What happened to the four former yogurt shop murder suspects?

Four young men were initially arrested in 1999 as suspects in the 1991 yogurt shop murders. They were Maurice Pierce, Forrest Welborn, Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen IV. Two of them, Scott and Springsteen, served prison time before their convictions were overturned. Pierce was killed by police in 2010 after attacking an officer in a separate incident.

Here is what we know about them now:

Pierce slashed an Austin police officer’s trachea and carotid artery in December 2010 in an incident in North Austin near Parmer Lane.

The officer he attacked shot and killed Pierce in self defense, police said. The incident happened after police saw Pierce run a red light and tried to stop him.

Lawyer Darlina Crowder, who represented Pierce on different criminal charges, told the American-Statesman at the time that he probably ran because of a fear of law enforcement that stemmed from his arrest and three-year jailing in the yogurt shop murders.

“He had been in jail for such a long time on those cases … that every time he gets detained, he is traumatized and runs because he is so scared of the police,” Crowder said.

Pierce was 16 years old when he was initially arrested at Northcross Mall with a .22-caliber handgun days after the yogurt shop killings. He later told police the pistol was used by his friend, 15-year-old Forrest Welborn, during the yogurt shop attack. Ballistics tests later showed that the gun was probably not used in the murders.

In 2003, prosecutors dismissed the charges against Pierce because of a lack of evidence.

Welborn was initially arrested in connection with the killings but two grand juries declined to indict him. Public records show that Welborn now lives in Manchaca. He did not reply to a request for comment on Friday. His stepmother, Dee Welborn, said on Friday that his sister had recently died.

“I wished she had lived long enough to see her brother’s name had been cleared,” said Welborn.

She said Forrest was having a “tough” time with his sister’s death. She declined further comment about his life.

Springsteen was tried and convicted of capital murder in 2001 in the yogurt shop killings despite his lawyers’ arguments that his confession was coerced. He was sentenced to death.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his conviction in 2006 ruling his confession was improperly used without cross-examination.

Public records show that he now lives in West Virginia. He could not be reached on Friday for comment. One of his defense lawyers did not respond on Friday to a request for comment. 

Scott was tried and convicted in 2002 of capital murder in the yogurt shop killings. He received a life sentence.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his conviction in 2007 on similar grounds as those used to dismiss the case against Springsteen.

He could not be located on Friday for comment.

His appeals’ lawyer, Ariel Payan, said on Friday that Scott was living in South Austin about five years ago, the last time he talked to him.

“Being in prison was very traumatic for him,” Payan said.

Payan added that he was surprised police were able to identify another suspect. 

“It’s an amazing thing that they were able to put the pieces together this late in time,” he said.