Tory Lanez is found GUILTY of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot

Megan Thee Stallion’s former boyfriend Tory Lanez has been found guilty on all three counts of shooting her in the foot, following a party at Kylie Jenner’s house in July 2020.

The Canadian rapper, 30, was convicted by a jury in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, after less than 24 hours of deliberations.

As the verdict was read out, his father stood in court and yelled: ‘This is a wicked system!’ 

He hurled abuse at the prosecutors, calling them ‘evil’, while Lanez’s stepmother began joining in the chorus.

Lanez’s father ranted about ‘Roc Nation’, the record label owned by Jay-Z, to which Megan signed in June amid great fanfare. 

Alex Spiro, Megan’s lawyer, said: ‘The jury got it right. I am thankful there is justice for Meg.’ 

Lanez now faces up to 18 years in prison for shooting his fellow hip hop star, and could be deported.

His sentencing hearing will take place on January 23. 

Rapper Megan Thee Stallion is seen on December 13 arriving in court for the opening day of the trial of her ex boyfriend, fellow hip hop star Tory Lanez

Lanez is seen on Friday visiting a mural in Los Angeles while the jurors took a break from their deliberations. Shortly after, he was found guilty of shooting his former girlfriend

Lanez wore the same shoes and pink suit on Thursday, as he brought his five-year-old son Kai to court

Video footage showed the moments after the July 12, 2020 shooting, with Lanez and Thee Stallion, and a third person lying on the ground as authorities arrive

Megan Thee Stallion shared photos of the injuries she sustained on her foot after Tory Lanez shot her

Alexander Bott, deputy district attorney, told the court in his closing statements: ‘This is a case about a guy who shot a girl, then apologized for it.’

On the first day of the trial, Megan told the court she felt suicidalafter the shooting, and likened the fallout of naming Lanez as the shooter to ‘torture.’

She has faced a torrent of online abuse, with Lanez’s fans accusing her of lying. 

‘I can’t even be happy,’ Megan told the court. 

‘I can’t hold conversations with people for a long time. I don’t feel like I want to be on this earth. 

‘I wish he would have just shot and killed me, if I knew I would have to go through this torture.’

Judge David Herriford sent the panel of seven women and five men to the jury room shortly after the prosecution and defense wrapped up their closing arguments on Thursday afternoon. Their verdict was unanimous. 

Lanez, who wore a pink suit and white turtleneck sweater, arrived at criminal court in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday with his five-year-old son Kai, who was seen attending proceedings with his father earlier in the trial. 

The 30-year-old singer pleaded not guilty to three felony charges including assaulting the rapper with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a concealed gun in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.

The assault carries a penalty of up to nine years in jail; the firing with gross negligence charge up to three years, and the concealed gun count up to three years.

But because the jury found that Lanez caused ‘great bodily injury’ – Megan had three bullet fragments surgically removed from her feet – both felonies carry enhanced penalties that could add up to six years to his sentence on each of the assault and firing with gross negligence charges.

In her testimony last week, Megan, 27, told the jury that the incident took place after she and Lanez had attended a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills home on July 12, 2020. 

She said the two were leaving in his SUV with Megan’s assistant and best friend, Kelsey Harris, when an argument erupted and she asked his driver, Jaquan Smith, to pull over. 

Megan, whose real name is Megan Pete, said when she got out of the car Lanez allegedly shouted, ‘Dance b***h’, and fired several shots at her, injuring her feet so seriously that she needed surgery.

‘I froze. I just felt shock. I felt hurt. I looked down at my feet and I see all of this blood,’ she said. 

She also testified that Lanez offered her and Harris a million dollars to keep quiet about the shooting.

Some of Lanez’s friends appeared to be praying at the mural on Friday

The 30-year-old Canadian was pictured smoking a cigar during the break from proceedings

Lanez on Friday wore the same eye-catching pink outfit as the day before, but added an overcoat as temperatures dropped

The rapper looked pensive as he smoked his cigar

Lanez, born in Canada, grew up in Miami and New York

Lanez is seen by the mural in Los Angeles, shortly before the verdict was reached

Tory Lanez, 30, was convicted by a jury on Friday. He now faces up to 18 years in prison for rapper Megan Thee Stallion with a firearm

Lanez – who was free on $350,000 bail – later apologized to her, saying he was drunk at the time of the shooting.

Lanez’s fans insisted online that Megan was not injured, but Dr. Lee Haruno, chief resident in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s orthopedic surgery department, testified last week that bullet fragments were removed from both Megan’s feet.

His defense team argued that it wasn’t Lanez but Harris who fired the gun in a fit of jealousy and anger at Megan.

Harris had also been involved with Lanez, and was engraged when she found out the singer had ‘backstabbed’ her by sleeping with him.

Lanez’s attorney George Mgdesyan – who has branded Megan a ‘liar’ – accused the prosecution of ‘trying to dirty my client and make him look like a bad guy. A black man hip-hop rapper. 

‘They are asking you to jump to a conclusion, to prosecute a black man. The story fits better if it’s a black man shooting a black woman. But Kelsey is the one who shot her friend.’ 

Asking why the chief investigator in the case only took Lanez’s DNA and not the other passengers in the car, Mgdesyan said: ‘Because he’s the celebrity. He’s Tory Lanez.’ 

The defense has been pushing the theory that it wasn’t Lanez but Megan’s assistant and friend Kelsey Harris (pictured arriving at court on December 15) who fired the gun in a fit of jealousy and anger at Megan

He added: ‘The prosecution wants you to rely on Megan, who lied to you or Kelsey, who took the Fifth.

‘Why would Megan lie?’ Mgdesyan asked earlier.  

‘Megan and Tory are both artists – what’s more newsworthy, you got shot by Kelsey Harris or you got shot by Tory Lanez?’ 

‘Megan has an image – she’s Megan Thee Stallion. Kelsey found out her best friend was cheating with her man and she shot her. How would that look for Megan Thee Stallion?’ 

He also reminded the jury of Sean Kelly’s testimony in which he told the court that he saw Harris break off from fighting Megan and go back toward the SUV before gunfire erupted. 

In her testimony last week, Megan, 27, told the jury of seven women and five men that she and Lanez were leaving a pool party July 12, 2020 at the home of Kylie Jenner when an argument erupted. The two women are pictured together during an Instagram Live the night of the shooting

Megan had initially denied ever being in a romantic relationship with Lanez. The rapper – real name Daystar Peterson – could spend up to 12 years in prison if convicted. The two are pictured in 2020

Mgdesyan said: ‘The evidence is pretty clear that the gun was in Kelsey’s bag.’ 

Calling the prosecution’s case ‘full of holes,’ he went on: ‘My client did not willfully talk the gun and fire the gun. That’s why his DNA is not on the gun. 

‘There is no evidence that my client shot a firearm.

‘My client was holding Kelsey’s hand to try to stop her from shooting Megan….He was trying to save Megan.’ 

Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta poured scorn on the defense’s position that Kelsey shot Megan in fury because of their romantic rivalry over Lanez. 

Instead she told the jury, Lanez shot Megan in an angry clash of egos over the musical talents of the two rappers. 

‘It’s the defendant who’s on trial, not Megan,’ Ta told the court in her rebuttal to the defense’s closing arguments. 

‘The defendant had a bruised ego because Megan was more successful than him. 

‘She was disrespecting him as a rapper and that pissed him off. How dare she have the audacity to disrespect him, then get out of the car and walk away from him?

‘So he reasserted his dominance.’