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9th August 2023
07:32am BST
Tory Lanez has been jailed for 10 years for shooting fellow rapper Megan Thee Stallion.
The Canadian rapper shot Megan in the feet after they got into an argument on the way home from a pool party hosted by Kylie Jenner in 2020.
Megan, 28, required surgery to remove bullet fragments from her foot
The 31-year-old, who has had seven US top 10 albums in the past seven years, was found guilty of three gun-related charges in December - assault with a semi-automatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence - and had been in jail since.
Speaking after the sentencing, the LA District Attorney said the fact Megan, real-name Megan Pete, is famous helped bring attention to the issue of violence against women.
"The fact that she is a successful entertainer has brought an important spotlight on the issue of violence against women," prosecutor George Gascón said, according to a report by the BBC.
Prosecutors had sought a 13-year-old sentence for Lanez, real-name Daystar Peterson, saying the performer had shot the Grammy-winner on a quiet residential street, and for waging "a campaign to humiliate and re-traumatise her" after the attack.
Lanez lawyers argued he should get probation and time in a drug treatment programme.
It is unclear if Lanez is now facing deportation to Canada, but his lawyer, Jose Baez, said his client plans to appeal the sentence.
In a victim impact statement read in court on Monday, Megan, a triple Grammy winner, said she will "never be the same" after the attack. "Since I was viciously shot by the defendant, I have not experienced a single day of peace," the statement said, according to US media. "Slowly but surely, I'm healing and coming back, but I will never be the same."
After Lanez and Megan got into an argument on 12 July 2020, Megan demanded to be let out of the vehicle. Lanez then started shooting at the ground and shouted at her to "dance."
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