Tory Lanez Is Going To Prison For 10 Years. Good Riddance.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Herriford sentenced Tory Lanez to 10 years in prison for shooting rapper Megan Thee Stallion in July 2020. In December, Lanez was found guilty of three felonies : assault with a semiautomatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. The Canadian rapper — whose legal name is Daystar Peterson — pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors sought a 13-year prison sentence in addition to potential deportation to his native Canada. As justification, they cited his lack of remorse, his campaign of misinformation and harassment against Megan and his refusal to comply with pretrial release. Last week, lawyers for Lanez called for him to be released from prison and sent to a rehabilitation center while being placed on probation, according to legal reporter Meghann Cuniff, who has followed the case closely. While not admitting fault, lawyers did say, “assuming the allegations are true,” that his “psychological, physical and childhood trauma was a factor in the commission of the offense.” 

For years now, Tory Lanez has acted like he was above the law, and now reality has set in: He is a marginally talented, not-that-famous Black man who used a gun in the state of California to shoot a defenseless woman. Now he wants God to bail him out. At the hearing, Lanez’s supporters included a jail chaplain, who reportedly said that Lanez started a daily group prayer that has eased tensions in the jail.

Among the 70-plus letters sent to the judge on his behalf, one fellow jailer claimed that with regards to the shooting, Lanez “is remorseful” and has “talked in detail about the event and what he could have done to prevent it.” Other supporters offered testimonials with praise of Lanez’s apparent contributions to the early-balding community. They said he is very charitable and that he is now suffering financially as a consequence of his actions.

All of them were trying to help Lanez obtain the mercy and grace that he has never extended to Megan Thee Stallion, the victim of the crimes he now wanted to pray and pity-party away. 

The thing about penance, though, is that one must admit guilt in order to receive absolution. “If I did it, it’s ’cause I had a bad childhood and I drink too much” is an excuse, not an admission of guilt or an apology.

Megan, who did not appear in person but submitted a statement read by Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta, made a similar point. In her statement, Meg noted that mercy is for people who show remorse and that Lanez has shown none. She said she struggled with whether she would give her statement in person but “simply could not bring myself to be in a room with Tory again.” 

When Tory Lanez fired gunshots at the ground near Megan’s feet, she testified,  he shouted, “Dance, bitch, dance!” 

“He not only shot me, he made a mockery of my trauma,” Megan wrote.

Even after that, Megan initially tried to protect him from prosecution for shooting her, but he and his team tried to make her out to be the villain. 

As prosecutors explained to Herriford in the memorandum with their sentencing recommendation, Lanez didn’t just taunt her online, he wanted to terrorize her in public for the world to see. He knew there was a protective order against him to stay 100 yards away, but a year after he shot her, he, along with Da Baby, tried to crash her set at the Rolling Loud Festival. The memo says, “[Megan Thee Stallion] was incredibly fearful after discovering [Tory Lanez] was at the venue and within the 100 prohibited yards.”

I don’t typically revel in the misery of others — especially not when it comes to Black people going to prison.

But there are men like Tory Lanez who take out their failures in the most violent ways and on the most vulnerable among us. When Tory finally spoke at the sentencing hearing, he told the judge about how he and Megan, whom he still referred to as a friend, bonded over the loss of their mothers. 

“We both lost our mothers. We would sit there and drink, and drink until we got numb,” he said .

And he shot Megan anyway. 

I’m sorry Tory Lanez had a hard life , but many of us suffer from childhood traumas and still manage to not take it out on others. We don’t then lie about what we did or find new ways to further terrorize a victim.

Bun B, one of the very few men in hip-hop to speak up for Meg after the shooting , said that if Tory had substance abuse problems or mental health issues, he should get help.

He didn’t want the help, so I hope he finds it in prison. 

If he comes out a better person, good for him, but he deserves every year of that sentence. 

I hope they deport him next.