The man accused of stabbing Tory Lanez at a California prison this month has said he believed the rapper wanted him dead and that he was only acting out of self-defense.
Santino Casio, 42, has been identified as the man who stabbed Lanez multiple times at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi on the morning of May 12.
The 32-year-old rapper was stabbed a total of 14 times — in his back, torso, the back of his head, and on the left side of his face — causing the collapse of both of his lungs, according to a statement shared on his official Instagram page.
Casio, who is already serving a life sentence for second-degree murder, does not deny attacking Lanez but claims he acted after hearing rumors that the “Color Violet” artist had placed a bounty on his head, according to TMZ.
In a recent prison phone call with the outlet, Casio said he stabbed Lanez after spotting what he believed to be a weapon in the rapper’s pocket.
“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 can be heard saying on a recording of the call.
Though Casio admitted he proceeded to slam Lanez to the ground and stab him repeatedly, he claimed he wasn’t trying to kill him.
“I wish I could do certain things over, but at the end of the day, I felt like he threatened my life. The action felt necessary to me at the time,” Casio told TMZ. “It really didn’t have to go that far, but he made his decisions and I made mine.”
Casio said he also walked away from the incident with a stab wound to his leg from the alleged weapon Lanez had in his pocket.
After the stabbing, reps for Lanez said the rapper had to be placed on a “breathing apparatus” but that he has since recovered and is already breathing on his own.
“Despite being in pain, he is talking normally, in good spirits, and deeply thankful to God that he is pulling through,” his team said in a statement.
Earlier this week, a rep for Lanez confirmed he had been transferred to the California Men’s Colony near San Luis Obispo “to ensure his safety” following the prison yard attack.
The Canadian-born musician, whose real name Daystar Peterson, is currently serving a 10-year sentence for firing shots at hip-hop superstar Megan Thee Stallion after a party at Kylie Jenner’s home in the Hollywood Hills nearly five years ago.
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