LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles County judge upheld assault charges Tuesday against rapper Tory Lanez, who is accused of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in her feet following a dispute in Hollywood last summer.
Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, seemed to shake his head in disgust several times throughout the 90-minute preliminary hearing, shouting at a detective at one point before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Keith Borjon upheld the assault and weapons possession charges against the 29-year-old.
Both Lanez and his defense attorney, Shawn Holley, declined to comment outside the courtroom.
Prosecutors allege Lanez and a 25-year-old victim, identified in court documents as Megan P. Stallion, got into a dispute while riding in an SUV together in the Hollywood Hills. Lanez is accused of shooting the "WAP" and "Savage" rapper's feet.
On Tuesday, a Los Angeles Police detective testified that Lanez yelled "Dance, bitch!" as he opened fire, according to an earlier interview he'd conducted with Stallion. The detective, Ryan Stogner, also said Lanez placed a jail phone call to a friend of Stallion apologizing for what happened, though Holley noted her client never mentioned a shooting during the call.
As the detective spoke, Lanez continued to shake his head before finally yelling at Stogner.
"How about you tell me what I was apologizing for, bro? That don't make no sense," Lanez shouted before being asked to be quiet by Holley and Borjon.
Initially, Stallion told police that she had injured her feet by stepping on broken glass after a party at the home of Kylie Jenner. Police first arrested Lanez in connection with possession of an unregistered firearm. But in an Instagram Live video posted last August, Stallion accused Lanez of shooting her and said she held back during initial contacts with police because she was afraid of causing legal trouble for her friend.
"Yes ... [did this], and you got your publicist and your people going to these blogs lying," she said last year. "Stop lying. Why lie? I don't understand."
Stallion also said in the video, which was posted not long after the height of last summer's nationwide protests over police violence, that she was afraid if police responded to a car full of Black men and women in possession of a gun, someone might be killed.
Lanez is due back in court on Jan. 13.
