CORPUS CHRISTI, TX. (THECOUNT) — A.B. Quintanilla III has sued his sister, Suzette Quintanilla Arriaga, and Q Productions entities, alleging he has been denied more than $1 million in profits he says he is entitled to receive from the entertainment legacy of their late sister, Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Nueces County, Texas.
The lawsuit centers on a family agreement executed in the months following Selena’s death in 1995. According to the complaint, A.B. is a party to the agreement and an intended beneficiary who is entitled to 25% of net profits generated by Selena’s entertainment properties.
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Those entertainment properties include Selena’s name, voice, image, likeness and other intellectual-property rights associated with her career and legacy, according to the lawsuit.
A.B. alleges that he stopped receiving the contractual share of profits he was owed after Suzette assumed operational control of Q Productions around 2016 as their father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr., gradually transferred responsibilities to her.
The lawsuit claims A.B. discovered the alleged underpayments in spring 2025 and subsequently requested a full accounting of Selena’s entertainment properties and the money generated by them. He alleges the requested financial information was not provided.
A.B. is seeking more than $1 million in damages, along with a complete accounting of the entertainment properties and the profits generated under the agreement. The lawsuit also alleges breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty.
The agreement identified in the lawsuit was signed by several members of Selena’s immediate family, including A.B., Suzette, their mother Marcella Quintanilla, their father and Selena’s husband, Chris Pérez. A.B. claims the agreement established the division of net profits from Selena’s entertainment properties following her death.
Selena was 23 when she was shot and killed by Yolanda Saldívar on March 31, 1995, in Corpus Christi. Saldívar, the former president of Selena’s fan club and manager of her boutiques, was later convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Selena’s entertainment legacy has continued to generate commercial activity for decades after her death, including music releases, merchandise, licensing and other uses of her name and likeness. Q Productions, founded by Abraham Quintanilla Jr., has remained closely associated with management of the family’s Selena-related business interests.
The latest lawsuit follows weeks of increasingly public tension within the Quintanilla family. Earlier this month, A.B. publicly disclosed that he had initiated legal action involving Suzette and said the dispute stemmed from years of accumulated family and business issues.
Suzette and Marcella initially questioned whether a lawsuit actually existed, saying Suzette had not been served and that they could not locate a corresponding public filing. A.B. subsequently said his sister and her attorneys had been notified of the legal action and publicly released documentation concerning the dispute.
The newly filed complaint now provides substantially more detail about the financial dispute, including A.B.’s claim that he is entitled to a 25% share of net profits and that he has not received his alleged contractual share since approximately 2016.
Pérez, who was married to Selena until her death, has publicly said he does not intend to become involved in the dispute between the Quintanilla siblings.
The allegations contained in A.B.’s lawsuit have not been proven in court. Suzette and the other defendants will have an opportunity to respond to the claims as the case proceeds.
Corpus Christi is the county seat of Nueces County on the Texas Gulf Coast, approximately 200 miles southeast of San Antonio and about 140 miles north of the Mexican border. The city is also the community where Selena was killed in 1995 and remains closely associated with her life, career and legacy.
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