A California prison official is pushing back against Tory Lanez’s $100 million lawsuit over a 2025 prison stabbing, arguing in court documents that the rapper contributed to his injuries and accepted risks connected to his housing assignment.
Thomas Valdez, acting warden at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, filed an answer to Lanez’s complaint Oct. 7 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, according to federal court records. Valdez is a defendant in the lawsuit filed by Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson.
According to reporting by AllHipHop, the filing argues that Peterson “caused and contributed to the claimed injuries and damages through his own acts, omissions, and legal fault.” The filing does not detail what actions by Peterson allegedly contributed to the attack.
Valdez also argues that Peterson consented to his prison housing classification and assignment and assumed risks associated with that placement. The filing does not specify what risks Peterson was told about or when he allegedly agreed to the placement.
The arguments are legal defenses raised by Valdez and have not been established as findings by the court.
Peterson was attacked May 12, 2025, at the Tehachapi prison. Prison officials identified the attacker as inmate Santino Casio, who is serving a life sentence for second-degree murder and had previously been convicted of assaulting another prisoner with a deadly weapon.
Peterson’s lawsuit alleges he was stabbed about 16 times in his back, torso, head, and face with a homemade weapon. He suffered a collapsed lung and was airlifted to a hospital, according to The Associated Press. The lawsuit describes the attack as unprovoked and argues prison officials should have recognized the danger of housing Peterson with Casio because of Casio’s history of violence.
Valdez’s response disputes that prison officials should be held responsible. The filing argues that the alleged criminal actions of another person were an intervening cause of Peterson’s injuries, according to AllHipHop.
Peterson was later transferred to California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo County. He is serving a 10-year sentence after being convicted in 2022 of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a loaded and unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and discharging a firearm with gross negligence in connection with the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion. A California appeals court upheld the conviction in November 2025.
Peterson’s lawsuit accuses California corrections officials of failing to protect him and seeks $100 million in damages. The case remains pending in federal court.
