Menendez Brothers’ Aunt Hospitalized After Collapsing in Court

An already ailing aunt of Lyle and Erik Menendez collapsed from shock after being blindsided by graphic crime scene photos displayed in a California courtroom—images tied to the infamous 1989 killing of José and Kitty Menendez by their sons. The family is now accusing prosecutors of retraumatizing their loved one without warning.

Terry Baralt, 85, was watching Friday’s resentencing hearing remotely from a hotel in New Jersey when the disturbing photos appeared on screen without prior notice. Baralt, who is undergoing treatment for colon cancer, reportedly lost consciousness shortly afterward and was rushed to the hospital.

“There was no warning. No humanity. Just pain,” the family said in a statement to Lawyer Monthly. “Terry may not recover from what was done to her in that courtroom.”

Prosecutors later issued a generic apology but stopped short of acknowledging Baralt’s medical emergency. Critics are slamming the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for what they say is a shocking lack of care toward victims’ families—particularly those who support the Menendez brothers’ bid for clemency.

“They shattered her,” said Bryan Freedman, the family’s attorney. “This was a despicable action and a clear violation of Marsy’s Law, which guarantees respect and dignity to crime victims and their families.”

Marsy’s Law, passed in California in 2008, enshrines the rights of crime victims to be treated with empathy and be protected from unnecessary trauma throughout the justice process. According to Freedman, Friday’s hearing failed that standard in dramatic fashion.

Baralt, who has remained largely silent over the decades since her brother José and sister-in-law Kitty were killed, recently stepped into the spotlight as a vocal advocate for her nephews. Speaking to ABC News, she described Lyle and Erik as “the boys that I didn’t have.”

The DA’s office tried to deflect criticism by implying that the brothers’ renewed clemency effort made such disturbing evidence “necessary” to reintroduce. In a statement to TMZ, prosecutors claimed the court had a responsibility to “re-examine the details” after nearly two decades of legal dormancy.

Still, the office admitted that “emotions were triggered” and offered a tepid apology. “To the extent that the photographic depiction of this conduct upset any of the Menendez family members… we apologize for not giving prior warning.”

The apology rings hollow for some legal observers and civil rights advocates, who see the move as part of a broader pattern of retributive justice still clinging to a brutal ‘90s-era tough-on-crime mentality.

“Prosecutors often talk about justice, but what we saw here was punishment—inflicted not on criminals, but on the elderly and vulnerable,” said Dana Rafferty, a California-based victims’ rights specialist. “There’s no excuse for it.”

Despite vocal opposition from Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, the judge ruled that the brothers will get a resentencing hearing—now scheduled to begin this Thursday.

Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted in 1996 for murdering their wealthy parents in Beverly Hills, a case that gripped America with its tale of family dysfunction, abuse allegations, and courtroom drama. While the brothers admitted to the killings, they claimed they acted in desperation after years of physical and sexual abuse.

In recent years, public sentiment around the case has shifted, particularly among younger Americans and advocates for sentencing reform. Many now view the brothers as deeply damaged victims of a violent household—not just cold-blooded killers.

For the Menendez family, Friday’s hearing was supposed to be a step forward. Instead, it left them reeling.

“They were told to prepare for difficult testimony,” Freedman said. “But they weren’t warned they’d be retraumatized.”

Neither the District Attorney’s office nor the brothers’ defense team has commented further.