Inmate sues Nevada women’s prison, says cellmate slashed her throat

An inmate at a Nevada women’s prison sued the Department of Corrections, corrections officials and officers tasked with monitoring the facility Wednesday after she alleged her cellmate — already incarcerated for randomly killing a Las Vegas man in 2024 — slashed her throat despite voicing concerns for her safety.

Attorneys for Victoria Teresa-Maria Sweeting are accusing the department of negligence for failing to protect their client, maintain emergency safety systems and showing indifference in the face of a serious risk of harm.

Sweeting was allegedly attacked in her cell at Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center, in northeast Las Vegas, in March by her cellmate, identified in legal filings as Kayla Alery. Alery was sentenced to a minimum of 16 years in prison last year after pleading guilty but mentally ill to second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Raul Cardoza-Lopez.

“This should never have happened,” attorney Elaine Odeh told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Ms. Sweeting told prison staff that she was scared, asked for help, and asked to be moved away from the person she believed was going to hurt her. According to our complaint, she was left in a locked cell to fight off an attack that resulted in her throat being slashed, required 17 stitches, and left permanent scarring across her neck.”

There was no indication in court records that Alery has been charged in connection with the alleged attack.

The lawsuit stated that Sweeting filed grievances following the incident, but the department failed to properly review or respond to them. Odeh told the Review-Journal that she had not yet received any records from the department.

Department of Corrections spokesperson Teri Vance declined to comment, citing the active litigation.

Sweeting received a sentence of 18 years to life in March 2017 after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the 2016 fatal stabbing of 21-year-old Michael Joseacuna Banquicio at a Reno motel, court records showed.

Lawsuit: Tried to fight off Alery for 10 minutes

The lawsuit states the department should have known that Alery posed a threat to other inmates. It alleged that another inmate reported on Nov. 15, 2025, that Alery threatened and attacked her with a shank, saying, “next time she would cut me.” The lawsuit also alleged that Alery may have threatened and attacked other inmates at the facility.

Before the alleged March incident, Sweeting’s attorneys said she had told mental-health staff and corrections officers about her fears that Alery would attack her. The morning of the attack, a corrections officer had pulled Sweeting aside to ask if she was OK, but the department took no protective actions, her attorneys said.

That night, Alery allegedly grabbed Sweeting, who was sitting on her lower bunk bed, by the hair before cutting her throat with a blade, court documents stated.

Sweeting’s attorneys said in the complaint Sweeting tried to fight off Alery for 10 minutes — screaming for help while other inmates yelled and banged on doors to get the attention of corrections staff because the emergency call buttons in the facility had been nonfunctioning for a prolonged period of time. The lawsuit, citing reports from inmates, said that emergency call buttons had not worked properly at the facility since October 2021.

“We want answers about why her repeated warnings were ignored, why she was not separated from a known danger, and why the emergency systems that inmates are supposed to rely on were allegedly not functioning when help was needed,” Odeh said. “No one in state custody should have to depend on other inmates screaming and banging on doors to get help during an emergency.”

‘Pattern of escalating violence’

During Alery’s sentencing for second-degree murder in August 2025, prosecutors said she posed a danger to the community because of her mental health problems and “a pattern of escalating violence.”

Alery, who had apologized to Cardoza-Lopez’s loved ones in court, said she was not in her right state of mind.

“I was off of my PTSD and schizophrenia medication,” she said last August. “I was also under the influence of meth. I’ve struggled with mental health and addiction my whole life. I never knew anything else.”

Alery had previously been sentenced to 14 months to three years in prison after she pleaded guilty to arson charges.

Odeh said Alery’s attack on Sweeting raises larger concerns about the safety, supervision and level of care at the women’s prison.

“When a person in custody says she is in danger, staff need to listen and act before someone is seriously hurt,” Odeh said. “We hope NDOC takes a hard look at what happened to Ms. Sweeting, addresses the conditions that allowed it to happen, and does the right thing by her and the other women in its custody.”