A second inmate at the Las Vegas-based Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center has filed suit this week against the Nevada Department of Corrections and prison officials, accusing them of failing to protect her from an alleged razor blade attack by her cellmate.
Attorneys for Haley Ferree wrote in the legal complaint filed Thursday that despite Ferree’s pleas to corrections staff that she felt unsafe, corrections officers failed to act, including standing in front of her cell door for approximately eight minutes “watching and video recording” as her cellmate became more hostile and allegedly attacked her on Sept. 27, 2025. The lawsuit does not fully name the cellmate and only refers to her as “offender Galvan.”
The suit also accuses the prison of negligence and failing to provide appropriate medical care that led Ferree to suffer “a cut to the inside of her mouth, swelling around the eye, skin hanging from her cheek and substantial facial injury.”
“The part of Ms. Ferree’s case that is the hardest to understand is that she says officers stood outside her cell video recording for 8 minutes while she was being attacked with a razor,” attorney Elaine Odeh said. “She told staff she was afraid, she begged to be let out of the cell, and other women were yelling for the officers to open the door and help her, but they did not. Then after the attack she still did not get the care and support she needed. Even though she was the victim, Ms. Ferree says she was placed in restrictive housing, her mental health requests were not addressed, and the video of her injured and crying was replayed where other people could watch it.”
Another complaint
On Wednesday, a separate complaint was filed by Odeh’s firm in District Court against the Department of Corrections, corrections staff and officials at Florence McClure. Inmate Victoria Sweeting alleged the facility failed to protect her after she alleged a cellmate slashed her throat. Sweeting’s lawsuit also alleged that the emergency call button in her cell had not been functioning for a prolonged period of time.
The department did not respond to request for comment about Ferree’s lawsuit. A department spokesperson declined to comment on Sweeting’s case, citing the active status of the litigation.
Ferree is currently incarcerated at the women’s prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in 2023 in connection with a Summerlin shooting, court records showed. Ferree had messaged a group of teenagers about getting a ride to a party, but when they went to pick her up, Ferree’s boyfriend and another man came out of the bushes and ambushed them, the arrest report stated. Ferree received a sentence of 28 to 96 months, records stated.
Following the alleged assault, the complaint states that Ferree was taken to the infirmary but did not receive stitches, a tetanus shot or blood testing.
She was then taken to disciplinary or restrictive housing, despite her status as the victim, and deprived of privileges and her property, resulting in her items being taken, the lawsuit said.
Trauma afterward, lawsuit says
As the trauma from the alleged incident continued to impact her mental health — including nightmares, night terrors, PTSD symptoms and depression — Ferree accused prison staff of showing “deliberate indifference” to her needs by failing to provide treatment and delaying the issuance of a blood pressure medication that is used to treat PTSD symptoms, according to the complaint.
She said in the complaint that prison staff also humiliated her by replaying the footage of the incident in front of other inmates, exacerbating the mental trauma.
Ferree’s lawsuit also contends that prison staff did not assist her in attempting to press charges against the alleged assailant, telling her “the matter had been handled, though charges were not filed.”
Odeh said the cases raise questions about whether inmates at Florence McClure are being heard when they ask for help, if staff are properly addressing those concerns and if inmates are receiving the appropriate care for their injuries.
“Whatever caused someone to be in custody, NDOC is responsible for keeping that person reasonably safe and treating them with basic human dignity,” Odeh said.
Contact Devan Patel at dpatel@reviewjournal.com
