A Los Angeles jury found rapper Tory Lanez guilty on Friday, in the 2020 shooting of fellow hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion.
The jury of seven women and five men returned the verdict after a day and a half of deliberations.
Lanez, born Daystar Peterson, was charged with assault with a semiautomatic firearm; discharging a firearm with gross negligence; and carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle; along with the allegation of using a firearm to inflict great bodily injury. Jurors found him guilty on all three felony charges, plus the special allegation.
Lanez, 30, pleaded not guilty to the charges following his arrest. The Canadian rapper now faces 20 years in a California state prison and deportation. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 27.
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His arrest came after Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, was shot in the feet after leaving a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s house in the Hollywood Hills, in the early morning hours of July 12, 2020.
During the trial, prosecutors said a dispute broke out after Megan got into a Cadillac Escalade with Kelsey Harris, her former best friend and personal assistant, and Lanez.
The two rappers started arguing and the “Savage” performer “insulted” Lanez’s rap skills, according to prosecutors.
Megan demanded to be let out of the vehicle. As she walked away, a drunk and irate Lanez shouted, “Dance, b—h!” before opening fire, the prosecution said.
“The defendant had a bruised ego because Megan was more successful than him,” Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta told jurors.
Prosecutors said Lanez texted the Houston rapper the day after the shooting and wrote: “I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart… s—t should have never happened and I can’t change what I did.”
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Lanez’s attorney, George Mgdesyan, countered throughout the trial that Kelsey Harris was “the one who shot her friend,” and alleged Megan Thee Stallion made up a fake story about the shooting.
Mgdesyan told jurors Megan thought it was a “better story” to say Lanez shot her, rather than her former friend.
“Megan Pete is a liar. She has lied about everything in this case,” Mgdesyan said.
The defense attorney also claimed the two women were love rivals because both had been sleeping with Lanez.
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Megan Thee Stallion and Kelsey Harris took the stand, but Lanez did not.
Megan testified on Dec. 13 and admitted she had a non-exclusive sexual relationship with Lanez, after previously denying in a national TV interview with Gayle King that the two had been intimate.
The female rapper told jurors she needed emergency surgery after the shooting to remove bullet fragments from her feet.
She broke down on the stand and said she’s still traumatized by the incident.
“I wish he would’ve just shot and killed me if I knew I was going to have to go through this torture,” she testified.
Megan said someone in the neighborhood called police after hearing gunshots and there were LAPD helicopters flying over the SUV. Officers stopped the vehicle and ordered everyone out, but Megan didn’t admit she had been shot.
“I said I stepped on glass,” she testified.
“At the time, we are at the height of police brutality… I felt like if I said ‘This man has just shot me,’ they might shoot first and ask questions later,” she told the court.
She added that she didn’t want to snitch because “in the Black community, in my community, it’s not really acceptable to be cooperating with police officers.”
