Tory Lanez was found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion. Here's a timeline of the events leading up to the verdict and sentencing.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Tory Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in 2020.
The two rappers have repeatedly spoken out about the incident and its aftermath.
Lanez was found guilty on all three charges in the DA's assault trial against him.
In July 2020, Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez attended a party at Kylie Jenner's house.
On July 12, 2020, a Megan Thee Stallion fan account reshared an Instagram Live video showing the rapper (born Megan Jovon Ruth Pete) partying with fellow rapper and singer Tory Lanez at Kylie Jenner's house in Hollywood Hills, California. Both appeared to be swimming in Jenner's pool.
"We had to come kill the streets for five minutes," Megan, then 25, said while next to Jenner, then 22.
Seconds later, Lanez (born Daystar Peterson) joined them from another part of the pool, approaching the camera and posing for the fans.
Police responded to a report of gunfire and arrested Lanez on a felony count of carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle.
That same morning at about 4:30 a.m., the Los Angeles Police Department received reports of gunshots coming from outside a Hollywood Hills residence. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to Billboard that Lanez, then 27, was arrested on a felony count of carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle.
According to CBS News, the Canadian musician posted $35,000 bail and was released.
TMZ originally reported that broken glass on the floor of the vehicle injured Megan's foot during the incident. On July 15, 2020, the outlet published a video showing the "Traumazine" rapper at the scene of the incident walking backward toward the police cars with what appears to be blood on her feet.
Later that month, reports circulated that Lanez shot Megan.
Page Six broke the allegations that Lanez shot Megan during the incident. The outlet attributed their information to anonymous sources who claimed to have been on the scene.
Representatives for Megan and Lanez did not comment to Page Six.
After initially remaining silent on the matter, Megan posted a photo of her gunshot wound to Instagram.
On August 19, 2020, Megan responded to skepticism that she had been shot by posting a photo of her injury.
"I got hit at the back of my feet because when I got shot I was WALKING AWAY FACING THE BACK," she wrote in the since-deleted post. "why would I lie abt getting shot? Why are y'all so upset that I don't wanna be in the bed sad ? Why y'all upset that I can walk ?"
"I usually don't address internet bullshit but y'all people are so sick," she added.
The following day, Megan accused Lanez of shooting her during an Instagram Live.
"Tory shot me," Megan said during an Instagram Live on August 20, 2020.
She also addressed reports from TMZ and other outlets about her injuries.
"I didn't get cut by no glass, but let me tell you why they're saying that," she continued. "When the police came because the neighbors called the police … the police come — I'm scared. All this shit going on with the police … I didn't want to die."
She added that she was worried the police would shoot her since someone in the car had a gun.
During the same livestream, Megan said that she had a verbal disagreement on July 12, 2020, with Lanez, his bodyguard, and her friend Kelsey Nicole as the four of them left Jenner's home in Lanez's car.
Megan also denied claims that she had been upset about Lanez showing interest in Jenner, according to Vulture.
In September 2020, Lanez released a new album and was immediately met with criticism.
The rapper tweeted on September 24, 2020: "To my fans ... I'm sorry for my silence .... but respectfully .. I got time today ...... 9 PM PST."
Lanez released "Daystar" the following day. The 17-track album begins with a song called "Money Over Fallouts," which implies Megan lied about being shot.
"How the fuck you get shot in your foot, don't hit no bones or tendons," he sings.
People on social media criticized Lanez for exploiting Megan's trauma for album sales. However, his fans defended the song by saying he's innocent until proven guilty.
Los Angeles prosecutors charged Lanez with felony assault.
The former Los Angeles district attorney Jackie Lacey issued a statement on October 8, 2020, outlining the prosecutors' theory of what took place.
"On July 12, the defendant and the 24-year-old victim got into an argument while riding in an SUV in the Hollywood Hills. The victim exited the vehicle and Peterson is accused of shooting several times at her feet and wounding her," the statement read.
According to NBC, Lanez's attorney pleaded not guilty on his behalf and the musician was issued a $190,000 bond.
On October 9, 2020, Lanez tweeted that the charges did not constitute a conviction. "The truth will come to the light ... I have all faith in God to show that," he wrote.
"Love to all my fans and people that have stayed true to me & know my heart ... a charge is not a conviction," he added.
Megan wrote an op-ed about her experience titled "Why I Speak Up for Black Women."
In a New York Times op-ed on October 13, 2020, Megan wrote that she and Lanez were not in a romantic relationship despite NBC and other outlets labeling Megan as his ex-girlfriend.
"I was recently the victim of an act of violence by a man. After a party, I was shot twice as I walked away from him," she wrote.
"I'm not afraid of criticism, and 'Protect Black women' should not be controversial," she added.
A judge barred Lanez from contacting Megan and asked him to surrender his firearms.
On October 13, 2020, a judge ordered Lanez to stay at least 100 yards away from Megan and surrender any firearms, according to the New York Daily News.
The judge added that the rapper-singer must not have "personal, electronic, telephonic or written contact" with Megan.
In an interview with GQ, Megan explained why she withheld Lanez's name when the news of her shooting broke.
In a GQ interview published November 16, 2020, Megan explained how the incident occurred during the peak of Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020. She said she initially withheld Lanez's identity because she was worried she could be arrested, or become a victim of police brutality, if a gun was discovered on the scene.
Megan also told the publication that Lanez offered her and her friend money "to stay quiet," which Lanez's lawyer denied.
"I'm really scared," Megan told GQ's Allison P. Davis, "because this is like right in the middle of all the protesting. Police are just killing everybody for no reason, and I'm thinking, 'I can't believe you even think I want to take some money. Like, you just shot me.'"
Prosecutors said Lanez violated the protection order in July 2021.
On day three of Miami's Rolling Loud festival on July 25, 2021, Lanez appeared as a surprise guest during DaBaby's performance.
He was reprimanded by prosecutors, as Megan had left that very stage shortly before his performance.
Lanez's bail was increased to $250,000 when the court found he had violated the protective order.
At the end of 2021, a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge upheld the charges against Lanez in a hearing.
On December 14, 2021, Los Angeles Police Det. Ryan Stogner testified that Megan told him Lanez had yelled, "Dance, bitch," before firing a weapon on the night in question.
"Megan stated the defendant apologized for doing it and offered her money and begged her to please not say anything and made a reference to the fact he was already on probation and he begged her not to say anything," Stogner testified, according to the report.
The detective's statements were recounted from an interview he conducted with Megan, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"How about you tell me what I was apologizing for, bro?" Lanez shouted at Stogner during the hearing, according to the LA Times. "That don't make no sense."
Lanez pleaded not guilty at his second arraignment.
On January 13, 2022, an attorney for Lanez entered a plea of not guilty to charges of one count of felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm and a count of possession of a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle.
A few months after his plea, prosecutors requested that Lanez's bail be revoked.
Lanez tweeted details about evidence in April 2022, according to Buzzfeed, prompting prosecutors to request that Lanez's bail be revoked for violating a discovery protective order and a temporary criminal restraining order associated with the case.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Herriford raised Lanez's bail to $350,000 on April 5, 2022.
He also forbid Lanez from mentioning Megan "directly or indirectly," saying that Lanez's previous tweets seemed to be sending "clear messages" to Megan against court orders.
Megan opened up about the incident during an interview with Gayle King.
On April 24, 2022, nearly two years after she was shot, Megan sat down with "CBS Mornings" host Gayle King for her first televised interview about the incident.
"I was really scared, 'cause I had never been shot at before," Megan told King during the interview.
Later, King said she believed Megan on CBS News. "There is video evidence. We have the medical reports she still has bullet fragments in her feet to this day," King said.
"It bothers me that despite all the evidence, people can still troll her on social media, try to take her down, and make her feel less than. I don't understand that part of society we live in today," King wrote a few days later for Oprah Daily.
A Los Angeles county judge placed Lanez on house arrest in October 2022.
In an Instagram post, singer August Alsina claimed that Lanez had attacked him when they encountered one another at a Chicago concert.
Though Lanez refuted the claims in a livestream with hip-hop podcaster and YouTuber DJ Akademiks, he was placed on house arrest on October 26, 2022, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"Peterson was placed on house arrest today by the court starting Monday until his trial date as a result of his alleged altercation with August Alsina," a spokesperson for the LA County district attorney said.
Lanez was charged with a third felony.
On December 6, 2022, Lanez was charged with "discharging a firearm with gross negligence," according to Rolling Stone.
This marks the third felony count in the case against the Canadian native, which carries a potential prison sentence and deportation.
A jury found Lanez guilty of all three charges he faced in connection with the shooting.
On December 23, 2022, a Los Angeles jury convicted Lanez of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
After several delays, Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Nearly eight months after he was convicted of felony assault, Lanez was sentenced at a hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court on August 8, 2023.
His hearing was originally scheduled for January 2023, but was postponed when Lanez hired new attorneys. It was postponed again when his legal team filed a motion for a new trial, which was denied in May.
Judge David Herriford handed down Lanez's 10-year sentence after reading more than 70 letters from Lanez's family and supporters, Insider reported.
Although Megan did not attend the hearing, Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta read a written statement from the "Savage" rapper that described the pain she'd experienced since the shooting.
"Since I was viciously shot by the defendant, I have not experienced a single day of peace," Megan wrote. "Slowly but surely, I'm healing and coming back, but I will never be the same."
She also said she "simply could not bring myself to be in a room with Tory again."
Read the original article on Insider