Tory Lanez sentencing on Megan Thee Stallion shooting delayed to August
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tory Lanez’s sentencing for shooting and wounding hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion was delayed on Tuesday.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Herriford accepted the defense’s request to delay Lanez’s sentencing, which is now scheduled for Aug. 7. Prosecutors are seeking a 13 year prison sentence and Lanez faces deportation to his native Canada.
Herriford decided to give Lanez’s lawyers more time to prepare their sentencing recommendation, which is due Aug. 1. The judge, who will sentence Lanez, denied a motion from Lanez’ defense attorneys for a new trial on May 9.
During the brief court hearing, Lanez mostly kept his head down and barely made eye contact with anyone. He wore an orange jail outfit and black cap.
Lanez was convicted in December of three felonies: assault with a semiautomatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
Attorneys for Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, argued that there was insufficient evidence to convict him, and some of the evidence presented to jurors should not have been allowed.
Lanez began releasing mixtapes in 2009 and saw a steady rise in popularity, moving on to major-label albums. His last two reached the top 10 on Billboard’s charts.
Megan Thee Stallion, whose legal name is Megan Pete, testified during the trial that Lanez fired a handgun at the back of her feet and shouted for her to dance as she walked away from an SUV in which they had been riding in the Hollywood Hills in the summer of 2020. She said the two had gotten into a dispute that became especially heated when she started insulting his music.
She needed surgery to remove bullet fragments from her feet.