Tory Lanez found guilty over shooting Megan Thee Stallion
A Los Angeles jury has found rapper and singer Tory Lanez guilty of three charges related to the July 2020 shooting of fellow rapper Megan Thee Stallion.
On Friday, the jury convicted the 30-year-old Canadian rapper of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
Tory Lanez, originally from Canada, could face up to 22 years in prison and deportation.
In her testimony, Megan had said she did not tell police officers that she had been shot that night in July — claiming instead that she had stepped on glass. However, a surgeon testified to removing bullet fragments from both of her feet, with X-rays presented in court showing tiny pieces that remained.
Initially, Tory Lanez was arrested and charged only with concealing a firearm in the vehicle. But Megan revealed online and in an interview with a detective that she had been shot, eventually naming Lanez as her assailant. That October, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged Lanez with assault.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón praised Megan Thee Stallion's "bravery."
"She demonstrated incredible courage and vulnerability, despite repeated and grotesque attacks that she did not deserve," Gascón said. "Women, especially black women, are afraid to report crimes such as sexual assault and violence because too often they are not believed."