Erik Menedez juror 'disappointed' he was denied parole

(NewsNation) — A woman who sat on the jury of Erik Menendez's first trial tells NewsNation she was "disappointed" but unsurprised he was denied parole Thursday night.

Erik and Lyle Menendez were both denied parole for three years by a panel of two California commissioners, at which time they will be eligible again.

Hazel Thornton told "Banfield" that the Menendez brothers would have been convicted of manslaughter, not murder, if they had been tried in 2025.

"It was disappointing, but not surprising," she said of the decision. "I had heard that it was unlikely, that most people do not get approved the first time. So it would have been, you know, amazing if they had, if he had been, but I knew that he was likely not to be.

"I think they are equally deserving of parole, and I think it would be terrible if one of them got it and the other one didn't," Thornton added.

"That said, if Lyle did get paroled sooner than Eric, you know, maybe he could pave the way for him."

Menendez's sponsor, rapper Anerae "X-Raided" Brown, who spent 18 years in prison with Erik and Lyle Menendez, told "Banfield" on Thursday that the decision was a "positive outcome" for Menendez.