Rapper Tory Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting superstar Megan Thee Stallion in the feet in July 2020.
On Tuesday, a judge sentenced Tory Lanez to 10 years in prison for the shooting and wounding of hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion in July 2020, bringing a conclusion to the three-year legal battle. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Herriford handed the sentence to Lanez, convicted of three firearm-related felonies in December.
“Sometimes good people do bad things,” said Herriford, who explained it was “difficult to reconcile” the picture of Lanez painted by his friends and family of a kind person and father to a 6-year-old son with the person who fired the gun. “Actions have consequences, and there are no winners in this case.”
During the trial, Megan testified that Lanez fired the gun at the back of her feet, shouting at her to dance as she walked away from an SUV they had been riding when leaving a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s house. The rapper required surgery to remove bullet fragments.
“Since I was viciously shot by the defendant, I have not experienced a single day of peace,” wrote Megan in a statement read in court by a prosecutor on Monday. “Slowly but surely, I’m healing and coming back, but I will never be the same.”
“If I could turn back the series of events that night and change them, I would,” said the 31-year-old Lanez, asking Herriford for mercy before the judge delivered his sentence, requesting probation or minimal prison time. “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.”
“We’re extremely disappointed,” said Jose Baez, Lanez’s lead attorney, outside the courthouse after the sentencing. “I have seen vehicular homicide and other cases where there’s death, and the defendant still gets less than ten years.”
Lanez was given credit for around ten months of time served since his conviction in December. His lawyers plan to appeal the verdict and attempt to have him released on bail. Prosecutors were seeking a 13-year sentence, but Lanez was eligible for up to 22 under California law.
