New filing pinpoints aggravating factors, like rapper’s “high level of callousness,” that could allow judge to sentence Lanez to up to 22 years in prison
Prosecutors are seeking a harsher prison term against rapper Tory Lanez after he was convicted on three counts related to the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion.
Lanez — legal name Daystar Peterson — will be sentenced by a judge on June 13, where he is facing a maximum of 22 years and eight months behind bars. However, due to a new California law, the rapper’s sentence would, by default, come in “the middle term” unless proven there were “circumstances in aggravation” in regards to the shooting.
In a new filing to the court Tuesday, prosecutors laid down what they believe are three aggravating factors that would allow for the judge to give Peterson a more severe sentence, writing that “Defendant’s actions also demonstrated a high level of callousness,” Legal Affairs and Trials With Meghann Cuniff reported.
The other factors included Peterson’s use of a semi-automatic handgun and Megan Thee Stallion’s vulnerability at the time of the shooting.
“As victim began to walk away from Defendant wearing only a bikini and no shoes, Defendant mocked Victim with ‘Dance Bitch’ as [he] opened fire in her direction. With no justifiable reason, Defendant fired not just one but up to five rounds in the direction of Victim in the middle of a residential neighborhood,” prosecutors wrote in the filing.
“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.”
Prosecutors did not recommend a specific number of years for the prison sentence; that number will come in a filing set for a week before the June 13 sentencing.
Peterson has remained behind bars since Dec. 2022 after he was found guilty of three charges: First-degree assault with a firearm, discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, and having a concealed firearm in a vehicle – unregistered. Earlier this month, Judge David Herriford — who the defense argued should have been disqualified from the case — denied the rapper’s request for a new trial.