A defense witness in the Tory Lanez trial has testified that after Megan Thee Stallion was shot, she was beaten and dragged by three people. The bombshell testimony also seemed to hint that the Canadian rapper, real name Daystar Peterson, was the aggravator.
The Canadian rapper is facing three counts of felony assault and is facing more than 22 years in jail if convicted. The rapper has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is now in its second week. On Wednesday, Tory Lanez’s defense continued with his lawyer George Mgdesyan calling a witness who is a resident who claimed to have witnessed the shooting.
The witness’s testimony has many in the hip hop world observing the trial gripping their seats as he testifies that he saw Tory with a gun in his hand and he also saw Megan being beaten by three people. So far, prosecutors say that on the night Megan Thee Stallion was shot, she was with her former best friend, Kelsey Harris, Tory and Tory’s bodyguard, a so far unidentified person.
The witness, Sean Kelly, says he is a resident and witnessed the shooting, which occurred on Nichols Canyon Boulevard. Los Angeles Times reporter James Queally reported from inside the Los Angeles Superior Court that Tory’s lawyer introduced Kelly as someone who witnessed Kelsey shoot Megan. However, within moments Kelly’s testimony went south, seemingly tanking Tory’s defense.
The witness began by saying he woke up to loud noise and saw two women fighting- “they were pulling the hair and hitting each other, it was quite violent.”
The witness said he heard what sounded like fireworks but saw a “muzzle flash” from “one of the girls” and again “about the same time the smaller gentleman (Tory) got out of the car.”
The witness then said he saw a woman crawling away from the car and bleeding. Kelly was asked about his statement to the police, which said that he saw two people with a gun. Instead, the witness clarified he saw flashes that he thought came from a woman.
“Did you see a muzzle flash?” Mgdesyan asked. “Yes,” Kelly answered before adding, “About the same time that the smallest individual got out of the car.”
The witness said Tory was angry and “got out about that time, all shouting.”
Kelly says after the “small guy” (Tory) came out of the car, “I saw more flashes.”
Kelly, who said he observed the fight from a nearby balcony, didn’t hear Tory say “Dance, b*tch” as alleged by Megan last week before Tory opened fire.
Kelly had previously given a statement to police claiming that he saw Tory take the gun from Kelsey, but today he said he saw ‘the small guy’ come out of the car and join the fray. Tory’s lawyer also tried to rein in the witness as his testimony was damaging to Tory’s defense. The lawyer unsuccessfully asked the judge to take his witness as hostile, but the judge denied the request.
The testimony went on with the witness repeating that he never saw a gun.
“I saw flashes, I never saw the gun. I don’t know, I never saw a gun it was just flashes,” he said.
“They were fighting. They were all pulling each other,” Kelly said.
The witness denied seeing Tory taking the gun from one of the women.
“I never saw that,” Kelly answered.
Kelly also said the ‘small guy’ was “very angry” and shouting, and he saw muzzle flashes “came from him” but added, “I never saw a gun.”
The witness also explained that he believed that the first shot was fired by Kelsey.
“I believe I saw the girl shoot first,” he said.
When pressed, he added, “I said that they were both shooting.”
When asked to clarify who is the first shooter, Kelly said: “The girl,” but “they were all fighting.”
The witness also gave a new line of testimony that shocked the courtroom, as no other witnesses had mentioned it.
He said the ‘shorter guy’ “was pushing and fighting both girls. Everyone was fighting. Even the driver.”
The defense lawyer asked him, “Sir, did you see the shorter guy with a gun in his hand?” and Kelly answered, “Yes” before going on to say that everyone started beating one girl, and “it appeared that they were going to throw her in the river.”
“It appeared to me when I was on the phone that they were trying to kill her,” Kelly said.
The witness said that after that, he heard the driver say the police were coming, and they then dragged the woman who was shot into the Escalade and left.
On cross-examination, deputy district attorney Alexander Bott refreshed the witness’ memory and reminded him about his 911 call, where he reported ‘the shorter guy was very agitated’ and had his hands waving- “He was firing everywhere.”
Bott also played home surveillance audio of the gunshots, and Kelly said, “He was, like I said, shooting,” and the woman on the ground “was kicking all the time…She was crawling and stumbling across the road.”
In cross examination, he maintained, “I see what appears to be the girl shooting into the car,” and the ‘shorter guy’ was shouting at the girl on the ground- “just a torrent of abuse,” the witness said.
When asked what the short guy said- Kelly answered, “It was all n-words and f this, f that.”
“And this was directed at the victim?” Bott asked.
“All of them…He was going crazy. Was really agitated,” Kelly responded.
A police detective also testified on Tuesday night.
In the meantime, if Justin Edison is found, his testimony would be taken for the prosecution. As for Tory Lanez, the defense has not indicated whether he will take the stand.
