Rapper Tory Lanez could face at least 13 years in prison for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in a drunken fight as he is set to be sentenced TODAY – as she says: ‘He treated my trauma like a joke and I could have died that day’
- The rapper faces over a decade behind bars for the July 2020 shooting
- Lanez was found guilty in December of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot
- She refused to show up for the sentencing as she ‘can’t be in the same room’
Rapper Tory Lanez is scheduled to be sentenced in Los Angeles Tuesday for shooting his ex-lover, fellow hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion.
Prosecutors are asking for LA Superior Court Judge David Herriford to jail the 31 year-old singer for at least 13 years while his attorneys argued Monday that instead of jail, he should be given probation and sent to rehab for alcohol addiction and therapy for ‘childhood trauma’.
During the first day of his sentencing hearing, Lanez’ defense team trotted out several character witnesses who spoke of his philanthropic efforts working for and funding various charities and leading a prayer group in jail.
But conspicuously missing from the courtroom was his victim, Megan Thee Stallion, 28, who said in a letter read to the court that she ‘simply can’t be in the same room as Tory.’
The sentencing for rapper Tory Lanez, 30, in connection with the shooting of Megan Thee Stallion during a Hollywood Hills party in July of 2020, is set to go ahead Tuesday. He is pictured with his son outside Los Angeles Superior Courthouse December 2022
Megan Thee Stallion had three bullet fragments surgically removed from her foot. She’s pictured in court in December for Lanez’s trial
Writing that she hasn’t been ‘at peace’ since Lanez shot her in the feet during a drunken argument in July 2020, Megan – currently pregnant – went on, ‘I have been tortured and terrorized by the defendant. He made a mockery of my torment.
‘He treated my trauma like a joke and I could have died that day. He’s using his childhood trauma to shield himself from culpability.’
After the shooting, she said, she ‘spiraled into a dark and lonely place where I thought my life was worthless.
Insisting that there should be ‘zero tolerance’ for Lanez ‘kind of torture,’ she added, ‘I beg this court to find the defendant finally accountable.’
Lanez – real name Daystar Peterson – is actually facing a maximum of up to 22 years in jail for the three gun felonies a jury convicted him of last December.
But prosecutors have asked for 13 years. His sentence could also include the performer’s deportation to his native Canada when his time behind bars in the U.S. ends.
During Monday’s hearing Assistant District Attorney Alex Bott asked Judge Herriford that when deciding his sentence he should take into account several ‘aggravating factors.’
‘He’s never shown a ounce of remorse for the shooting,’ said Bott who added that Lanez’ 12 million social media followers, ‘directed their vitriol’ at Megan after he suggested in posts that she had lied about being shot.
Another ‘aggravating factor,’ he said, was Lanez ‘terrorrizig’ Megan when he was awaiting trial by showing up at her Miami concert in defiance of a protective order that barred him from going near her.
Bott even accused Lanez of ‘weaponizing social media’ against himself and his fellow prosecutor, DDA Kathy Ta by posting on Instagram that the two ‘personally hid evidence’ in their case against him.
‘That painted a target on our backs,’ he added.
The rapper, real name Daystar Peterson, is pictured with Meg Thee Stallion, real name Megan Pete, in 2020. She testified against him at his trial in December
Meanwhile, Lanez defense team, Jose Baez, Matthew Barthoma and Ed Welbourn, urged the judge to consider ‘mitigating circumstances’ – like the musician’s tough childhood and alcohol abuse – when deciding his sentence.
The lawyers contended in a written filing that ‘Mr. Peterson’s childhood trauma and mental illness, alcohol-use disorder compromised his ability to manage and regulate his emotions and behaviors and that alcohol use disorder played a significant role in the alleged offenses.’
Among the character witnesses the defense called Monday was Lanez father pastor Sonstar Peterson, also gave tearful testimony, telling the court that Lanez had been traumatized by the sudden death of his mother when he was only 11 and he sought comfort in music.
Peterson Senior also apologized to Judge Herriford for his loud outburst of protest in court last December when the jury declared his son guilty.
Raina Chassagne – mother of Lanez six year-old son Kai – has known him since sixth grade and she told the court how, after his mother died, he was sometimes homeless as a teen.
She described Lanez as a great dad who ‘puts his kid first, even before music’ and she said she feared for Kai’s stability if his father gets a long sentence.
Sonstar Peterson, the father of Tory Lanez, gave a tearful testimony as he gave a character witness for his son
Lanez music manager, Elis Pachecl told the court his arrest and conviction ‘have affected his brand tremendously – this case has decimated him’.
The defense also called clinical psychologist Dr. Stephanie Herring who testified that she believed Lanez suffered from post traumatic stress (PST) and anxiety disorder and said that rather than jail he would be a ‘good candidate’ for mental health and alcohol abuse treatment while on probation.
Judge Herrikford told the court Monday that he had received 76 letters of support from Lanez’ relatives, friends, work colleagues and others, many of them mentioning his acts of kindness and generosity.
One of those letters came from Australian rapper Iggy Azalea who urged the judge to impose a sentence ‘that is transformational, not life destroying.’
Baez and Barthoma’s argument that childhood trauma and alcohol use were to blame for Lanez’ crimes is the second strategy the legal duo has used to try keep their client out of jail.
The first came last May when they filed a motion for Lanez to be given a new trial.
In their motion, Baez and Barthoma – who did not represent Lanez at his trial – called his convictions a ‘miscarriage of justice,’ accused prosecutors of unfairly ‘painting Lanez as a gun-wielding career criminal’, and blasted their client’s trial attorney, George Mgdesyan, for being ‘inaffective.’
Judge Herriford disagreed on all counts and threw out the lawyers’ bid for a new trial.
Megan took to Instagram with a photo of her foot injury following the shooting
Megan Thee Stallion, She was pictured in August 2022, told jurors at Lanez trial he fired at her feet after he yelled ‘dance b***h’
Lanez’ 10-day trial ended December 23 when, after a day and a half of deliberations, the jury of seven women and five men unanimously convicted Lanez of three felonies: assault with a semi-automatic firearm, shooting a firearm with gross negligence and carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle.
He had pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
In tearful testimony during trial, Megan, told the jury that she and Lanez – with whom she’d been having a sexual relationship – had been to a pool party July 12, 2020 at the home of Kylie Jenner and were in his SUV in the Hollywood Hills with her best friend and assistant Kelsey Harris when an alcohol-fueled argument erupted.
Megan – real name Megan Pete – asked the driver to stop the car and she got out – which was when she said Lanez yelled ‘Dance b—ch’ and fired a gun five times at her, injuring her feet so seriously that she needed surgery.
She testified in court that Lanez offered her and Harris a million dollars to keep quiet about the shooting and asked them not to report him because he was already ‘on probation.’
Megan also said that Lanez later apologized to her, saying he was drunk at the time of the shooting.
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