The girl convicted of killing Tejano music legend Selena Quintanilla-Pérez has been denied parole and can proceed serving a life sentence for fatally taking pictures the rising younger singer at a Texas motel in 1995, the state’s parole board introduced Thursday.
Yolanda Saldívar, 64, was up for parole for the primary time for the reason that killing of the singer, recognized to followers as merely Selena.
One of many first Mexican American artists to interrupt into the mainstream music scene, Selena shattered obstacles for ladies in Latin music. She was 23 years previous and on the verge of crossing over into English-language pop superstardom when she was killed.
The singer’s household and Chris Pérez, her widower, expressed gratitude to the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles.
“Whereas nothing can deliver Selena again, this choice reaffirms that justice continues to face for the gorgeous life that was taken from us and from thousands and thousands of followers all over the world far too quickly,” they mentioned in a press release posted on social media.
In explaining the choice to disclaim parole, the board mentioned in a press release that the panel discovered that Saldívar continues to pose a menace to public security. It additionally mentioned the character of the crime indicated “a aware disregard for the lives, security, or property of others.”
Get each day Nationwide information
Get the day’s prime information, political, financial, and present affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox as soon as a day.
Saldívar, who’s serving her sentence in a Gatesville jail, will likely be eligible to be reviewed once more for parole in 2030.
Saldívar based Selena’s fan membership and was the supervisor of the singer’s clothes boutiques, Selena And many others., till she was fired in early March 1995 after cash was found lacking.
Selena, a Corpus Christi native, was shot within the again with a .38-caliber revolver at a Days Inn motel in Corpus Christi on March 31, 1995. She was capable of run to the motel foyer, the place she collapsed, and he or she was pronounced useless at a hospital an hour later.
Motel staff testified that Selena named “Yolanda” in “room 158” as her attacker.
“I didn’t imply to do it. I didn’t imply to kill anyone,” a sobbing Saldívar mentioned throughout a nine-hour standoff with police. She instructed officers she had purchased the .38-caliber revolver to kill herself.
Greater than 50,000 individuals lined as much as view Selena’s physique the day earlier than she was laid to relaxation in Seaside Memorial Park on April 3, 1995, simply 13 days earlier than her twenty fourth birthday.
Saldívar’s trial was moved to Houston due to the publicity surrounding the case. Saldívar testified that she had meant to kill herself throughout the confrontation with Selena however the gun misfired.
On Oct. 23, 1995, a jury convicted Saldívar of first-degree homicide. She was sentenced to life in jail with the opportunity of parole after 30 years.
Whereas in jail, Saldívar, a former nurse, obtained her paralegal and affiliate diploma in felony justice. She has filed a number of civil rights complaints alleging mistreatment by the state’s jail system, in keeping with court docket data, and he or she additionally helped different inmates file petitions.
In court docket paperwork from 2016, Saldívar mentioned she was being held in protecting custody — which means she was segregated from different inmates — as a result of jail officers had been involved for her security as a result of “excessive profile” nature of her case. She filed a number of appeals of her conviction, however all had been rejected.
Often called “the Queen of Tejano,” Selena rose to stardom and received a Grammy throughout a Tejano music growth within the early Nineties. Her hits included Bidi Bidi Bom Bom, Como la Flor, Amor Prohibido, No Me Queda Mas and Tu Solo Tu.
She opened the floodgates for a brand new era of latest artists of Latin descent who would go on to get pleasure from enormous reputation with mainstream American audiences. She typically sang in Spanish and spoke in English, reflecting a cross-cultural identification that resonated with listeners.
Dreaming of You, her English-language crossover album launched just a few months after her loss of life, topped the Billboard 200 and featured the hits I Might Fall in Love and Dreaming of You.
Jennifer Lopez performed the singer within the 1997 biopic Selena.
The Grammys awarded Selena a posthumous lifetime achievement award in 2021.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
