Erik Menendez needed surgery due to complications from kidney stones that required his hospitalization weeks before a high-stakes parole hearing with his brother that could lead to freedom after decades in prison.
Daughter Talia Menendez posted an update Wednesday night to social media that indicated her father had a second surgery after he was transported Friday from a prison cell in San Diego to the hospital. The surgery was necessary “due to complications with both kidneys having multiple large kidney stones,” she said, adding that he will need a third surgery.
“Because Erik is in prison, there are often complications and delays with medical care, so this continues to be a very stressful time for us as you all can imagine,” she wrote. “He is currently in pain and feeling nauseous, but is recovering.”
Erik and 57-year-old brother Lyle Menendez are serving life prison sentences for their murder convictions in the 1989 shotgun shooting deaths of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, at the family’s Beverly Hills mansion.
Attorney Mark Geragos said on Tuesday that Erik Menendez, 54, had been diagnosed with a “serious medical condition,” but did not provide details.
Prison officials said earlier this week that Menendez was in fair condition at the hospital.
Although painful, prompt treatment for kidney stones usually helps prevent lasting damage. Stones often form when urine has less water content and minerals form crystals that stick together. Treatment may only require pain medication and drinking water to help pass the stones through the urinary tract. Surgery and other treatments might be needed in some cases, depending on the size, location and type of stone.
The brothers were made eligible for parole earlier this year after a series of sweeping events that began late last year when then-LA County District Attorney George Gascón said he would support resentencing. Gascón was defeated in the November election by Nathan Hochman, who said his office would not support resentencing.
The brothers were resentenced to 50 years to life after a judge determined they did not pose an unreasonable risk if they were released from custody. A parole hearing in August is scheduled to decide the matter.
Defense attorneys have argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father. Prosecutors claim the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
The brothers’ first trials resulted in hung juries. At the second trial, the judge excluded a substantial amount of evidence, including testimony from several family members who witnessed or heard about the abuse.