Background
Daystar Peterson, known professionally as Tory Lanez, is serving a 10-year sentence at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi after being convicted in December 2022 on three felony firearm charges related to the July 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion.
On May 12, 2025, Peterson was attacked in the prison yard and stabbed 14 times — seven wounds to the back, four to his torso, two to the back of his head, and one under his left cheekbone that left his jaw open. Both lungs collapsed. He was airlifted by ambulance to a hospital in Bakersfield.
The attacker, identified as inmate Edgar Cosio, later told TMZ he stabbed Peterson after hearing rumors the rapper had put a bounty on him. Peterson's attorneys called that claim "an absurd fabrication" and described the attack as "savage and ferocious."
Peterson is now suing CDCR and the State of California, alleging the prison failed to protect him despite known threats, constituting negligence and a violation of his civil rights.
Key Claims
Why It Matters
This case sits at the intersection of celebrity, prison violence, and institutional accountability. Peterson's legal team has simultaneously called for Governor Newsom to pardon or commute his sentence, citing the stabbing as evidence that continued confinement is a threat to his life. His appeal of the original Megan Thee Stallion conviction was denied by the California Court of Appeal (46-page opinion, Nov 2025) and the California Supreme Court (Feb 2026). His team plans to petition the U.S. Supreme Court. A petition for clemency has collected over 300,000 signatures.