Tory Lanez’s shooting trial began with opening statements on December 12, more than two years after Megan Thee Stallion accused the R&B singer of inflicting “great bodily harm” on her.
Prosecutors claimed in a criminal complaint that Lanez, real name Daystar Peterson, fired a gun at a victim identified as “Megan P.” after she got out of an SUV during an argument in the Hollywood Hills on July 12, 2020. Megan Pete is her legal name.
Initially, Los Angeles police reported shots fired, a woman with foot injuries, and a man arrested on a weapons charge. Megan later revealed that her foot injuries were caused by gunshots.
Prosecutors charged Lanez in October 2020, after months of speculation and publicity surrounding the incident.
Lanez pleaded not guilty to felony assault in November 2020.
The case’s jury selection began on December 5. The trial is expected to last about eight days, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Continue reading for the trial’s most shocking revelations.
Tory Lanez was placed under house arrest while awaiting the trial for the Megan Thee Stallion shooting.
After a missing witness, the prosecution requests more time.
After being unable to locate a witness, prosecutors requested an additional day to present their case or “permission to re-open their presentation after defence rests” on December 19, according to Rolling Stone and the Los Angeles Times.
“As the court can see, there has been significant due diligence with respect to this witness,” said Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta of Los Angeles, according to Rolling Stone.
“Alright, let’s see how far we can get,” Judge David Herriford appeared to grant the prosecution’s request.
According to Rolling Stone and Complex, prosecutors made the request after Megan’s former bodyguard, Justin Edison, failed to appear in court to testify about the shooting. On December 19, Edison was not named as the missing witness.
“We recently learned that Justin Edison went missing right before he was supposed to appear in court,” Megan’s attorney Alex Spiro told the media. “The LAPD is currently investigating his disappearance and would appreciate any information about his whereabouts.”
Kelsey Harris claims in an interview that she saw Tory Lanez shoot at Megan’s feet.
Kelsey Harris, a former Megan friend and a witness to the alleged shooting, stated in a videotaped interview played for jurors on Friday that she saw Lanez fire a gun at Megan’s feet.
The prosecutors’ interview from September was played after Harris testified on Wednesday that she did not see Lanez fire the gun that injured her former friend and boss. She claimed she couldn’t recall any other important details.
“He was shooting the gun,” Harris says on the recording, describing Lanez standing beside an SUV in the Hollywood Hills, leaning over the front passenger-side door and pointing the gun at Megan.
Following Lanez’s lawyers’ suggestion in cross-examination that Harris had been coerced into making the statements, the judge granted the prosecution the unusual move of playing the entire 78-minute recording for the jury.
In contrast to her evasive, at times combative performance on the stand, Harris was cordial in the recorded interview, and the prosecutors rarely had to prompt her. She stated on the recording that she had been drinking heavily, as had the others in the car, and was about to get out of the car when she heard several shots. When she looked up, Lanez was firing more gunshots.
Harris’ account of the night on the recording was similar to Megan’s account from Tuesday’s testimony, but differed slightly. Lanez, according to Harris, remained silent while firing. Megan testified that he yelled “Dance, (expletive)” at her before shooting.
Kelsey Harris reportedly pleads the Fifth Amendment and testifies in court.
According to Rolling Stone, Kelsey Harris, a former friend of Megan’s and a witness to the alleged shooting, invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to provide testimony that could be used against her.
According to the outlet, Harris testified Wednesday that he was in the car with Megan and Lanez before the alleged shooting. She claimed that all three of them got into a fight and were verbally attacking each other.
According to Rolling Stone, Harris also confirmed on the stand that she told prosecutors that Lanez threatened to shoot her while they were in the car.
When prosecutors questioned Harris about “what (Lanez) did and said,” she asked the judge if she could “take my fifth,” according to Rolling Stone. Harris returned to the stand after consulting with her lawyer to exercise her Fifth Amendment right.
“I don’t want to be here,” she told the judge, according to the report.
Before Harris took the stand, her lawyer informed the judge that she intended to invoke her Fifth Amendment right, according to Rolling Stone. According to the outlet, the judge found Harris’ concerns “legitimate” following an in-chambers proceeding on the matter. Prosecutors then offered Harris “use immunity” in exchange for her testimony, according to the outlet.
Who assassinated Megan Thee Stallion?
Megan claimed in an Instagram video posted more than a month after the incident that Lanez was the one who fired shots at her. In the following weeks, she gradually revealed more on social media.
“”The way people have publicly questioned and debated whether I played a role in my own violent assault proves that my fears about discussing what happened were, unfortunately, justified,” she wrote in an op-ed published in the New York Times in October 2020.
The rapper also addressed the alleged incident in Rolling Stone’s July/August Hot Issue, telling the magazine that she had a “real connection” with Lanez prior to the incident.
“I assumed he recognised me. And I would never have guessed he’d shoot at me at all “Megan stated during the interview. “I never hurt him in any way. There was a disagreement. Every day, people argue. Every day, friends argue.”
Lanez has denied the allegations.
Tory Lanez is going to jail?
Lanez faces a maximum sentence of approximately 23 years if convicted in the shooting. “I want him in jail,” she previously stated to Rolling Stone. “I want him to go underground.”
Lanez tweeted the day after he was charged, “the truth will come to light” and “a charge is not a conviction.”
Lanez was handcuffed and arrested in April for violating a protective order that barred him from contacting or harassing Megan or sharing pretrial information from the case. After posting bail, the rapper was released several hours later.
While Lanez did not contact Megan directly, Judge David Herriford stated that some of his tweets appeared to be direct messages to her, and he ordered Lanez not to mention her in any social media posts.
