Teen murders in 1993 of two teenage girls Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena under parole supervision

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — More than 30 years after two teenage girls were brutally attacked and murdered on their way home, the only man in the case guaranteed to walk free is up for parole again.

Venancio Medellin was just 14 years old in June 1993 when he joined a gang of teenagers who raped and murdered 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Peña at TC Jester Park in northwest Houston. The girls had taken a shortcut, hoping to avoid the curfew. Instead, they walked in horror.

Medellin is now 46 and has spent 32 years in prison. This is his second time before the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. His last review in 2020 was rejected. His co-defendants, including his older brother José Medellin, were executed or sentenced to life in prison.

For Elizabeth’s family, time has done nothing to ease the pain.

“It still hurts me every day that my daughter is not here with us,” said Adolph Peña, Elizabeth’s father. “The way they murdered and raped my daughter is indescribable.”

The attack was so brutal that it changed Houston forever, sparking outrage, prompting reforms in victims’ rights and becoming one of the most terrifying chapters in the city’s history.

Prosecutors said Medellin was cooperative and credible. He pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault against Jennifer and testified against all other defendants except his brother. But for the victims’ families, it doesn’t mean redemption.

“No, I don’t think he should be released in any way,” Peña said. “What makes him better today than when he was fourteen years old? He knew exactly what he was doing when he did this. He’s not stupid.”

In 2023, Medellin spoke publicly for the first time, telling ABC13 that he felt frozen that night and lived with regret.

“I’m sorry for what happened,” he said. “But I can’t take it back. I wish I could.’

However, for those left behind, regret brings no change.

Andy Kahan, director of Victim Services and Advocacy for Crime Stoppers of Houston, has stood by the Ertman and Peña families for decades. On October 28, he will bring their votes to the parole board once again, just as he promised Jennifer’s father, Randy Ertman, before Randy’s death in 2014.

“He asked me, ‘I want you to represent me before the parole board,’ and I made a promise to him, and I will continue to keep that promise,” Kahan said. “If you are part of a group that sexually abuses and tortures, you should stay in prison.”

Kahan urges the public to speak out against parole, reminding Houstonians of the brutality that once gripped their city and the families still fighting for justice.

Two other surviving suspects in the case will be eligible for parole in 2029.

“She can’t defend herself anymore,” Peña said. ‘I’m the only one here who can do that. And as long as I live, God willing, I will always do this: keep them in prison where they belong.”

To learn how to send a letter or email to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, click here.

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