LAS VEGAS — A Las Vegas man's family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Friday against the Nevada Department of Corrections after he was killed just days before his scheduled release from prison.

The lawsuit alleges the department defied protective custody rights and housed Jacob Herman, 35, with another man who had repeatedly threatened Herman's life at High Desert State Prison, 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Las Vegas.

This is not the only lawsuit the department has been hit with in recent years. In September, Nevada agreed to pay $4.6 million to settle a lawsuit that accused prison guards of beating up a man and leaving him to die in 2023.

Herman’s family contends that “systemic overcrowding, understaffing and disregard for protective-custody safeguards” led to Herman’s death, acc

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