Daystar Peterson aka Tory Lanez has been brutally assaulted in a California jail last week, thrusting his long-standing legal strife against Megan Thee Stallion back into the headlines. Lanez, sentenced for 10 years for shooting the Grammy winner in 2020, was attacked 14 times by inmate Santino Casio, a 42-year-old serving a life sentence for murder. The beating left Lanez with collapsed lungs and wounds in the back, torso, head, and face. It raised questions about prison safety and further fueled criticism of his conviction.
The rapper is stable, breathing on his own, and apparently staying optimistic. Casio, with a previous history of prison violence, is under restricted housing as the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation and the Kern County District Attorney’s Office conduct an investigation. The 7:20 a.m. altercation within a California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi has rekindled controversy regarding the treatment of celebrity prisoners.
The origins of this drama go back to 12th of July 2020 when Megan Pete, popularly known as Megan Thee Stallion, and Lanez got into a fight following a party in Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles. Prosecutors claimed that the artist shot Megan in the feet with the warning, “Dance, bitch!” as they had a disagreement before leaving her with injured feet that underwent surgery. Megan initially refrained from identifying the shooter out of fear of escalation but later revealed that the shooter was indeed Lanez, inciting a whirlwind of media and public frenzy.
In 2022, Los Angelenos’ jury found Lanez guilty of the three felony charges against him: assault with a semiautomatic weapon, carrying a prohibited firearm, and shooting with gross negligence. Having received 10 years in August 2023, Lanez claimed he is innocent, with his lawyer contending that he had unjustly been convicted. The case has been a lightning rod for misogynoir discourse—misogyny against Black women—as well as for the issues Black victims encounter with the justice system.
Days after the stabbing, Lanez’s legal advocates from Unite The People, a nonprofit focused on justice reform, announced a press conference to unveil “never-before-seen evidence” they claim could upend his conviction. Led by CEO Ceasar McDowell, the group alleges a former bodyguard for Kelsey Harris, a key witness and Megan’s former friend, provided a statement asserting Harris fired the gun, not Lanez. This aligns with testimony from a non-party witness, Sean Kelly, who saw a woman with the gun, though courts have yet to validate these claims.
Unite The People has called for Lanez’s immediate release, rallying supporters with the cry
“Free The Bro!!!!”
They argue irregularities in the trial, such as untested DNA from other suspects and the presence of a record executive during Harris’s police interview, point to an unjust conviction. Citing the stabbing, they’ve urged California’s governor to pardon or commute Lanez’s sentence, warning he may not survive prison.
Megan Thee Stallion’s legal team, led by attorney Alex Spiro, has dismissed these claims as attempts to harass and intimidate her. In a January 2025 hearing, Megan described the toll of ongoing online vitriol, much of it fueled by misinformation. Her team asserts Lanez has orchestrated campaigns to distort the truth, pointing to a restraining order against him, effective until 2030, for alleged harassment from prison.
The case continues to polarize. On platforms like X, Lanez’s supporters amplify Unite The People’s claims, while Megan’s advocates decry victim-blaming. In a 2021 Pew Research report, 41% of Americans report being harassed on the internet with Black women such as Megan being overrepresented among the targets. Hip-hop figures such as Drake and 50 Cent publicly questioned Megan’s testimony earlier on, further amplifying misogynoir.
The stabbing and new evidence claims underscore broader issues: celebrity justice, prison violence, and the spread of misinformation. 21% of the inmates of state prisons reported being assaulted between 2004 and 2009 as per the Bureau of Justice Statistics, reflecting the danger that faces Lanez. Meanwhile, the success rate for overturning convictions in California remains low, at 19% in 2022, casting doubt on Lanez’s appeals.
