Nieto Family Lawsuit Over Threatening Jail Phone Calls Before Murder Dismissed

A Washoe County judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the family of murdered Reno woman Hailey Nieto, which had accused the jail communication company Smart Communications of failing to intervene when inmate Todd Tonnochy sent violent threats from the Parr jail, before killing the 18-year-old after his release in March 2023.

Her partially dismembered body was found in the Cold Springs area in a pile of trash.

The lawsuit had claimed that Smart Communications, which managed inmate messaging at the county jail, “had a duty to monitor, flag, report and intercept all potentially dangerous communications made by inmates, including but not limited to threats made by inmates.”

Tonnochy was sentenced to life in prison in December 2024.

Judge Connie Steinheimer is now reported to have dismissed the lawsuit a few weeks ago with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled, saying Washoe County should have been named as the defendant rather than the Sheriff’s Office, while adding that the family’s claims were based on omissions rather than actions which violated constitutional rights.

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