After a grueling three-year trial, Canadian rapper Tory Lanez has been sentenced to 10 years in jail after he shot Megan Thee Stallion in 2020.
During the trial, the prosecution was told how Megan, 28, had left a party thrown by Kylie Jenner with the defendant, 31. After a dispute between the pair, she exited the vehicle once they arrived at her address, and Lanez had pulled out a gun and began shooting at the back of her feet allegedly telling her to “dance bitch, dance.”
According to Sky News, prosecutor Edward Welbourn said, “This was a heinous act of violence against a defenceless woman and a multi-year campaign of harassment. Megan got lucky that night, but her luck shouldn’t negate [Lanez’s] culpability … her luck is not his luck.
“You know what Megan didn’t do? She didn’t shoot anybody. She didn’t embark on a campaign of disinformation.
“This is as serious as it gets. If Megan had died, we would be here for a murder sentencing. And she could have died.”
Megan was not present at the trial as she said that she “simply could not bring myself to be in a room with Tory again.” However she did give evidence in person on Monday (August 7) in which she stated, “Since I was viciously shot by the defendant, I have not experienced a single day of peace,” she said. “Slowly but surely, I’m healing and coming back, but I will never be the same.”
Welbourn continued, “[Lanez] put Megan through hell while this case was pending. She thinks about this case every single day. She was too intimidated and too scared to be in the same courtroom as the defendant. She will be affected by this for the rest of her life. He asks the court for mercy, but where was the mercy for Megan?”
Lanez was not in the courtroom when his sentence was given, though he did address the court beforehand and said he still considers himself and Megan to be friends.
Previously having maintained his innocence in the case, he said, “That night was a night that everyone was drunk … I said some very immature things. If I could turn back the series of events … I would, but I can’t. But to think that I am some sort of callous individual is not the case. The victim was my friend … [and] she still is to this day.
“I did wrong that night and I take full responsibility and culpability for it.”
(featured image: Jerod Harris/Getty Images for MCM)
