden is coming out in opposition to plans to sell US Steel to a Japanese company
- Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
- Dua Lipa Dives into New Music With Third Album Radical Optimism
- Some Alabama websites hit by ‘denial-of-service’ computer attack
- Montana man used animal tissue and testicles to breed ‘giant’ sheep for sale to hunting preserves
Recommendation
Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
Watch a tortoise in Florida cozy up for a selfie with a camera
Drake Bell Shares He Was Sexually Abused at 15
Arizona’s most populous county has confirmed 645 heat-associated deaths in metro Phoenix last year
Bodycam footage shows high
Dozens of performers pull out of SXSW in protest of military affiliations, war in Gaza
South Carolina Senate to weigh House-approved $13.2 billion budget
Connecticut officer arrested and suspended after video shows him punching motorist through car window while off duty