Grammy-nominated rapper, Tory Lanez has received a 10-year prison sentence for shooting fellow rapper, Megan Thee Stallion and causing injury to her feet.
Tory Lanez, 31, was convicted in December on three felony charges, including assault with a semi-automatic firearm, having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
Megan Thee Stallion testified that Lanez fired the gun at the back of her feet and shouted for her to dance as she walked away from an SUV in which they had been riding in July 2020, after leaving a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills home.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, David Herriford, who handed down the sentence on Tuesday said it was “difficult to reconcile” Lanez’s positive image as a kind, charitable person and a good father, which was described by many during the sentencing hearing, with the person who had fired the gun at Megan Thee Stallion.
Megan Thee Stallion did not attend the hearing due to her inability to be in the same room as Lanez, but she provided a statement that was read in court on Monday.
In her statement, the Grammy Award winning rapper detailed undergoing surgery to remove bullet fragments and expressed the lasting impact of the incident on her life.
She said, “Since I was viciously shot by the defendant, I have not experienced a single day of peace. Slowly but surely, I’m healing and coming back, but I will never be the same.”
Lanez, in a statement delivered by a prosecutor, expressed regret and responsibility for his actions, mentioning that he still cared for the victim and wished he could change the events of that night. He pleaded for either probation or a lenient prison sentence.
He said, “If I could turn back the series of events that night and change them. The victim was my friend. The victim is someone I still care for to this day. Everything I did wrong that night, I take full responsibility for.”
The shooting followed an argument that escalated over the course of a trial, during which Megan Thee Stallion described the incident as well as the mockery of her trauma that ensued. She emphasized the importance of standing up against violence and supporting survivors.
She said, “He not only shot me, he made a mockery of my trauma. This is a statement for all survivors that their lives matter and there is zero tolerance for the torture that accompanies violence.”
This comes seven months after Tory Lanez was convicted after being found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion.