Tory Lanez sentenced to ten years in prison for shooting Megan Thee Stallion

The shooting occurred in July 2020, as the artists, a friend and Lanez’s bodyguard left a party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood home. Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, was found guilty in December 2022 of three felonies related to the shooting, which left Megan Thee Stallion injured in the foot. Lanez has been held in county jail since his conviction in December.

Prosecutors had called for the rapper to be sentenced to 13 years in prison, whilst his defense team had called for probation and a residential drug treatment program that would help him deal with alcoholism, which they say he developed to cope with childhood trauma.

Lanez’s father, Sonstar Peterson, had given an emotional statement about his son losing his mother at age 11. “I don’t think anybody ever gets over that. But his music became his outlet.” Lanez himself spoke in court for the first time on Tuesday, saying he still cares for Megan Thee Stallion and that the two bonded over the losses of their mothers and used alcohol to numb the pain together, as reported by Meghann Cuniff, who was in the courtroom.

BREAKING: Tory Lanez has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in July 2020. pic.twitter.com/7aC6LWJr5O

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While he chose not to testify at trial, Lanez did testify on the second day of his sentencing, asking the judge not to send him to prison. “Everything I did wrong that night, I take full responsibility for,” he said.

On the first day of the hearing, a statement by Megan Thee Stallion was read. “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.”

He faced up to 22 years and 8 months for the three felonies. Prosecutors had requested a 13-year sentence, noting that under California law he would not be forced to serve his entire sentence. “Sometimes good people do bad things,” Judge David Herriford said in Los Angeles Superior Court after reviewing two days of testimony. “Actions have consequences, and there are no winners in this case.”

Jose Baez, Lanez’s attorney said he was “extremely disappointed” in the sentence, the Associated Press reports. “I have seen vehicular homicide and other cases where there’s death and the defendant still gets less than 10 years,” Baez said outside of the courtroom.