The opening statements in the Megan Thee Stallion shooting case are set to begin Monday (Dec. 12). The trial date comes over two years after rapper Tory Lanez allegedly shot Megan in her feet at a party in the Hollywood Hills.
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Megan spoke out about the incident for the first time earlier this year, saying that Lanez pointed the gun at her feet before saying, “Dance, b****” and firing multiple rounds. Lanez has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Megan initially told the police she stepped on glass for fear of how the cops might react if they knew there was a gun. Eventually, it became clear a shooting took place and Lanez was arrested.
According to prosecutors, Lanez “personally inflicted great bodily injury” upon Megan, after the two got into an argument while riding in an SUV. Lanez was originally charged with one felony count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and one felony count of carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. He picked up an additional charge earlier this month for discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
Though Lanez was set to be under house arrest until the trial date, he was released earlier this month as Judge David Herriford decided Lanez needed his freedom for the “trial preparation aspect.”
Megan recently said of the incident, “I thought we had a real connection. I thought he knew me. And I never would’ve thought he would’ve shot at me at all.”
She continued, “I never put my hands on this man. I never did anything to him. There was an argument. People argue every day. Friends argue every day.”
Per Rolling Stone, the rapper’s road to recovery was a long one. She underwent surgery the same night as the incident and remained in the hospital for multiple days. She recalled, “Both of my legs wrapped up. I could not walk. I still have bullet fragments in my feet right now. I was very scared that I was not able to be Megan Thee Stallion no more. And I was fucked up.”
In addition to physical rehabilitation, she has said rebuilding her mental health has been just as rigorous.
“I feel shame, a little bit because even after he shot me, I still was thinking about everybody else in the car,” she said. “I thought everybody in the car was my friend, [and] the whole time, that’s not how they thought of me. That’s what really hurts.”
There has been heavy public discourse around the shooting, with many (including Lanez) claiming Megan made the whole incident up. A since-deleted tweet by DJ Akademiks claimed court proceedings had confirmed Lanez’s DNA wasn’t found on the gun from the scene. The podcaster was briefly taken into custody for violating court orders.
Photo: Christopher Polk/NBC
