Daystar Peterson, a Canadian rapper best known by his stage as Tory Lanez, was found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion twice in the foot during a July 2020 disagreement over their respective love relationships and professions by a Los Angeles jury on Friday.
Mr. Lanez, 30, was convicted of three felonies: assault with a semi-automatic pistol, carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and shooting a firearm with gross negligence. He risks more than 20 years in prison and deportation.
Jurors reached a verdict after about 7 hours of deliberation over 2 days after a trial that lasted nearly two weeks. Mr. Lanez, who was released on bail after a period of house arrest during his trial, was immediately arrested. Judgment was scheduled for January 27.
Megan Thee Stallion did not appear in court. Until his father stood up and began shouting at the judge and the prosecution after the judgement was announced, Mr. Lanez remained still and maintained his eyes forward. When he said, “God will judge you,” bailiffs were going to stop him. Alex Spiro, Megan Thee Stallion’s attorney, issued the following statement: “The jury rightly understood. That Meg obtained justice makes me glad.”
She called attention to the case’s well-known participants as well as what she observed of the recent verdict on alleged abuse, which played out as both a corny tabloid and a significant referendum on how black women are treated in hip-hop and beyond. People said they had been attentively observing defendants like Harvey Weinstein and Johnny Depp in court and in public.
Despite not being well-known before the scandal, Mr. Lanez has gained explicit and tacit support from numerous facets of the hip-hop community since filming started, notably from the talking rappers 50 Cent and Joe Budden as well as from major blogs and social media accounts.
The potential of a 2nd shooter who was friend of Megan Thee Stallion, was also involved in the altercation, which happened as Mr. Lanez was leaving a gathering at the house of reality TV star and cosmetics tycoon Kylie, was brought up by the defence of the rapper in court. Jennifer.
Tory Lanez Found Guilty
However, Megan Thee Stallion, a witness in the case, named Mr. Lanez as the person who attacked her and emotionally recalled how he called her “dancing” and a derogatory term for women before opening fire from the passenger seat of an SUV. She said that Mr. Lanez afterwards apologised and gave her and his girlfriend Kelsey Harris a $1 million dollar offer apiece in exchange for their silence.
An assistant prosecutor named Alexander Bott claimed in his closing statement that Mr. Lanez was driven to the brink of insanity when Megan Thee Stallion disparaged his artistic eminence, noting that she was hesitant to come forward following the traumatising episode.
Megan summoned the fortitude to appear before you and inform you of what the accused did to her, Mr. Bott told the jury. “Had Megan been honest? Everyone in the courtroom, in my opinion, is aware of the answer to that query.”Hold Mr. Lanez accountable for shooting the victim if only to stoke his ego, the lawyer claimed.
Despite not being well-known before the scandal, Mr. Lanez has gained explicit and tacit support from numerous facets of the hip-hop community since filming started, notably from the talking rappers 50 Cent and Joe Budden as well as from major blogs and social media accounts.
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