LOS ANGELES — Rapper Tory Lanez has been handed a 10-year prison term on Tuesday after being found guilty of shooting and injuring hip-hop sensation Megan Thee Stallion in her feet. This marks the conclusion of a three-year legal and cultural saga that plunged two careers and lives into turmoil.
Judge David Herriford of the Los Angeles Superior Court delivered the sentence to 31-year-old Lanez, who was convicted in December on three felony counts: assault with a semiautomatic firearm, possession of a loaded and unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and reckless discharge of a firearm.
Starting from the initial incident in July 2020 in the Hollywood Hills to the extended two-day sentencing hearing, the case ignited a firestorm within the hip-hop community. It stirred up crucial discussions about topics such as the reluctance of Black victims to engage with law enforcement, gender dynamics in hip-hop, online toxicity, the protection of Black women, and the impacts of misogynoir—a specific form of misogyny experienced by Black women.
Herriford expressed the challenge of reconciling the image portrayed by Lanez’s friends and family during the hearing—a depiction of a kind, charitable individual and a devoted father to a 6-year-old son—with the person who pulled the trigger on Megan.
“Sometimes even good individuals make regrettable choices,” Herriford remarked. “Actions bear consequences, and there are no victors in this case.”
During the trial, Megan testified that Lanez had fired the gun at the back of her feet, demanding that she dance as she attempted to distance herself from an SUV they had been traveling in. This followed their departure from a pool party hosted at Kylie Jenner’s residence. Megan underwent surgery to extract bullet fragments and only disclosed the identity of the shooter months later.
“Ever since the defendant’s vicious act of shooting me, I haven’t known a single day of peace,” Megan conveyed in a statement read by a prosecutor in court on Monday. “I am gradually healing and recovering, but I will never be the same.” (Sourced online/ai/mnm)
