Where are they now
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Abraham
Quintanilla Jr.:
Selena's father continues
to oversee the family's entertainment corporation, Q Productions. The company
manages several Tejano bands, including Jennifer Pena of Jennifer y los Jetz. |
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Marcella
Quintanilla:
Selena's mother (left) has been busy lately with interior decorating, designing
home interiors for close friends and family members. She also has been enjoying
her time as a grandmother, according to Quintanilla. |
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Abraham
Quintanilla III:
Selena's brother has irons in many fires. His band, the Kumbia Kings, has been
enjoying popular and critical success, recently nominated for a Grammy award.
Quintanilla also opened Planet Luna, a downtown nightclub. The man who wrote and
produced most of Selena's hits also still is in demand as a songwriter and music
producer. He serves as president and chief executive officer of his own music
production company, Phat Kat Groove. |
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Suzette
Quintanilla Arriaga:
Selena's sister and former drummer gave birth to her first child in 1998 and still
oversees the Selena Etc. boutiques here. Last year, though, Arriaga struck out
on her own with MoonChild, a clothing store in the Village Shopping Center that
carries trendy clothing for young children. |
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Chris
Perez:
Selena's guitar-player husband's current band won a Grammy last month for its
debut album "Resurrection." Perez formed the band in 1997 with vocalist John Garza
and former Los Dinos keyboardist Joe Ojeda. The San Antonio-based band has toured
as the opening act for Mana, played the Watcha Tour and toured with the John Popper
Band. Perez and his companion have a 1-year-old daughter. |
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Carlos
Valdez:
The leader of the prosecution team in Yolanda Saldivar's murder trial continues
to serve as district attorney of Nueces County. Valdez made headlines last month
leading a court of inquiry that examined the credit card use and travel practices
of Corpus Christi Independent School District officials and trustees. |
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Mark
Skurka:
The prosecutor who helped convict Yolanda Saldivar now is first assistant district
attorney. He is running for judge of the 214th District Court, and this month
he will face attorney Jose Longoria in a runoff for the Democratic candidacy.
Skurka said the trial stands out to him because of the media attention it drew.
"When you get your face on the cover of the Dallas Morning News with Chris Perez,
it sounds exciting, but I was taking him the back way to go to the bathroom and
avoid the mob." |
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Douglas
Tinker :
Saldivar's 65-year-old defense attorney is semi-retired. He recently ran unsuccessfully
for district attorney of San Patricio and Aransas counties. Tinker remembers it
as one of his most challenging cases in part because of the many death threats
he received. "I'm convinced if I had won that case, I would be dead today. Once
she was found guilty and given life, the hazard for me was over." |
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Yolanda
Saldivar:
Since her conviction for Selena's murder, Saldivar has remained in the Gatesville
Unit of the Texas prison system. In October 1998, the 14th Court of Appeals in
Houston upheld her conviction and life sentence, ruling she had received a fair
trial. In August 1999, the Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest criminal
court, refused to review her case. "She's in a single cell in administrative segregation,"
said Larry Todd, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. "It's
not punitive but for her safety since she is still considered a high-profile case.
She is not a problem inmate." Saldivar still receives interview requests but refuses
all of them, Todd said. |
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Mike
Westergren:
The presiding judge in the murder trial is giving up his position at the end of
the year after spending more than 20 years on judicial benches. Westergren, 53,
plans to do mediation and may go into business as an attorney. The murder trial
was the most highly publicized case of his judicial career, he said. "You generally
don't have 300 press corps trying to breathe down your neck." |
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