Tory Lanez Trial: Verdict, 10-Year Sentence, and Appeals

The Tory Lanez trial ended on December 23, 2022, when a Los Angeles jury convicted the Canadian rapper — legal name Daystar Peterson — on three felony counts for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the feet after a July 2020 party in the Hollywood Hills. Judge David Herriford sentenced him to ten years in state prison on August 8, 2023.¹ His appeals through the California courts have been rejected, and the California Supreme Court declined to review the case in February 2026.²

The Shooting That Led to the Charges

In the early hours of July 12, 2020, a group left a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s home in the Hollywood Hills. Lanez was riding in an SUV with Megan Thee Stallion (Megan Pete), her then-friend and assistant Kelsey Harris, and Lanez’s bodyguard. An argument broke out. When Megan got out of the vehicle, Lanez fired multiple shots at her feet.³ LAPD detective Ryan Stogner later testified that Lanez shouted “Dance, bitch!” as he fired.⁴

Megan was hospitalized and underwent surgery. Bullet fragments lodged in both of her feet, and her orthopedic surgeon later told jurors that some remain because removing them would risk further damage.⁵ She initially told responding officers she had stepped on broken glass. She later explained that she feared police would escalate the situation if they discovered a firearm in the vehicle, given the heightened tensions around policing that summer.⁶

The Charges

Los Angeles prosecutors charged Lanez on October 8, 2020, with felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, along with a gun allegation for inflicting great bodily injury.⁴ Lanez pleaded not guilty in January 2022.⁷ Prosecutors added a third felony count, discharging a firearm with gross negligence, at the start of jury selection in December 2022.

Key Trial Testimony

Jury selection began December 5, 2022. Opening statements followed on December 12, with Deputy District Attorneys Kathy Ta and Alexander Bott prosecuting and George Mgdesyan leading the defense.⁸

Megan Thee Stallion on the Stand

Megan testified on December 13. She described the argument in the SUV, during which Lanez allegedly called her and Harris “bitches and hoes,” and recounted the moment she was shot: “I looked at my feet, I saw the blood and I fell to the ground.” She testified that Lanez offered her and Harris one million dollars each not to report the shooting, citing his probation status from a prior weapons offense.⁶

She told the court she had experienced suicidal thoughts: “I wish he would have just shot and killed me, if I knew I would have to go through this torture.”⁹ Megan acknowledged lying about the shooting twice — to police at the scene and later in a televised Gayle King interview in which she denied a sexual relationship with Lanez. She said the hip-hop industry’s culture of not cooperating with police and the fear of being labeled a “villain” for reporting a male peer influenced her silence.⁶

Kelsey Harris’s Contradictions

Kelsey Harris, the only other civilian witness in the SUV, took the stand on December 14 after being granted use immunity. She answered nearly every prosecution question with “I honestly don’t remember,” attributing her lack of recall to heavy drinking.¹⁰

Her courtroom account sharply contradicted a recorded interview she had given prosecutors just three months earlier, in September 2022, in which she said she saw Lanez with a gun pointed at Megan.¹¹ At trial she claimed many of those earlier statements were untrue, saying, “I was protecting myself.” When asked directly whether Lanez shot Megan, she invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.¹⁰ Prosecutors secured permission from Judge Herriford to play Harris’s full 80-minute September interview for the jury.¹²

A text Harris sent to Megan’s security guard on the night of the shooting — reading “Help. Tory shot Meg. 911” — was admitted into evidence. Harris told the court she did not know why she sent it because she “did not see anything happen.”¹⁰

Forensics

Dr. Lee Haruno, a chief orthopedic resident at Cedars-Sinai, presented X-rays showing bullet fragments in the back of both of Megan’s heels. Prosecutors also played a recorded jailhouse phone call in which Lanez appeared to apologize to Megan, along with an apologetic text message he had sent.⁵

DNA evidence was less conclusive. LAPD criminalist Randy Zepeda testified that DNA from four males was found on the gun’s magazine, but Lanez was excluded as a contributor. Results for Lanez’s DNA on the firearm itself were inconclusive.⁵ Deputy DA Bott told the court DNA was not the centerpiece of the government’s case, describing the evidence instead as a broader “bucket” of proof.¹³

The Defense’s Case

Mgdesyan told the jury Lanez was “definitely not the shooter” and suggested someone else had fired the weapon. The defense pointed to the DNA results as proof Lanez had not handled the gun and argued the prosecution’s witnesses suffered from “convenient amnesia.”⁵ Without directly naming Harris in court, the defense team implied she could have been the shooter, citing her proximity to a muzzle flash observed by a neighbor.

The defense called two witnesses. Sean Kelly, a neighbor who had called 911, testified he saw the incident from his window and “never saw a gun” but observed both Lanez and Harris near muzzle flashes. Kelly also gave conflicting testimony, at one point saying he saw Lanez “firing everywhere.”¹⁴ Eric Culberson, Megan’s former stylist, testified about the party, the intoxication level of the group, and Megan’s habit of carrying tasers and mace for protection.⁴ Lanez did not testify.⁵

The Verdict

After seven hours of deliberation across two days, the jury returned its verdict on December 23, 2022, finding Lanez guilty on all three counts: assault with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.¹⁵ Lanez was taken into custody immediately.

Megan’s attorney Alex Spiro said after the verdict: “The jury got it right. I am thankful there is justice for Meg.” Mgdesyan said his team was “shocked” and “very disappointed.” Lanez’s father, Sonstar Peterson, screamed at prosecutors as the jury exited, calling them “evil” and “wicked.”¹⁵ Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón commended Megan’s “bravery” and “courage.”¹⁶

The Ten-Year Sentence

Sentencing was originally set for January 2023 but was delayed after Lanez changed attorneys and filed a motion for a new trial. Newly retained lawyers Jose Baez and Matthew Barhoma argued in late March 2023 that Judge Herriford had improperly admitted certain evidence, including an Instagram post and a photo of Lanez’s gun tattoo, and that Mgdesyan had been ineffective, calling the prior defense a “jumbled, bungled mess.” Judge Herriford denied the motion on May 9, 2023, stating: “The court finds no error, prosecutorial misconduct or newly discovered evidence.”¹⁷

The sentencing hearing was held August 8, 2023. Lanez faced a maximum of 22 years and eight months; prosecutors asked for 13 years.¹ The defense presented testimony from family members and clinical psychologist Dr. Stephanie Herring, who said Lanez suffered from PTSD, anxiety, and substance abuse disorder stemming from childhood trauma.¹⁸ Lanez addressed the court, calling Megan “someone I still care for dearly to this day” and asking for “redemption and a second chance.”¹⁹

Megan did not attend but submitted a written victim impact statement that was read aloud: “He not only shot me, he made a mockery of my trauma. He tried to position himself as a victim and set out to destroy my character and my soul.” She urged the court to “send a message to every victim of violence.”¹⁸ Prosecutors characterized the shooting as “an act of misogyny” and cited what they described as Lanez’s post-shooting “campaign to humiliate and re-traumatize the victim.”¹⁹

Judge Herriford sentenced Lanez to ten years in state prison, noting two aggravating factors including that the victim was “particularly vulnerable.” He credited Lanez with 305 days for time already served in jail and under house arrest.¹ Lanez was transferred to North Kern State Prison to begin serving the sentence.¹⁴

Appeals and Where the Case Stands Now

Lanez has pursued multiple avenues to overturn the conviction. In 2023 and 2024 he filed two petitions for a writ of habeas corpus, arguing among other things that the firearm used in the shooting had gone missing and that new witnesses supported his innocence. On August 12, 2025, a three-judge panel of California’s Second District Court of Appeal rejected both petitions, calling his claims “piecemeal” and without merit. The court cited a sworn statement from an LAPD officer confirming that the firearm, magazine, bullet casings, and fragments all remained in police custody. The panel also rejected new affidavits from Lanez’s driver, Jauquan Smith, who claimed he saw the gun in Harris’s hands, ruling those claims were either forfeited or untimely.²⁰

A separate direct appeal, based on the trial record, was denied by the Second District Court of Appeal in November 2025, with the court finding “no ineffective assistance of counsel or prejudicial trial court error.” Lanez’s attorney Crystal Morgan petitioned the California Supreme Court, arguing prosecutors had committed a Brady violation by failing to disclose a Cedars-Sinai pathology report from July 2020 that referenced a “foreign body” collected at the hospital.²¹ In February 2026 the California Supreme Court rejected the petition for review.² Lanez has also sought clemency from California Governor Gavin Newsom.

As of mid-2026, Lanez is incarcerated at California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo County.²²

Deportation Question

Lanez is a Canadian citizen, and the assault conviction qualifies as an “aggravated felony” under U.S. immigration law because it involved physical force and carries a sentence exceeding one year. Convicted noncitizens typically serve their sentences before entering formal removal proceedings, where an immigration judge determines whether deportation follows.²³ Deportation is not automatic, and Lanez could pursue discretionary relief, including a governor’s pardon. No public record of active immigration proceedings has emerged as of mid-2026.

1
New York Times. Tory Lanez Sentenced for Shooting Megan Thee Stallion
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KESQ. CA Supreme Court Won’t Review Case of Rapper Tory Lanez
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Vulture. Tory Lanez and Megan Thee Stallion Shooting Explainer
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NPR. Tory Lanez Assault Trial Megan Thee Stallion Shooting
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ABC News. Takeaways From the Tory Lanez Trial
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NPR. Megan Thee Stallion Takes the Stand in Tory Lanez Trial
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Business Insider. Megan Thee Stallion Tory Lanez Assault Trial Shooting Timeline
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Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Daystar Peterson Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison
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Billboard. Megan Thee Stallion Trial Testimony Recap
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ABC7. Kelsey Harris Testimony in Tory Lanez Trial
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NPR. The Tory Lanez Trial Sparks a Debate About the Treatment of Women in Hip-Hop
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Variety. Kelsey Harris Testimony in Megan Thee Stallion Shooting Trial
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BET. Megan Thee Stallion’s Lawyer Refutes Tory Lanez’s Claim of Missing Gun Evidence
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ET Online. Tory Lanez Assault Trial Timeline
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ABC News. Verdict Reached in Trial of Rapper Tory Lanez
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NBC News. Tory Lanez Found Guilty in Megan Thee Stallion Shooting
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ABC7. Tory Lanez Retrial Motion Denied
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ABC News. Rapper Tory Lanez Set to Be Sentenced
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NPR. Tory Lanez Sentenced to 10 Years
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Rolling Stone. Tory Lanez Habeas Petitions Denied
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NBC News. Tory Lanez Plans Appeal Alleging Evidence May Not Have Been Turned Over at Trial
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USA Today. Tory Lanez Restraining Order Against Prison Guard
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Columbia Law and Arts. Deportation Analysis in Tory Lanez Case