Erik Menéndez’s stepdaughter, Talia, said she had “high hopes” for his release after Kim Kardashian visited him and his brother Lyle Menéndez in prison. Taking to her Instagram page on Monday (September 23), Talia, who is the daughter of Erik’s wife Tammi Menéndez, candidly opened up via a series of stories.
After Kim’s recent visit to the Menéndez brothers in prison over the weekend, Talia, who claimed she was “raised” by Erik since she was two years old, answered a slew of questions on Instagram.
“I am hoping she will help them, you never know what someone’s true motive is behind them wanting to speak with my dad but to my understanding, everything went good,” Talia wrote about Kim.
She added: “I have high hopes that Kim has some type of compassion for what happened to him and the injustice that was served so we can get more people to understand the true story.”
Erik Menéndez’s stepdaughter, Talia, said she had “high hopes” for his release
Talia also took the opportunity to announce that her mother, Tammi, had plans to soon release a book on Amazon.
Since the Menéndez brothers aren’t eligible for conjugal visits, Erik and Tammi Menéndez do not share a biological child. Talia was born to Tammi when she was in a different marriage, Soap Central reported on Saturday (September 21).
It is unclear whether Talia has officially changed her last name to Erik’s, but she has been using it consistently on social media.
Erik and Tammi first got in contact in 1993, after Tammi wrote a letter to Erik while he was in jail, Cosmopolitan reported on Monday.
In 1998, Erik proposed to Tammi and they got married at Folsom State Prison in California, USA. Tammi has been outspoken about her husband’s case ever since.
Taking to her TikTok page on Friday (September 20), Tammi shared Erik’s reaction to the newly released Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story show on Netflix, stating: “I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show.”
Talia claimed she was “raised” by Erik since she was two years old
According to the statement shared by his wife, Erik went on to slam the series creator, Ryan Murphy, adding: “It is sad for me to know that Netflix‘s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward—back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women.”
Amid Monsters gaining traction since its release on Thursday (September 19), the murder case involving the Menéndez brothers amassed newfound support worldwide.
So much so that on Saturday, Kim Kardashian and Cooper Koch, who played Erik in Monsters, went to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in California, where the real Erik and his brother Lyle are currently incarcerated for killing their allegedly abusive parents.
The reality TV star and Cooper were there to chat with the brothers about the Green Space project, which the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation is spearheading in an effort to combat high recidivism rates by making life in prison more closely resemble the outside world, People reported on Saturday.
Kim has been advocating for prison reform since 2018 and has been studying to become a lawyer.
Taking to her Instagram page on Monday (September 23), Talia candidly opened up via a series of stories
She had notably helped Alice Johnson get released from a life sentence after reading about her story on X (formerly known as Twitter) in October 2017.
In May 2019, the 43-year-old socialite helped negotiate the release of another low-level drug offender from prison and met with then-imprisoned Slam star Momolu Stewart, who was convicted of murder and served 22 years in prison, People reported.
Joseph “Lyle” and his younger brother Erik gained infamy in the early 1990s for brutally murdering their wealthy parents, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
The brothers initially staged the crime scene to look like a random act of violence, but their lavish spending and questionable behavior raised suspicions.
The trial revealed a history of alleged sexual abuse and dysfunctional family dynamics, leading to a sensationalized case that captivated the public.
Kim Kardashian and Cooper Koch, who played Erik in Monsters, went to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in California
In 1996, the brothers, aged 28 and 25 at the time, were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
During the brothers’ first six-month trial in 1993, prosecutors said Lyle and Erik purchased shotguns shortly before they used them to pre-meditatively kill their parents for financial gain, as they stood to inherit a substantial fortune, a $14 million inheritance, to be precise, Court TV reported.
At the time, the defense reportedly argued self-defense, saying the boys suffered from years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of their father, José.
According to testimony, José was an emotionally distant and demanding father with a short temper who quickly turned to physical violence to discipline his sons. The brothers also alleged their mother, Kitty, was aware of the abuse but did nothing to stop it.
In May 2023, attorneys of the Menéndez brothers reportedly filed a habeas petition citing new evidence supporting sexual abuse allegations that they hope will overturn their clients’ convictions and life sentences.
As per Court TV, the evidence includes a letter Erik sent his cousin eight months before the murders, as well as rape allegations by ex-Menudo member Roy Rosselló, who revealed details of the alleged rape and sexual assault he suffered at the hands of José in a Peacock docuseries, Menéndez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.
Talia is the daughter of Erik’s wife Tammi Menéndez, who has used social media to speak on behalf of her husband
Netflix’s Monsters is the second season of the American biographical crime drama created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan.
In the dramatized version of the case, Javier portrays José, Chloë Sevigny portrays Kitty, Cooper portrays Erik and Nicholas Alexander Chavez portrays Lyle.
Bored Panda has contacted Talia for comment.
“I can’t imagine your lives would be easy,” a reader commented
