Tory Lanez’s Attacker Claims He Was Defending Himself

May 27, 2025

The man who stabbed Tory Lanez 14 times in prison says he was only defending himself against the rapper.

Tory Lanez’s Attacker Speaks

On May 24, TMZ spoke with Santino Casio, the inmate charged with viciously attacking the Canadian rapper at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, Calif., earlier this month. Casio gave the celebrity news site his side of the story. He claims he and Tory were cool for a year after the entertainer arrived at the prison. However, recently, things became contentious. The day before the stabbing, Casio confronted Tory.

“I heard some rumors that he was trying to put money on my head,” Casio tells TMZ below. “He felt uncomfortable living next to me. He said I was a threat. So, I confronted him…He said I put money on his head. We had a little discussion or whatever.”

Casio claims Tory said “all kinds of crazy sh*t.”

The next morning, Casio claims Tory confronted him at his cell with a smirk on his face and showed Casio he had what Casio believed was a weapon before putting it back in his pocket. It was at that moment, Casio says, that he rushed Tory.

“I snatched him. I took advantage of him,” Casio continues. “I threw him all over and I just kept slamming him and stabbing him.”

Casio says he wasn’t trying to kill Tory. However, he was defending himself because he felt threatened at the time.

Casio says Tory was pleading for help before Casio finally let him go.

“I wish I could do certain things over. But at the end of the day, I felt like he threatened my life,” Casio says.

Tory Lanez Recovering After Stabbing

On May 12, news broke that Casio stabbed Tory Lanez 14 times during an altercation. Tory suffered wounds to his back, torso, back of his head, and the left side of his face. He was transported to a hospital in Bakersfield, Calif., where he recovered from his injuries. After being taken back to CCI, he has since been transferred to California Men’s Colony prison.

Santino Casio has a history of violence. He was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, personal use of a dangerous or deadly weapon and inflicting great bodily injury in 2004. While incarcerated, on Jan. 3, 2008, he was sentenced to six years for assault by prisoner with a deadly weapon of force likely to cause great bodily injury, in-prison offense. On June 12, 2018, he was sentenced to two years for possession/manufacture of a deadly weapon by prisoner, in-prison offense.

Since the stabbing, Tory’s legal team has made a new push to get him released from his 10-year prison bid for shooting Megan Thee Stallion. Two days after the stabbing, they hosted a press conference claiming to have new evidence that exonerates Tory.