Rapper Sues California Prison System Over Stabbing Incident

Rapper Tory Lanez has launched a $100 million lawsuit against California’s Correctional Department following a severe stabbing incident whilst imprisoned at the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi in May. The musician, known as Daystar Peterson and currently serving a 10-year sentence for the 2020 shooting incident involving Megan Thee Stallion, was struck 16 times with a blade by prison inmate Santino Casio in what the lawsuit describes as an “unprovoked dangerous assault.” The attack left Peterson hospitalised with a collapsed lung and numerous stabbing injuries to his back, torso, and head. The lawsuit names the Department of Corrections, the facility warden, and guards as defendants, alleging negligence in housing decisions and a delayed response to the violence.

The May 2025 Attack and Its Consequences

The May 2025 stabbing incident at Tehachapi marked a watershed moment in Peterson’s incarceration. According to the lawsuit, fellow inmate Santino Casio, who was completing a life sentence for murder in the second degree, launched an unprovoked assault that left the rapper struggling to survive. Peterson sustained a punctured lung alongside multiple stab wounds across his back, torso, and head—injuries serious enough to warrant immediate hospitalisation. The attack raised serious questions about security procedures in prisons and classification systems for inmates, particularly given the dangerous situation of housing two inmates with such markedly different profiles and threat levels.

Following his recuperation, Peterson was moved to San Luis Obispo County’s California Men’s Colony, constituting another stage in his incarceration experience. The lawsuit additionally claims that during this relocation, Peterson failed to retrieve his personal items from Tehachapi, including songbooks featuring lyrics to unreleased music—a loss that compounds the physical and emotional trauma of the incident. Notably, despite the seriousness of the assault, Casio was not prosecuted in connection with the stabbing, a detail the lawsuit highlights as part of systemic shortcomings within the correctional system.

• Casio stabbed Peterson 16 times during the unprovoked attack
• Peterson taken to hospital with punctured lung and numerous injuries
• Relocated to California Men’s Colony upon recovery
• Personal possessions, including songbooks, not recovered from Tehachapi

Claims of Negligence and Systemic Failure

Housing Options and Security Worries

At the heart of Peterson’s lawsuit lies a core criticism of the Corrections Department’s decision-making regarding inmate housing assignments. The court document argues that housing Peterson with Santino Casio—a lifer serving time for second-degree murder—constituted a severe breakdown in risk evaluation and prisoner classification. The lawsuit maintains that the department “ought to have been aware” to recognise the inherent risk in this pairing. Peterson’s prominent public profile, the suit maintains, rendered him an clear target within the prison facility, rendering the housing decision not simply negligent but recklessly indifferent to his safety and wellbeing.

The lawsuit highlights that such placement choices demand thorough evaluation of detainee profiles, security classifications, and possible drivers for violence. By failing to separate Peterson from Casio, correctional officials purportedly showed a institutional indifference for core protective measures that should govern California’s correctional facilities. This failure of duty, the attorneys maintains, immediately caused the environment where the stabbing happened, changing what could have stayed preventable violence into an wholly predictable consequence of systemic failure and substandard security arrangements.

Response and Guard Conduct

Beyond the initial housing decision, the lawsuit targets prison guards’ response during the incident of violence. According to the filing, correctional officers failed to act promptly when Casio launched his attack, enabling the situation to worsen. The lawsuit directly challenges the failure to deploy non-lethal devices or other non-lethal tactical measures that might have stopped the attack before Peterson suffered his worst injuries. This alleged sluggishness in responding to an ongoing stabbing attack suggests either insufficient training, inadequate staffing, or a troubling neglect of inmate wellbeing—each possibility casting doubt on institutional competence.

The guards’ behaviour during the critical minutes of the attack raises questions about emergency procedures and staff preparedness within California’s prison system. Typical prison protocols typically mandate rapid response to acts of violence, yet the lawsuit indicates this incident departed substantially from such protocols. The cumulative effect of sluggish reaction times and the lack of proper tactical measures meant that Peterson’s 16 stab wounds were inflicted with minimal active resistance from security personnel, changing what could have been a serious incident into a life-threatening emergency demanding hospital treatment.

The Wider Context of Lanez’s Incarceration

Tory Lanez’s ongoing incarceration originates from a widely publicized shooting event in 2020 featuring rap artist Megan Thee Stallion. The altercation, which occurred during the summer of 2020, led to Peterson firing at Stallion in her foot. Following a lengthy legal process, he was convicted in December 2022 on multiple gun-related charges, such as assault with a firearm, and thereafter given a ten-year prison sentence. This conviction marked a major turning point in hip-hop, drawing extensive press coverage and sparking substantial discussion within the music industry regarding accountability and the events related to the incident.

Peterson’s legal battles have continued throughout his incarceration, with his attorneys mounting an appeal challenging the conviction and sentence. However, in November 2025, a panel of three judges rejected his appeal and maintained the 10-year sentence originally imposed, effectively closing what many anticipated as an route to freedom or reduction in sentence. This rejection came about six months after the stabbing attack at Tehachapi, meaning Peterson was grappling with both the psychological and physical aftermath of the prison attack whilst whilst also processing the frustration of his failed appellate challenge. The confluence of these events has markedly worsened his circumstances within the California correctional system.

Legal Actions and Compensation Sought

Tory Lanez’s court action against the California Department of Corrections pursues $100 million in damages, amounting to one of the most significant cases filed against the state’s correctional system in the past several years. The lawsuit names the Department of Corrections as the primary defendant, alongside the warden and individual guards stationed at the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi. The lawsuit asserts that institutional failures in prison management and security procedures led to the severity of Peterson’s injuries during the stabbing incident in May 2025. The large compensation amount reflects both the physical trauma sustained and the mental distress of the unprovoked incident.

At the heart of the lawsuit’s claims is the allegation that correctional officials made a catastrophically poor choice in housing Peterson with fellow inmate Santino Casio, who was completing a life term for second-degree murder. The legal filing contends that the correctional department either was aware or should have known that this housing arrangement posed a serious danger to Peterson, particularly given his high-profile celebrity status within the facility. Furthermore, the lawsuit challenges the actions of correctional staff, contending that guards did not use proper emergency procedures such as flash grenades to halt Casio’s attack. Notably, Casio was never charged with the stabbing despite causing 16 injuries on Peterson.

• Department of Corrections failed to prevent known dangerous inmate pairing
• Celebrity status made Peterson a recognisable target for violence
• Security personnel were slow to respond to stabbing emergency
• Prison failed to employ flash grenades or other containment measures
• Peterson’s belongings, including unreleased songbooks, remain missing