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Lanez was stabbed in prison this week as he serves a 10-year sentence after he was convicted on firearm charges for shooting Megan Thee Stallion.
By Ethan Millman
Music Editor
Tory Lanez’s legal team called on Governor Gavin Newsom to pardon the rapper or commute his sentence days after he was stabbed in prison this week, while further claiming to have new evidence in the rapper’s case over the shooting of Megan Thee Stallion.
Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, is currently serving a 10-year sentence after he was convicted on three firearm charges over the 2020 shooting, which left Meg, whose real name is Megan Mete, wounded with bullet fragments in her feet. Mete told the court that Peterson had shouted “dance, bitch” before shooting her. Peterson pleaded not guilty in the trial and is appealing the sentence.
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During a press conference held by Peterson’s legal team, Unite The People, in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, the rapper’s father, Sunstar Peterson, said his son was airlifted to a hospital Monday to treat his injuries, but that he’s healing “remarkably well” following the “unprovoked attack.”
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed Peterson was stabbed on Monday morning at 7:20 a.m., further stating that authorities have launched an investigation into the incident. Peterson’s reps said he was stabbed 14 times, including seven wounds to the back, four to his torso and two to the back of his head, and that both his lungs had collapsed. Sunstar Peterson said on Wednesday that Peterson was also stabbed under his left cheekbone and that “his jaw was open.” Peterson is breathing on his own again, Sunstar Peterson said.
Peterson’s reps said Newsom should get Peterson released citing the stabbing, noting that “if he is not “pardoned and released promptly, he may never get out.” Sunstar Peterson called upon both Newsom and President Trump to take action during his speech. Unite The People said it hadn’t contacted the Governor’s office beyond making the call during Wednesday’s press conference.
Aside from the health update, both Sunstar Peterson and other representatives for Peterson had repeatedly stated that the rapper “was never given a fair trial,” and claimed that prosecutors manipulated evidence to reach a conviction, specifically calling out former LA County District Attorney George Gascon.
His team claimed to have received new evidence, with Walter Roberts — who Unite The People CEO Caesar McDowell said was the team’s lead consultant — stating that a man named Bradley James had approached the organization “a few months ago” claiming to be the bodyguard of Pete’s former friend Kelsey Harris during the trial. Harris was in the car with Peterson and Pete during the incident.
Roberts claimed that the bodyguard had heard a conversation in which Harris said that she fired the gun while Peterson knocked the gun down. James was not among the speakers at the press conference Wednesday. Roberts said the team hasn’t gone to current D.A. Nathan Hochman’s office about the claims yet.
Pete’s attorney Alex Spiro disputed Peterson’s team’s new claims in a statement to THR.
“Tory Lanez was tried and convicted by a jury of his peers and his case was properly adjudicated through the court system,” Spiro said. “This is not a political matter — this is a case of a violent assault that was resolved in the court of law.”
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