Yolanda Saldívar, who fatally shot Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla in 1995, will become eligible for parole on March 30, 2025. Oxygen True Crime reported that in October 1995, Saldívar was convicted of first-degree murder in Selena’s death. She had received a life sentence with parole after 30 years. According to KSAT-TV, the convicted murderer could be released on good behavior.
The outlet stated that Saldívar, who was a one-time fan of Quintanilla and manager of Selena Etc., lured the singer to a Texas motel where she shot her. The incident occurred after Quintanilla and her family learned that Saldívar had been embezzling their money and decided to fire her.
Oxygen’s latest true-crime docuseries, Selena & Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them, explores Selena Quintanilla’s murder by Yolanda Saldívar. The two-part series premiered on February 17, 2024.
Why did Yolanda Saldívar kill Selena Quintanilla & where is she now?
According to Oxygen, Yolanda Saldívar started Selena Quintanilla’s fan club in 1991 and became a trusted family friend. Saldívar soon became the fan club’s president and manager of two of the singer’s Selena Etc. beauty salons in Corpus Christi and San Antonio. She was also the singer’s closest aide before murdering the Queen of Tejano Music on March 31, 1995.
The outlet reported that at Saldívar’s trial, prosecutors claimed that the Quintanilla’s family embezzlement accusations prompted the incident. In early March 1995, the singer’s father, Abraham Quintanilla, first learned about the embezzlement. He found out that after the singer’s fans paid membership fees, they received no merchandise in return.
Selena’s husband, Chris Pérez, testified that the Quintanilla family confronted Saldívar on March 9 of that year. The late singer’s sister and boutique employee claimed that she then decided to fire Saldívar on March 30. The following day, the tragic incident took place. Prosecutor Mark Skurka said that Saldívar then “lured” Selena to the Days Inn near Corpus Christi International Airport. There, she shot the latter, per the Washington Post.
Esquire stated that Yolanda Saldívar lured Selena Quintanilla to the scene, promising the singer financial documents and records. There, on the morning of March 31, 1995, she shot the singer with a .38 caliber handgun. The shot injured Selena, but she fled the room. According to the Washington Post, Selena eventually collapsed in the lobby and bled to death from the single gunshot wound to her back. The wound reportedly severed a major artery in her chest.
Saldívar stood trial months later when a jury convicted her of Selena Quintanilla’s murder on October 23, 1995. She eventually received a life sentence with eligibility for parole after 30 years.
According to Entertainment Tonight, Yolanda Saldívar recently shared details about the incident from prison in Oxygen’s docuseries Selena & Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them. She claimed that the shooting was an accident and alleged that they could never prove she “stole a single cent from her [Selena Quintanilla]. If I was an embezzler like [Selena’s father, Abraham Quintanilla] claimed, why didn’t he ever press charges on me? He didn’t because he never had that evidence.”
Saldívar stated that she had no intentions of hurting anyone and further alleged, “I did not know when my gun went off. She claimed that she “did not know that it hit her because I thought that she just ran. It scared me, it scared her. All I can say is that there was never, ever any intention to do her any harm.” Saldívar also noted that she is sorry about Selena’s death. She said, “I’m so sorry that all her family is hurting and I’m so sorry my family is hurt.”
As per the Texas Department of Corrections, Yolanda Saldívar is now serving the sentence in the Patrick L. O’Daniel facility.
