Los Angeles prosecutors are seeking a 13-year prison sentence for Tory Lanez after he was convicted last year of shooting Megan Thee Stallion, telling a judge he “waged a campaign to humiliate and re-traumatize the victim.”
Lanez (real name Daystar Peterson) faces sentencing next week after he was convicted in December on three felony counts over the 2020 incident, during which the rapper shot Megan (real name Megan Pete) in the foot during an argument after a pool party in the Hollywood Hills.
In a sentencing memorandum filed Tuesday (June 6), prosecutors argued that anything less than 13 years would “endanger public safety” and “not be in the interest of justice.” In a closing paragraph, they cited not just the shooting itself, but what they say came after: “a campaign to humiliate and re-traumatize the victim.”
“The defendant actively invited harassment of the victim by spreading misinformation to his large following in an effort to galvanize the public against the victim and even the prosecution team without any regard to the dangers it posed,” prosecutors wrote. “The defendant has weaponized misinformation to his large following to such a degree that it has left a lasting traumatic impact on the victim.”
The filing said that Lanez “not only lacks remorse” but also is “clearly incapable of accepting any responsibility for his own actions.”
“The defendant’s lack of remorse is insidious, leaving this court no assurances that the defendant will not repeat this type of behavior in the future,” the government wrote in Tuesday’s brief.
Attorneys for Lanez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Next week’s sentencing will come nearly three years after the July 12, 2020 shooting, which happened as a driver was shuttling Lanez, Megan and her assistant and friend Kelsey Harris from a party at Kylie Jenner’s house. According to prosecutors, Megan got out of the vehicle during an argument and began walking away when Lanez shouted “Dance, bitch!” and proceeded to shoot at her feet.
Following the incident, Megan initially told police officers that she had cut her foot stepping on broken glass, but days later alleged that she had been shot. Lanez was eventually charged with the shooting in October 2022.
During the blockbuster trial, Lanez’s lawyers made their best effort to sow doubt over who had pulled the trigger, painting a scenario in which Harris could have been the shooter. But a key defense witness offered confusing eyewitness testimony, and prosecutors pointed to an earlier interview in which Harris pinned the blame squarely on Lanez. Megan herself offered powerful testimony that Lanez had been the one to shoot her; neither Lanez nor the driver took the witness stand.
In Tuesday’s brief, prosecutors also cited other post-shooting actions by Lanez. They pointed to an Instagram post in April in which he made “unfounded accusations” that prosecutors had chosen to “hide and suppress” evidence. They also cited an October incident in which he allegedly assaulted singer August Alsina following a concert in Chicago.
“The fact that the defendant committed another unprovoked attack on another person while he had a violent felony case pending before this court speaks volumes,” they wrote.
