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Megan Thee Stallion’s boyfriend Pardison ‘Pardi’ Fontaine released a statement as jury deliberations began in her assault case against Tory Lanez.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The songwriter, 32, took to his Instagram Story with words of support for women after the rapper, 27, shared that her partner of two-years is ’embarrassed’ by the situation while taking the stand on Tuesday.
‘To any woman especially ones of color that has suffered an injustice I feel for you.. when you do find the courage to speak up.. it seems you will be ridiculed,’ he wrote adding, ‘I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.’
Pardi went on, saying that those who speak up will have their credibility ‘questioned’ and that ‘your entire past will be held under a magnifying glass.’
‘In an instant, you can go from victim to defendant in the eyes of the public,’ he stated.
He ended the statement by writing, ‘To any one with a daughter Sister mother niece or aunt.. I pray for their protection.. I pray for their covering.. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.’
While in court Megan told the jury that since the shooting she has suffered from depression which has adversely affected her relationship with her partner.
‘It’s hard for your partner when you feel sad all the time,’ she said, adding, ‘I feel disgusted, I feel dirty, my own partner is embarrassed. I can’t even be happy, I don’t want to talk to friends or family.’
She also stated she wishes Tory would have ‘killed’ her because what she’s going through is ‘torture.’
‘This has messed up my whole life. How could I share my body with someone who could shoot me. I’m embarrassed. I feel disgusted. I feel dirty. I feel like I don’t want to be on this earth any more. I wish Tory had shot and killed me if I knew I was going to go through this torture.’
Jury deliberations have begun in the trial of Lanez who faces up to 18 years in prison if found guilty of shooting his former lover and fellow hip-hop star, Megan.
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.
The jury is now set to decide Lanez’s fate and will need to come to a unanimous decision in order to reach a guilty verdict on any of the three charges he’s facing.
Lanez arrived at the criminal court in downtown Los Angeles with his five-year-old son Kai, who was seen attending proceedings with his dad earlier in the trial.
The 30-year-old singer has pleaded not guilty to three felony charges including assaulting Megan with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a concealed gun in a vehicle, and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
He faces up to 18 years in prison if convicted of all three felonies, plus possible deportation from the United States.
The assault carries a penalty of up to nine years in jail; the firing with gross negligence charge up to three years, and the concealed gun count up to three years.
But if the jury also finds that Lanez caused ‘great bodily injury’ – Megan had three bullet fragments surgically removed from her feet – both felonies carry enhanced penalties that could add up to six years to his sentence on each of the assault and firing with gross negligence charges.
In her testimony last week, Megan told the jury that the incident took place after she and Lanez had attended a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills home on July 12, 2020.
She said the two were leaving in his SUV with Megan’s assistant and best friend, Kelsey Harris, when an argument erupted and she asked his driver, Jaquan Smith, to pull over.
Megan, whose real name is Megan Pete, said when she got out of the car Lanez allegedly shouted, ‘Dance b***h’, and fired several shots 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 – who is free on $350,000 bail, later apologized to her, saying he was drunk at the time of the shooting.
His defense team has been pushing the 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.
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.’
‘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.
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.’
