NEED TO KNOW
Nick Reiner reportedly switched medications one month before the killings of his parents Rob and Michele Reiner, who were found dead Dec. 14
According to The New York Times, Nick, 32, had previously been diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder
Nick is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with his parents’ deaths
Rob and Michele Reiner‘s son Nick struggled after changing medication one month before their killings, a new report claims.
The New York Times reported Thursday, Jan. 15, that Nick, now 32, entered into a mental health conservatorship in 2020 that ended in 2021.
Anonymous sources also told the outlet that Nick had previously been diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, and that he struggled in the weeks leading up to his parents’ killings after switching his medication.
The change in medication was due to side effects about one month before his arrest, the Times reported. Multiple outlets reported in December that Nick was being treated for schizophrenia.
PEOPLE reached out to a rep for the Reiner family for comment.
Psychiatrist Dr. Molly “Mary” Conlon, who oversees the inpatient program at Northwell Health’s Zucker Hillside Hospital, previously told PEOPLE that “medication changes are common and can take place for many reasons, to help reduce certain side effects or to help improve effectiveness or efficacy.”
Conlon, who is not affiliated with the Reiner case, said it is “important that — when medications are being changed or tapered down — people are closely monitored because it could be a time when potentially the individual could be more vulnerable to a symptom recurrence or worsening.”
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Jake, Nick, Romy, Michele and Rob Reiner on Sept. 14, 2024
Rob, 78, and Michele, 70, were found dead inside their Los Angeles home on Dec. 14. Nick was arrested that night and charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with their deaths.
“Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day,” Rob and Michele’s kids Jake, 34, and Romy, 28, said in a statement Dec. 17, speaking out about the “horrific and devastating loss of our parents.”
At a court hearing Jan. 7, attorney Alan Jackson announced he was withdrawing from the case and that Nick will now be represented by a public defender, Kimberly Greene. Jackson told reporters in a press conference that day, “Nick Reiner is not guilty of murder. Print that.”
After his arrest, Nick was initially placed on suicide watch while being held inside a high-observation mental health unit at Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles.
Nick and his parents previously spoke candidly about Nick’s troubled years struggling with drug addiction.
Sources told PEOPLE that Nick did not take his parents’ support seriously. Rob and Michele “tried so hard already for years,” said one source, as another insider added, “At the end of the day, Nick didn’t take the help seriously. This was true for years and years. His issues were far, far out of his parents’ control.”
That insider said, “His family was empathetic to how much his struggles contributed to his behavior. They never lost hope in him, even when he was scaring them or making their lives harder.”
If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
Read the original article on People