Canadian hip-hop artist Tory Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in jail Tuesday for capturing Megan Thee Stallion after an alcohol-fueled argument within the Hollywood Hills in 2020.
Lanez, whose authorized title is Daystar Peterson, was convicted of assault with a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm and negligent discharge of a gun final December after a dramatic trial that featured tearful testimony from Megan Thee Stallion and a key witness requesting immunity shortly earlier than stonewalling prosecutors on the stand.
He confronted a most of twenty-two years and eight months in jail. Peterson, who didn’t testify at his trial, has denied all wrongdoing. Addressing the court docket on Tuesday for the primary time since his arrest, Lanez talked about his non secular upbringing and the way he’d spent his life doing charitable works. He requested Los Angeles County Superior Courtroom Decide David Herriford to not punish him too harshly for what he referred to as a wildly out of character second.
Whereas he by no means admitted to the capturing, Peterson mentioned he nonetheless “cared for” Megan and felt remorse for the heated argument and insults that led to the capturing.
“I’m asking for redemption,” he mentioned. “I’m asking for an additional likelihood.”
Herriford, nevertheless, appeared to imagine Peterson’s explosive choice to fireside 5 bullets at Megan, putting her twice within the ft, outweighed his good works.
“Sadly, generally good folks do unhealthy issues … Mr. Peterson’s actions in these few seconds modified many lives,” he mentioned.
Prosecutors initially requested Herriford to condemn Peterson to 13 years in jail. Peterson’s attorneys sought probation, arguing Peterson had been enormously affected by his mom’s sudden demise when he was a baby, grief which led him to abuse alcohol. His attorneys argued Monday that Peterson’s alcoholism performed a job within the capturing, which adopted a hard-drinking social gathering.
Peterson’s authorized workforce went by means of a post-trial shuffle and is now spearheaded by Florida lawyer Jose Baez, who efficiently defended Casey Anthony in a nationally watched trial through which she was accused of murdering her younger daughter. After the sentencing, Baez mentioned he was “extraordinarily dissatisfied” and deliberate to enchantment.
In court docket papers asking for a sentence of probation, Baez and lawyer Matthew Barhoma cited the analysis of an impartial psychologist, who mentioned Peterson was at low danger to reoffend if he stayed sober.
A number of witnesses additionally spoke to Peterson’s historical past of charity work and spiritual beliefs. His father, Sonstar Peterson, tearfully recounted his spouse’s sudden demise and swore that, if launched, his son can be even “extra of a credit score to the neighborhood” after his journey by means of the authorized system.
Herriford mentioned 76 letters had been submitted in help of Peterson, together with some from former legislation enforcement officers in San Diego, Torrance and as distant as Missouri. Rapper Iggy Azaela additionally filed a letter asking Herriford at hand down a “sentence that’s transformative, not life destroying,” to Peterson.
The letters additionally induced Herriford to boost an eyebrow at Peterson’s claims of being affected by alcoholism, nevertheless. He requested Baez and Barhoma to clarify how the rapper’s habit points might go unmentioned in 76 written correspondences about his life and all through the testimony of six character witnesses.
Peterson was convicted of a pair of sentencing enhancements associated to using a gun in a violent crime and the truth that he induced “nice bodily harm” to Megan Thee Stallion — born Megan Pete — making him ineligible for probation underneath California legislation. At sentencing, Herriford threw out one of many enhancements as a result of a change in California legislation that limits their use.
The capturing occurred after the celebrity Houston rapper left a celebration at Kylie Jenner’s residence in an SUV alongside Peterson, his driver and her then-close pal Kelsey Harris.
Pete mentioned an argument erupted after Peterson revealed to Harris that the 2 rappers had change into romantically concerned. Harris had beforehand been concerned with Peterson and have become indignant, Pete mentioned. At trial, Pete mentioned she demanded to be let loose of the automobile on Nichols Canyon Street.
However as she walked away, prosecutors allege, Peterson shouted, “Dance, b—!” earlier than firing a volley of gunshots at Pete. Pete was struck a number of instances within the ft and needed to bear surgical procedure to take away bullet fragments.
Within the seconds after the capturing, prosecutors and Pete contended that Peterson begged each ladies to not report him to police and supplied them $1 million for his or her silence. Peterson denies each claims.
Los Angeles police stopped the automobile in Hollywood a short while later and arrested Peterson on suspicion of unlawful weapons possession. Dramatic video later emerged of a wounded and crying Pete limping out of the automobile, falling to the bottom shortly earlier than she was detained by police.
The “WAP” rapper didn’t report the capturing to investigators for a number of days, as a substitute insisting she stepped on damaged glass. Though Pete has since testified that she was afraid to cooperate partially as a result of police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor that summer time, Peterson’s protection seized on her delayed reporting as an indication her model of occasions was unreliable.
Pete didn’t seem in court docket for sentencing , however Deputy Dist. Atty. Kathy Ta learn an impression assertion on her behalf. Pete mentioned within the assertion that she couldn’t stand to be in the identical room as Peterson and accused him of utilizing his fan base to torment her for years after the capturing.
“He not solely shot me, he made a mockery of my trauma … mercy can solely be granted to those that settle for accountability for his or her actions,” the assertion learn.
The capturing was one in a collection of violent assaults on hip-hop stars in L.A. in recent times. Since 2020, rappers Nipsey Hussle, Drakeo The Ruler and PnB Rock have been all murdered within the metropolis. The slaying of Drakeo, whose actual title is Darrell Caldwell, stays unsolved.
The assault on Pete additionally reignited discussions about misogyny within the hip-hop business. Regardless of his arrest and conviction, Peterson has retained an especially vocal fan base, members of whom usually confirmed up across the courthouse throughout final 12 months’s trial and decried the prosecution as corrupt.
Each Peterson and Drake have launched tracks in recent times questioning the validity of Pete’s accusations. In the course of the trial, Pete expressed fury that a lot of the dialogue across the case needed to do along with her sexual liaisons as a substitute of the truth that somebody fired a gun at her.
“This entire scenario within the business is sort of a massive boys membership,” she mentioned. “Like I’m telling on certainly one of y’all mates, now you’re all about to hate me.”
Peterson’s workforce has repeatedly hinted Harris might have truly shot Pete, echoing a preferred concept of the crime espoused by the Canadian rapper’s most ardent supporters. However Harris was by no means charged with against the law within the case, and no proof was offered suggesting her guilt. She examined constructive for gunshot residue within the hours after the capturing, however such residue is usually discovered on any one who was within the neighborhood of a gun when it was fired.
Harris did request immunity with a view to testify after which spent her time on the stand contending she couldn’t bear in mind the occasions of a capturing that occurred in entrance of her. Harris had been Pete’s greatest pal, however the ladies’s relationship has all however collapsed because the capturing. Harris has gone as far as to launch a diss observe attacking Pete.
In a recorded interview that was performed throughout trial, nevertheless, Harris advised legislation enforcement officers final September that Peterson was the shooter and likewise echoed Pete’s allegation that Peterson tried to bribe them.
Recordings might have proved deadly for Peterson at trial. Whereas there was no bodily proof conclusively making an attempt Peterson to the gun used within the capturing, prosecutors have been capable of level to calls and texts through which he apologized to Pete within the hours after his arrest.
In a jailhouse cellphone name that night time, he mentioned he was “deeply sorry … so I really feel loopy that I made a mistake,”
“What occurred, occurred already. I can’t take it again. I’m simply telling y’all I’m sorry,” he added.
Peterson’s protection workforce has contended he was solely apologizing for the argument and the revelation he’d been sleeping with each Pete and Harris.
