(Los Angeles) Canadian rapper Tory Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Tuesday by a Los Angeles court for shooting singer Megan Thee Stallion in the feet during an argument in 2020.
The 31-year-old artist, real name Daystar Peterson, was found guilty in December of assault with a semi-automatic weapon, carrying an undeclared weapon and negligence.
His setbacks with Megan Thee Stallion, who won three Grammy Awards in 2021 and notably collaborated with Beyoncé, made headlines in the United States.
The case was seen as symbolic of persistent sexism in hip-hop and African American distrust of the police. It dates back to July 2020 and finds its origins in an argument between the two ex-lovers after an evening too drunk with the influencer Kylie Jenner.
The two stars were returning from the evening by car, accompanied by the personal assistant of Megan Thee Stallion, who had also fallen under the spell of the Canadian rapper. A quarrel then broke out.
During the trial, the Savage singer said her ex-lover offered her “a million dollars” to shut up after he shot her.
The prosecution had attributed this confrontation to the “bruised ego” of Tory Lanez. The Canadian was irritated “because Megan was more successful than him”, had castigated the prosecutor during the hearing.
The defense of Tory Lanez had denounced an investigation that she considered sloppy. Her attorney, George Mgdesyan, reduced the case to “a matter of jealousy”, accusing the singer’s assistant of shooting.
The case was also marked by the singer’s distrust of the police, who had minimized the facts facing the agents, just months after the death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, two African Americans killed by the forces of the ‘order.
The car of the two stars was stopped by the police shortly after the incident and Meghan Thee Stallion then claimed to have injured her feet with pieces of glass.
“At the time, we were at the peak of police violence,” the singer told the hearing. “I don’t feel safe in the car. I don’t feel safe around the police either. »
In a statement sent to the judge on Monday, the singer explained that she had not known “a single day of peace” since the attack.
Tory Lanez “didn’t just shoot me,” she said. “He laughed at my trauma. »
