A key defence witness in the trial of Canadian rapper Tory Lanez, who stands accused in the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion, testified Tuesday that a man fitting Lanez’s description was”really agitated” and “firing everywhere.”
Sean Kelly was expected to testify that he saw Megan Thee Stallion’s then-friend Kelsey Harris fire a gun during an altercation outside his home – giving jurors reasonable doubt that Lanez was the one who shot Megan. (Harris testified last week that it was "ridiculous" to suggest she shot Megan.)
But on the stand, Kelly insisted he only saw muzzle flashes, according to reporting on the trial. “I want to be clear, I never saw a gun, okay,” he said.
When Lanez’s lawyer George Mgdesyan asked Kelly from whose hand did he see the flashes, he said Harris but added that “they were all together, they were very close together.”
Last week, a crime scene analyst testified that gunshot residue was found on both Lanez and Harris.
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Kelly claimed Lanez was “very angry” and shouting. “Then the flashes then came from him,” he said. “I never saw a gun. They were all fighting, so I just assumed he grabbed the gun.”
Mgdesyan asked Kelly if he saw Lanez with a gun in his hand. “Yes,” he answered.
Under cross examination, Kelly said Lanez’s arms were outstretched and he fired four or five shots while shouting a “torrent of abuse.” He claimed Lanez was “going crazy.”
During redirect, Kelly told Mgdesyan he believes Harris fired the first shot.
Lanez, the Ontario native whose real name is Daystar Peterson, is on trial for assault with a firearm, carrying a loaded and unregistered firearm and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. The 30-year-old has pleaded not guilty.
If convicted, Lanez – who lives in Florida – faces a sentence of up to 22 years and eight months behind bars as well as deportation.
Both before the trial and in her testimony, Megan has identified Lanez as the person who shot her. She told jurors she got into an argument with Lanez while they were driving away from a party at Kylie Jenner’s house. Things got more heated when Harris, who had a crush on Lanez, learned that the two rap stars had occasionally hooked up.
Megan said she asked to be let out of the vehicle – but quickly realized it wasn't a good idea to get out because she was wearing a thong bikini "and I look crazy, and if anybody sees me walking down the street like this, it’s going to be bad for me."
Back inside the SUV, she and Lanez swapped insults about their music careers. “Tory was basically telling me I wasn’t s**t, and I said, ‘Actually, You ain’t s**t. This is where you at in your career. This is where you at with your music.’ And I feel like that really rubbed him the wrong way," she testified. "He kept yelling and cursing."
Megan asked again to be let out of the vehicle and, as she began walking away, Lanez yelled “Dance, bitch!” and shot at her in the feet. “I’m in shock. I’m scared," she recalled. "I hear the gun going off, and I can’t believe he’s shooting at me. He was holding the gun, pointing it at me."
Megan said she crawled to a nearby driveway and saw a lot of blood. With everyone in shock, they got back into the car and drove off, with Megan trying to stop the bleeding using towels.
She testified that Lanez immediately begged her not to report the shooting. "He’s saying, ‘Please don’t say anything. I’ll give y’all a million dollars. I can’t go to jail. I already got caught with a gun before.'"
Megan testified that following the incident Lanez contacted her several times to apologize.
Harris was less clear with her recollections while on the stand. “I don’t know,” she replied when prosecutor Kathy Ta asked her who shot Megan. Asked whether she heard anyone shout “Dance, bitch!” before opening fire Harris answered: “I don’t know where that came from, so no.”
But, jurors were later played a videotaped interview with Harris in which she said she saw Lanez aim the gun “straight but always in a downward direction toward Megan.”
On Monday, the prosecution tried to add two charges of witness tampering based on testimony by Megan and Harris that Lanez allegedly offered them a million dollars to stay silent. Judge David Herriford denied the motion.
Lanez has released seven studio albums since 2016, including September's Sorry 4 What, and has collected three consecutive JUNO Awards for Rap Recording of the Year. He also earned the JUNO for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year for a collaboration with Jessie Reyez and Tainy.