Tory Lanez Prison Sentence for Megan Thee Stallion Shooting Revealed

Canadian rapper Tory Lanez received a 10-year prison sentence after being convicted of three felony counts related to the shooting of rap superstar Megan Thee Stallion three years ago. In December 2022, a jury in Los Angeles Superior Court unanimously convicted the 31-year-old singer of assaulting 28-year-old Megan (real name Megan Pete) with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and discharging a firearm with gross negligence after a nine-day trial. 

"The jury got it right," Alex Spiro, Megan's lawyer, told PEOPLE in 2022 about the verdict. "I am thankful there is justice for Meg." Lanez expressed remorse just before the judge delivered his sentence on Tuesday. "If I could turn back the series of events that night and change them, I would," he said, reported The Associated Press. "The victim was my friend. The victim is someone I still care for to this day." He added, "Everything I did wrong that night, I take full responsibility for." A 10-month credit was granted to the rapper for his time served since his December conviction.

Initially, it was expected that Judge David Herriford would sentence Lanez on Monday at a hearing that usually only takes a few hours, but Herriford had attorneys for both sides argue each factor of Lanez's potential sentence, allowing seven witnesses to speak in his defense of Lanez. They spoke of topics that included his contributions to the community, childhood traumas that he experienced, and his role as a father to his 6-year-old son, reported NBC News. 

According to The Associated Press, Lanez had over 70 letters of support at the start of Monday's proceedings. "Fancy" rapper Iggy Azalea asked Herriford for leniency when deciding a "transformative, not life-destroying" sentence. "I am not in support of throwing away anyone's life if we can give reasonable punishments that are rehabilitative instead. I support prison reform. Period," Azalea wrote later in a tweet. On Twitter, legal reporter Cuniff said that Herriford received a letter from a jailmate explaining that Lanez had expressed regret and "talked in detail about the event and what he could have done to prevent it." 

On July 12, 2020, Lanez, Megan, and Lanez's ex-assistant and ex-friend, Kelsey Harris, left a pool party at Kylie Jenner's home. They were being shuttled around Hollywood Hills in a Cadillac Escalade when an argument broke out inside the car and spilled out onto the sidewalk. Prosecutors said that as Megan walked away, Lanez shouted, "Dance, b—!" and began firing a 9mm pistol at her feet, injuring her, causing her to drop to the ground and crawl for safety. According to Alexander Bott, County Assistant District Attorney, Harris became frantic when Lanez approached them after shooting five shots at Megan as she was bleeding in a random driveway. Later, Megan was hospitalized and underwent surgery. 

"I'm in shock. I'm scared. I hear a gun going off. I couldn't believe he was shooting at me," Megan said in court last year. "He was holding the gun, pointing it at me." According to a source, Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, appeared "stoic" in court on Monday and Tuesday. Several minutes before the judge ruled, he asked for leniency and for a sentence that would enable him to "prove" himself, Rolling Stone reported.

Rapper Tory Lanez Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Shooting Megan Thee Stallion https://t.co/AjwBoBqDhz

— People (@people) August 8, 2023

Lanez's defense team said that the shooting was caused by a jealous dispute between Megan and Harris, casting doubt on who shot Lanez and forcing Megan to disclose her relationship with him. While Lanez did not testify in his own defense, he did refute the claims in his 17-track album Daystar, which was released in September 2020. 

Megan was not present when the sentence was read. "Since I was viciously shot by the defendant, I have not experienced a single day of peace," she said in a statement read by Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta on Monday, ABC News reported. "Slowly but surely, I'm healing and coming back, but I will never be the same."