Tory Lanez is set to be sentenced next month for his role as the alleged triggerman in the July 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion — and prosecutors are calling for the judge to show little leniency.
According to Law&Crime reporter Meghann Cuniff, Deputy District Attorneys Kathy Ta and Alex Bott filed a motion on Tuesday (May 23) calling for Lanez to receive a hefty prison sentence for his alleged crime.
In the filing, they argue the Canadian rapper “demonstrated a high level of callousness” when he allegedly fired five shots at Megan Thee Stallion’s feet “without any justifiable provocation or reason,” and should therefore be punished accordingly.
“[Megan] was dressed in only a bikini, shoeless and on foot in a neighborhood completely foreign to her,” the filing reads. “It was late at night. She was unarmed and completely defenseless. [Lanez] posed a significant danger to everyone (witnesses and neighbors) in the vicinity of this shooting.”
It continued: “The brazenness of Defendant’s conduct is alarming but the conscious disregard for the well-being and safety of all those around him signifies a high degree of indifference for human life.”
The motion didn’t recommend a specific number of years in prison, which will be made in a more expansive memorandum that’s expected to be filed by June 6.
If Judge David Herriford sides with the prosecution on this matter, he will legally be able to sentence Tory to more than the middle range of the maximum, which is 22 years and 8 months in prison.
However, state law reportedly requires a jury to find “aggravating factors” to be true before a judge can apply them at sentencing and hand down a term longer than the middle range.
Lanez (real name Daystar Peterson) has remained behind bars without bond since being found guilty of first-degree assault with a firearm on December 23 following a high-profile two-week trial in Los Angeles.
The 30-year-old will learn his fate when he’s back in court and ultimately sentenced at a June 13 hearing. Earlier this month, Judge Herriford denied Tory’s motion for a new trial after his attorneys Matthew Barhoma and Jose Baez had presented their case in front of him.
They argued Lanez’s previous defense attorney, George Mgdesyan, was “ineffective counsel” and that the rapper’s DNA was never discovered on the gun, but it ultimately wasn’t enough to sway the judge.
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