Tory Lanez Files $100 Million Lawsuit Against California Prison System Over 2025 Stabbing

Tory Lanez has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, alleging negligence and failure to protect him from a violent prison attack that left him seriously injured last year.

The lawsuit stems from a May 2025 incident at the California Correctional Institution, where Lanez, born Daystar Peterson, was stabbed 16 times by another inmate. According to court filings, the attack was “unprovoked” and resulted in life-threatening injuries, including a collapsed lung and multiple wounds to his back, torso, and head. He was hospitalized following the incident.

In addition to the state corrections department, the suit names prison officials, including the facility’s warden and correctional staff, alleging that they failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the assault or respond adequately once it began.

Central to the complaint is the claim that prison authorities knowingly placed Peterson in proximity to a dangerous inmate. The alleged attacker, identified as Santino Casio, was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder at the time of the incident. The lawsuit argues that housing Casio alongside Peterson created a foreseeable risk, particularly given Lanez’s high-profile status.

“The choice to house Casio with Peterson was known or should have been a known danger,” the filing states, asserting that the rapper’s celebrity made him more vulnerable to targeted violence within the prison system.

The lawsuit further alleges that correctional officers were slow to intervene during the attack and failed to deploy available measures, such as flash grenades or other crowd-control tactics, that could have mitigated the severity of the incident. According to reporting by the Associated Press, Casio was not criminally charged in connection with the stabbing.

Following his recovery, Peterson was transferred to the California Men's Colony, where he is currently serving his sentence. The lawsuit also includes claims that personal belongings were not returned after the transfer, including notebooks containing lyrics for unreleased music, which Peterson describes as professionally significant.

Lanez is serving a 10-year prison sentence after being convicted in December 2022 on multiple firearms-related charges, including assault with a firearm, in connection with the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion. His conviction followed a high-profile trial that drew widespread public attention.

In November 2025, a three-judge appellate panel upheld the conviction and sentence, rejecting his appeal and leaving the original ruling intact.

The newly filed lawsuit does not challenge Peterson’s conviction but instead focuses on the conditions of his incarceration and the state’s responsibility for inmate safety. Claims of inadequate protection and delayed response are likely to be central issues as the case proceeds.

Legal experts note that lawsuits against correctional systems often hinge on whether officials were aware of credible threats to an inmate’s safety and whether reasonable preventive measures were taken. In this case, the plaintiff’s argument centers on both prior risk assessment and real-time response during the attack.

The California Department of Corrections has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.