Rapper Tory Lanez’s father has blamed Jay-Z for his son being convicted of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot – because he signed Megan to his label in June this year.

Sonstar Peterson, the father of Lanez – real name Daystar Peterson – outside court accused Jay-Z of having ‘traded and bartered the souls of young men.’

It was unclear what he meant, but he was perhaps claiming that Jay-Z’s record label paid Megan Thee Stallion’s legal fees.

She accused Lanez of shooting her in the foot in July 2020, and Lanez was on Friday  found guilty of all of the three charges.

Sonstar Peterson, father of rapper Tory Lanez, is seen on Friday yelling outside court

Lanez is seen on Friday visiting a mural in Los Angeles while the jurors took a break from their deliberations. Shortly after, he was found guilty of shooting his former girlfriend

Rapper Megan Thee Stallion is seen on December 13 arriving in court for the opening day of the trial of her ex boyfriend, fellow hip hop star Tory Lanez

The 30 year-old singer – facing up to 18 years in jail – showed no emotion when the verdict was read.

Outside court, his father raged, calling the verdict ‘the worst miscarriage of justice that this world has ever seen.’

Peterson, with his wife beside him – who yelled that Beyonce was also to blame – railed against what he saw as an injustice.

‘I have seen so much evidence buried in this,’ he claimed.

‘And I know exactly what the public out here will say. You will say that I say this because I am a father.

‘You see, I am a father of thousands around the world.

‘I am a father of my kids, but a spiritual father to many.

‘And I don’t make stupid allegations because I’ve got nothing better to do.’

Peterson is seen on Friday erupting with anger outside the LA courtroom

An animated Peterson railed against Jay-Z, and urged people to rise up against the verdict

Peterson added: ‘I’m calling on everyone in this country to begin to rise up because your sons are being done dirty.’

Lanez’s stepmother also shouted at the camera: ‘Beyoncé and Jay-Z, you have children.

‘Let us see, you are making other people go to jail. You have kids. God is watching.’

As the verdict was read out, Peterson pointed at the judge and jury, screaming, ‘This is wicked, you are evil. Wickedness of the highest order’.

As others joinied in, yelling ‘appeal’ and ‘that’s messed up man,’ sheriff’s deputies barked at the loudest to calm down, and were joined by a dozen more deputies who kept some watchers and press hostage in the courtroom while a melee in the corridor outside was quelled.

Some of his female supporters openly wept for Lanez – wearing a pink coat over white turtleneck and pink pants – as he sat, looking stunned, next to his defense team.

And his stepmother yelled, ‘We love you baby,’ as he was led away in handcuffs to be held in custody till his sentencing which Judge David Herriford scheduled for January 27.

After a day and a half of deliberations at the end of a 10-day trial, the Los Angeles jury of seven women and five men convicted Lanez of three felonies: assault with a semi-automatic firearm, shooting a firearm in a grossly negligent manner and carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle.

The assault carries a penalty of up to nine years in jail, the conviction for negligently shooting a gun up to three years and the concealed gun count three years.

But because the jury also found that Lanez caused ‘great bodily injury’ – Megan had three bullet fragments surgically removed from her feet – the assault and negligent shooting felonies carry enhanced penalties that could add up to six years to his sentence.

The Canadian-born musician – whose real name is Daystar Peterson – is also facing possible deportation. He had pleaded not guilty to all three charges.

In her emotional testimony last week, Megan, 27, told the jury that she and Lanez – with whom she’d been having a sexual relationship – had been to a pool party July 12, 2020 at the home of Kylie Jenner and were in his SUV in the Hollywood Hills with Megan’s assistant and best friend, Kelsey Harris, when an argument erupted.

Megan – real name Megan Pete – asked the driver to stop the car and she got out – which was when she said Lanez yelled ‘Dance b—ch’ and fired a gun five times at her, injuring her feet so seriously that she needed surgery.

She also testified that Lanez offered her and Harris a million dollars to keep quiet about the shooting.

Lanez later apologized to her, saying he was drunk at the time of the shooting.

The jury didn’t buy the defense team’s theory that it wasn’t Lanez but Harris who fired the gun in a fit of jealousy and anger at Megan when she found out the singer had ‘backstabbed’ her by sleeping with Lanez, whom Kelsey had also been involved with.

Video footage showed the moments after the July 12, 2020 shooting, with Lanez and Thee Stallion, and a third person lying on the ground as authorities arrive

Megan Thee Stallion shared photos of the injuries she sustained on her foot after Tory Lanez shot her

Alexander Bott, deputy district attorney, told the court in his closing statements: ‘This is a case about a guy who shot a girl, then apologized for it.’

On the first day of the trial, Megan told the court she felt suicidal after the shooting, and likened the fallout of naming Lanez as the shooter to ‘torture.’

She has faced a torrent of online abuse, with Lanez’s fans accusing her of lying.

‘I can’t even be happy,’ Megan told the court.

‘I can’t hold conversations with people for a long time. I don’t feel like I want to be on this earth.

‘I wish he would have just shot and killed me, if I knew I would have to go through this torture.’

Judge David Herriford sent the panel of seven women and five men to the jury room shortly after the prosecution and defense wrapped up their closing arguments on Thursday afternoon. Their verdict was unanimous.

Lanez wore the same shoes and pink suit on Thursday, as he brought his five-year-old son Kai to court

Lanez, who wore a pink suit and white turtleneck sweater, arrived at criminal court in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday with his five-year-old son Kai, who was seen attending proceedings with his father earlier in the trial.

After the shooting, Lanez’s fans insisted online that Megan was not injured, but Dr. Lee Haruno, chief resident in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s orthopedic surgery department, testified last week that bullet fragments were removed from both Megan’s feet.

Lanez’s attorney George Mgdesyan – who has branded Megan a ‘liar’ – accused the prosecution of ‘trying to dirty my client and make him look like a bad guy. A black man hip-hop rapper.

‘They are asking you to jump to a conclusion, to prosecute a black man. The story fits better if it’s a black man shooting a black woman. But Kelsey is the one who shot her friend.’

Asking why the chief investigator in the case only took Lanez’s DNA and not the other passengers in the car, Mgdesyan said: ‘Because he’s the celebrity. He’s Tory Lanez.’

Some of Lanez’s friends appeared to be praying at the mural on Friday

The 30-year-old Canadian was pictured smoking a cigar during the break from proceedings

 

Lanez on Friday wore the same eye-catching pink outfit as the day before, but added an overcoat as temperatures dropped

Lanez, born in Canada, grew up in Miami and New York

Lanez is seen by the mural in Los Angeles, shortly before the verdict was reached

Tory Lanez, 30, was convicted by a jury on Friday. He now faces up to 18 years in prison for rapper Megan Thee Stallion with a firearm

 

The defense has been pushing the theory that it wasn’t Lanez but Megan’s assistant and friend Kelsey Harris (pictured arriving at court on December 15) who fired the gun in a fit of jealousy and anger at Megan

He added: ‘The prosecution wants you to rely on Megan, who lied to you or Kelsey, who took the Fifth.

‘Why would Megan lie?’ Mgdesyan asked earlier.

‘Megan and Tory are both artists – what’s more newsworthy, you got shot by Kelsey Harris or you got shot by Tory Lanez?’

‘Megan has an image – she’s Megan Thee Stallion. Kelsey found out her best friend was cheating with her man and she shot her. How would that look for Megan Thee Stallion?’

He also reminded the jury of Sean Kelly’s testimony in which he told the court that he saw Harris break off from fighting Megan and go back toward the SUV before gunfire erupted.

In her testimony last week, Megan, 27, told the jury of seven women and five men that she and Lanez were leaving a pool party July 12, 2020 at the home of Kylie Jenner when an argument erupted. The two women are pictured together during an Instagram Live the night of the shooting

Megan had initially denied ever being in a romantic relationship with Lanez. The rapper – real name Daystar Peterson – could spend up to 12 years in prison if convicted. The two are pictured in 2020

Mgdesyan said: ‘The evidence is pretty clear that the gun was in Kelsey’s bag.’

Calling the prosecution’s case ‘full of holes,’ he went on: ‘My client did not willfully talk the gun and fire the gun. That’s why his DNA is not on the gun.

‘There is no evidence that my client shot a firearm.

‘My client was holding Kelsey’s hand to try to stop her from shooting Megan….He was trying to save Megan.’

Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta poured scorn on the defense’s position that Kelsey shot Megan in fury because of their romantic rivalry over Lanez.

Instead she told the jury, Lanez shot Megan in an angry clash of egos over the musical talents of the two rappers.

‘It’s the defendant who’s on trial, not Megan,’ Ta told the court in her rebuttal to the defense’s closing arguments.

‘The defendant had a bruised ego because Megan was more successful than him.

‘She was disrespecting him as a rapper and that pissed him off. How dare she have the audacity to disrespect him, then get out of the car and walk away from him?

‘So he reasserted his dominance.’