Tory Lanez to be sentenced following conviction in Megan Thee Stallion shooting case

Lanez faces up to 22 years and 8 months in prison.

ByDeena Zaru ABCNews logo
Tuesday, June 13, 2023
Tory Lanez denied new trial in Megan Thee Stallion shooting
A judge has denied rapper Tory Lanez a new trial. Lanez was convicted of three felonies in December for shooting hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion and wounding her.

LOS ANGELES -- Rapper Tory Lanez is set to appear in a courtroom Tuesday morning in Los Angeles, where he will be sentenced for the July 2020 shooting that injured rapper Megan Thee Stallion.

Lanez, who was convicted on Dec. 23, 2022, for shooting and injuring the hip hop artist, whose legal name is Megan Pete, was initially set to be sentenced in January. The sentencing has been delayed several times after Lanez obtained new attorneys and filed a motion for a new trial.

He faces up to 22 years and 8 months in prison. According to a motion filed by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office on May 23, a new California law would by default make Lanez's sentence come in the "middle term" of the potential 22-year sentence, unless "circumstances in aggravation" were proven. But prosecutors argued in the motion for a harsher sentence for the rapper.

In the motion obtained by ABC News, the LA DA's office, which is prosecuting this case, argued that "circumstances of aggravation" are present in this case and cited Lanez's "callousness."

Prosecutors also filed a motion last week asking the judge to give the rapper a 13-year sentence.

Lanez's attorneys, Jose Baez and Matthew Barhoma, did not respond to ABC News' requests for comment.

Lanez was found guilty by a jury on Dec. 23, 2022, of three charges for shooting and injuring Megan in both feet in an incident in the Hollywood Hills on July 12, 2020.

The conviction came after Judge David Herriford of the Superior Court of Los Angeles denied Lanez's request for a new trial in a ruling last month.

Lanez, a popular rapper whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, was initially charged in October 2020 with one felony count each of assault with a semi-automatic firearm (personal use of a firearm) and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, according to charging documents obtained by ABC News. "Personal use of a firearm" is not a separate charge, but a sentencing enhancement linked to the first count that could increase Lanez's possible sentence.

He was also charged ahead of his trial in Dec. 2022 with an additional felony count of discharging a firearm with gross negligence.

Lanez, who chose not to take the witness stand during the trial, pleaded not guilty to all three charges. His defense attorneys argued during the trial that Lanez was not the shooter.

This case has sparked intense debates over society's treatment of women, and Megan's account of the incident -- and the intense public vitriol she faced after sharing her story -- has spotlighted the Protect Black Women movement, which addresses the two-front battle of sexism and racism Black women experience in their own communities and in society at large.