SAN ANTONIO - For the first time since his death, the family of Tejano music singer Emilio Navaira is talking about his final moments and opening up his memorial service to his fans.
A native of San Antonio, Emilio Navaira rose to the top of the Tejano music world, but at just 53 years old, the music stopped for Emilio Navaira this week.
Now his son is telling us about the last conversation he had with his dad.
“We were talking about the Spurs and he was pretty upset about that,” Emilio Navaira VI said. “The last thing that I told him was what I always told him when I hung up the phone. I told him, ‘I love you, too,’ but he always told me that he loved me first before he hung up the phone.”
On Monday, Navaira's body was found inside his New Braunfels home. Investigators said that he died of natural causes, but are still waiting on an autopsy to confirm the exact reason.
His brother, Raul, said that the singer's death seems to have come out of nowhere.
“It's unreal because of how young he was and because of how healthy we thought he was,” Raul said. “My brother would run three miles a day, he would ride his bike.”
This coming Sunday, Navaira's family will host a public service in his memory at the Joe Freeman Coliseum, starting with a public viewing at 10 a.m. and a public rosary at 4 p.m.
“He left a whole slew of great records for us and the whole world to listen to because he would want us to be happy right now,” Emilio said.
