LOS ANGELES (AP) – Megan Thee Stallion She said she struggled daily since the rapper Tory LanezShot in her feet Three years ago in a written statement read during Lenz’s sentencing, which will extend through Tuesday.
“Since the defendant viciously shot me, I have not witnessed a single day of peace,” Megan said in a statement read by Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta. “Slowly but surely, I am getting better and better, but I will never be the same again.”
The hip hop star who Testified during the trialshe said she struggled with whether to make the statement in person, but said she “simply couldn’t bring myself to be in a room with Tory again.”
She asked that her absence not be seen as a sign of indifference, and urged Judge David Hereford to issue a stern ruling.
A judge was expected to rule on Lenz on Monday in a hearing that often lasts only two hours, but Hereford has had attorneys for both sides argue every factor of his possible sentence, and has allowed seven witnesses to testify about Lenz’s charitable giving, his childhood trauma, and his situation. As a father of a 6-year-old son.
The plaintiffs ask the judge A sentence of 13 years imprisonment 31-year-old Lenz whose legal name is Daystar Peterson. Lenz was Convicted of three felonies: Assault with a semi-automatic firearm, carrying an unregistered firearm in a vehicle and grossly negligent discharge of a firearm.
Linz’ attorneys said in the sentencing brief that he should only be monitored and released from prison to enter a residential program for substance abuse. They plan to appeal his conviction.
Megan saw During the trial, Lanez shot herself in the back of her feet and yelled for her to dance as she pulled away from an SUV they were riding in the summer of 2020. The couple had left a party at Kylie Jenner’s home in the Hollywood Hills. .
Lenz’s father, Sonstar Peterson, a Christian pastor, choked back tears in court Monday when he told the judge about his wife, Leela, who died just days after showing the first symptoms of a rare blood disorder that would have led to her death in Lenz’s. was 11.
“I don’t think anybody ever got over that,” he said of their youngest child, Linz. “But his music became his outlet.”
Other witnesses spoke of Lenz’s near-constant philanthropy even before fame and money came to him from music in 2017.
His son’s mother, Raina Cassani, described him as “the most supportive dad, the funniest dad”.
Dozens more wrote letters to Hereford, including rapper Iggy Azalea, asking the judge to issue a ruling that was “transformative rather than life-ruining.”
The judge said Lenz’s 6-year-old son also sent a handwritten letter, but Hereford did not describe it further.
A chaplain from the Los Angeles County Jail appeared in court and said Lenz led daily prayer groups that eased tensions in the protective custody unit where he is being held.
Herriford produced results in favor of each side on Monday, leaving little indication of what sentence they will deliver.
He finds that Megan was a particularly vulnerable victim when she was shot, but Lenz was not particularly cruel or cruel in shooting her, legal factors that could influence his decision.
Hereford said he will regard the charitable giving and glowing statements Lenz has made about him as a pillar of his family and community.
But the judge also said he would look into what prosecutors described as attempts by Lenz, through social media posts and in song lyrics, to intimidate Meghan and question whether she was shot at all.
Hereford said Lanez also had a distinct lack of remorse, but said he wouldn’t allow that to be a factor because the rapper has the right to maintain his innocence.
Megan, in her statement, cited a lack of remorse, saying Lenz “blamed the system, blamed the press, and recently tried to capitalize on his childhood trauma.”
Sonstar Peterson also grew emotional when he lamented his elevation in court after the jury returned their verdict and denounced the “evil system” that led to his son’s conviction. The deputies wrestled him from the courtroom at the time.
“I want to apologize to you personally,” he told the judge on Monday. “It was a difficult time.”
Lenz began releasing mixtapes in 2009 and has seen a steady rise in popularity, moving onto albums for major labels. Megan Thee Stallion, now 28, was already a major rising star at the time of shooting, and her fame has grown ever since. She won a Grammy Award for Best New Female Artist in 2021, and hit No. 1 with “Savage” featuring Beyonceand as a guest with Cardi B on “WAP”.
