A man from Las Vegas, who was nearing the end of his 12 to 36-month sentence for larceny, tragically lost his life after allegedly being stabbed and strangled by his cellmate. This cellmate, already serving time for the brutal murder of a mother and her 10-year-old son, had reportedly issued threats prior to the incident. Just days away from his scheduled release, the man’s family is now pursuing legal action against the Nevada Department of Corrections, accusing them of not acting on clear warnings of the impending danger.

The lawsuit filed by Jacob Herman’s family highlights the cellmate’s threats, stating, “He had threatened to kill him if the two were housed together,” according to the legal complaint.

The complaint further argues that conditions within the prison, such as overcrowding and understaffing, along with neglect for protective measures, enabled the fatal incident. It claims the authorities showed indifference to Herman’s safety, ignoring the risk posed by his cellmate, a violent convict with a life sentence and nothing to lose.

The cellmate, referred to under the alias “King,” is accused of the fatal attack on Herman in cellblock 4C at High Desert State Prison in Indian Springs. Herman’s death was publicly confirmed by the NDOC in a press release issued on July 17, a day after the incident.

The announcement detailed Herman’s background, noting that he was 35 years old and serving his sentence for larceny from a person. He had been in NDOC custody since May 20, 2024, after being transferred from Clark County.

King had been convicted of the “savage sexual assault” of a woman and her 10-year-old child, after which he “bludgeoned them to death with a hammer” and attempted to kill the woman’s husband in the same manner, but he survived, according to the complaint. King was serving a life sentence without possibility of parole for the killings, robbery, kidnapping and sexual assault of a minor under 14.

The complaint accuses King of having a documented history of mental illness, including incidents of “running and shouting in the cellblock,” and failing to obey corrections officer commands to return to his cell the day of Herman’s death. But that didn’t stop prison officials from housing Herman, who pleaded guilty to larceny in 2023, with him just days before he was set to be released, his family says.

“Most troubling … Jacob’s cellmate King told [corrections officers] when Jacob was assigned to his cell that King did not want Jacob housed with him and was going to kill Jacob if he was put in a cell with him,” the complaint alleges. “King had loudly declared to several officers that he would kill Jacob if the defendants house Jacob with him, the defendants nevertheless housed the two inmates in the same cell.”

High Desert Prison was understaffed and “had too many inmates” for the facility at the time of Herman’s murder, according to the complaint.

This led to inmates in cellblock 4C being given cellmates and why the prison “maintained a dangerous policy of housing inmates about to be released with dangerous inmates serving life sentences,” the complaint says. Herman was allegedly supposed to be housed in protective custody.

King murdered Herman at around 2:50 a.m. on July 16 and then told corrections officers what happened, according to the complaint.

“Nevada Department of Corrections and its officers failed to protect Mr. Herman,” the complaint says. “Herman’s family seeks accountability in the hope that no other family endures such a loss within Nevada’s correctional system.”

NDOC officials did not respond to Law&Crime’s requests for comment Wednesday.