Tory Lanez Stabbing Suspect Had 'Situation' With Rapper Before Attack

The man accused of stabbing rapper Tory Lanez inside a California prison claims they had a “situation,” and he was acting in self-defense.

TMZ spoke with Santino Casio, the accused attacker, in a prison phone call.

Casio claimed tensions with Lanez had been building before the May 12 incident at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi.

“That day, I just came out in the morning to chat, you know, ‘good morning,’ I told him what’s up. Give him a little fist bump. Ask him if everything is good,” Casio told the outlet.

The inmate said he believed Lanez, born Daystar Peterson, planned to put a “hit” on him.

“I heard the rumors that he was trying to put money on my head. He felt uncomfortable living next to me. He said I was a threat,” Casio said. “So, I confronted him. And then I found out the same thing. They said he’s trying to put money on my head.”

Casio claimed the morning of the attack, Lanez made him feel threatened.

“I came out to see if everything was good. Sat down, talked to him,” Casio said. “He said ‘yeah’ so I was going back into my cell… and when I look back instead of going to his cell, he was walking to my door. He stood in front of my cell, looked at his boys… made a little smirk. And when he showed me what he had and stuffed it in his pocket… I just rushed him.”

Casio said he believed Lanez was armed.

“What he showed me, looked to me like, I believed it to be a weapon at the time,” Casio alleged. “So I rushed him, and I just snatched him. I just threw him all over. I just keep slamming him and stabbing him.”

Casio, 42, was already serving a life sentence for a second-degree murder conviction. Prison officials told Urban Hollywood 411 he could face new charges for the stabbing once the Kern County District Attorney’s Office completes its investigation.

In response to the interview, Lanez’s legal team told TMZ: “The recent attempt on his life was savage and ferocious, underscoring the clear and present danger he faces while incarcerated. Any claim to the contrary particularly from an individual serving a life sentence for heinous crimes is not only baseless but an absurd fabrication.”

The attorneys added, “His continued confinement is both a miscarriage of justice and a threat to his safety. He must be released immediately.”

The day of the stabbing, a statement on Lanez’s verified Instagram account said he was “stabbed 14 times — including 7 wounds to his back, 4 to his torso, 2 to the back of his head, and 1 to the left side of his face.”

The post added that both of the rapper’s lungs collapsed, and he was placed on a breathing machine.

He continues to improve and his father recently said he is being moved to another prison.

Following the violent attack, Lanez’s dad and his attorneys held a news conference and demanded his release.

Lanez was sentenced to ten years in August 2023 for shooting fellow hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion in the feet during a dispute after a night of partying in 2020.