TikTokkers have been celebrating the announcement that the Los Angeles district attorney has officially recommended a new sentence for the Menendez brothers, who brutally killed their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989.
After what the brothers claim was a lifetime of abuse at the hands of their parents, Jose and Kitty, Lyle and Erik, then just 18 and 21 years old, were shot 14 times with 12-gauge shotguns in their million-dollar home. of dollars in Beverly Hills.
After a complicated series of trials, the first of which was declared a mistrial, they were sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996.
But yesterday, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said he was recommending that they be resentenced, meaning they could be released from prison within weeks, although the courts will have the final say on the matter.
TikTok users have since claimed to have cried upon hearing the news.
One social media user shared a video of her wiping away a tear and fanning her eyes while Paramore’s The Only Exception plays, with a quote from Gascón’s lecture on Wednesday that reads: “I think (the Menéndez brothers) have paid their debt to society… and are eligible for parole.’
One TikTokker was seen with her jaw on the floor in reaction to Gascón’s press conference, covering her mouth in shock as she revealed her decision.
This TikTokker was seen lip-syncing a quote from the hit Netflix show covering the case, Monsters.
A social media user shared a video of her wiping away a tear and fanning her eyes.
After what the brothers claim was a lifetime of abuse at the hands of their parents, Jose and Kitty, Lyle and Erik, then just 18 and 21 years old, were shot 14 times with 12-gauge shotguns in their million-dollar home. of dollars in Beverly Hills.
Another was seen with her jaw on the floor in reaction to Gascón’s press conference, covering her mouth in shock as she revealed her decision.
A third reacted to the announcement with a video titled: ‘When it is announced that tomorrow the immediate release of the Menéndez brothers will be recommended to the court.’
The TikTokker was seen lip-syncing a quote from the hit Netflix show covering the case, Monsters, in which one brother tells the other: ‘Yes, motherfucker, yes!’ You’ll get those pants in every color, bro.’
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said he was recommending they be resentenced, meaning they could be released from prison within weeks, although the courts will have the final say on the matter.
The petition will be filed today, along with evidence supporting Gascón’s recommendation to change his sentence to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
While this typically carries a 50-year sentence, since the brothers were under 26 when they killed their parents, they would be eligible for juvenile probation under California law.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge will make the decision at a hearing, which is expected to take place within 30 to 45 days after the prosecutor’s resentencing unit, headed by Nancy Theberge, coordinates with the courts to set a date.
One of the brothers’ attorneys, Mark Geragos, said he believes they will be home in time for Thanksgiving.
While the Menendez family, who have largely rallied around the brothers since José and Kitty were murdered, filed a separate habeas corpus petition, a request to investigate whether the brothers were wrongfully imprisoned, they are expected to rescind it.
This is because the need to investigate would be moot if they were allowed to leave prison before serving their sentence.
Gascón has already said he does not agree with the family’s petition, which was filed last November.
“I think the sentence was appropriate given what was there,” Gascón told CNN, adding, “But I do think the new sentence is an appropriate vehicle to provide them with some avenues of relief.”
By all indications, they have been model prisoners. Not only have they worked on their own self-improvement, but they have also worked hard to improve the lives of those around them, which is unusual.
‘What they did was horrible. They premeditated the murder of their parents and killed them. But I think they are different people today and we base our opinion on the behavior of the last 35 years.’
The announcement comes after growing community pressure to reconsider the life-without-parole sentences Erik and Lyle received at their 1996 trial.
The brothers have never denied killing their parents, but have long claimed they were driven to do so after suffering years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their father, a businessman.
The public was not convinced of their claims in the 1980s, believing rather that they were ruthless monsters.
But in recent months, a TikTok movement of more understanding fans and a duo of Netflix shows have won them favor.
