Menendez Brothers' Aunt, 85, Found Unresponsive in Hotel Room amid Family's Attempts to Free Them from Prison

• Lyle and Erik Menendez’s aunt Terry Baralt is in the hospital in “critical condition”
• Baralt, 85, who is facing a color cancer diagnosis, was found unresponsive in a hotel room in Los Angeles on April 13, TMZ reported
• José Menendez’s sister said in an interview with ABC News that she is concerned she might not live to see the brothers leave prison due to her cancer

Lyle and Erik Menendez’s aunt is facing a health setback amid her hopes to free them from prison.

Terry Baralt, who is facing a colon cancer diagnosis, “was rushed to the hospital and remains in critical condition” on Sunday, April 13, Bryan Freedman, a lawyer representing the Menendez family amid their quest to free the brothers, tells PEOPLE in a statement.

According to TMZ, which was first to report the news, Baralt, 85, was found unresponsive in a hotel room in Los Angeles. 

Freedman took aim at the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office in his statement, claiming that the “disturbing and reckless decision” to show “an unredacted, graphic image of José Menendez’s lifeless body” had “retraumatized family members in attendance and led to the hospitalization of” Baralt, who is José’s sister.

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on April 13, nor did Mark Geragos, who represents Lyle and Erik.

Earlier this week, Baralt spoke out publicly for the first time ever to issue a plea for her nephews to be released from prison after they were convicted of first-degree murder for the 1989 fatal shooting of their parents, José and Kitty Menendez.

“It’s time,” Baralt, Jose’s only surviving sister, said in an interview with ABC News. “Thirty-five years is a long time. It’s a whole branch of my family erased. The ones that are gone and the ones that are still paying for it, which were kids.”

Also in the interview, which featured eight family members showing their unanimous support for the release of Erik and Lyle, Baralt explained why she has decided to speak out. “For everybody, this is a story,” she said. “For me, it’s very personal. Those kids, they’re like the boys that I didn’t have.”

Baralt also said she is worried she might not live to see the brothers leave prison due to her cancer. “It is a concern,” she said. “I have tried to go see them as much as I can, but it’s hard because I live in New Jersey and I’m 85. I don’t have that much time.”

Following a 1993 mistrial, the Mendendez brothers were convicted in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. They have since fought for their release, insisting that they murdered their parents out of self defense.

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On March 10, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a press conference that he would not recommend resentencing for the Menendez brothers because he felt that they had not accepted responsibility for their actions. 

The following day, Geragos responded to Hochman’s words during an interview on the Today show. He said that 22 members of the Menendez family had met with the District Attorney’s office to advocate for the brothers’ release and asked the office to “stop re-traumatizing us.”

“We could tell at that meeting that [Hochman] had no interest in that,” Geragos claimed. “This really kind of points out one of the fallacies, if you will, of the DA office here. They’re not interested in victims.”

Geragos went on to claim that Hochman is “almost serially abusing [the Menendez family] with his lies and his litany of lies.”

A Los Angeles court ruled on April 11 that the resentencing hearing of the Menendez brothers can proceed, per NBC News. 

The outlet reported that the brothers appeared virtually during the hearing. The prosecution reportedly showed graphic crime scene photos several times while presenting. 

Another hearing is scheduled for Thursday, April 17, according to NBC News.