Yolanda Saldivar, the woman who fatally shot singer Selena (a.k.a. Selena Quintanilla-Pérez), files for parole. According to the New York Post, which first reported on the development on Sunday, December 29, 2024, Saldivar has filed paperwork to request her release in 2025.
For the unversed, Saldivar shot 23-year-old Selena at a hotel room in Corpus Christi on March 31, 1995, just days ahead of her wedding anniversary to guitarist Chris Pérez. The singer planned on firing Yolanda, the president of her fan club, over embezzled money. The resulting confrontation led to the shooting.
Saldivar, for her part, has maintained that she meant to kill herself. However, a jury convicted her, sentencing her to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years. She is held at the Patrick L. O'Daniel Unit in Texas.
"There’s a bounty on her head"—Yolanda Saldívar is frequently threatened by fellow inmates for the murder of Selena
The New York Post interviewed inmates, including Marisol Lopez (who served time between 2017 and 2022), at the prison facility holding Yolanda Saldívar. Lopez told the publication:
"Everyone knows who Yolanda Saldívar is. There’s a bounty on her head, like everyone wants a piece of her. The guards keep her away from everyone else, because she’s hated so much. If she were out (in general population), someone would try to take her down."
Another former prisoner, Yesenia Dominguez, explained that Saldívar was a frequent subject of conversation among them. She claimed many wanted justice for Selena's murder.
In 2018, the singer's father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr. (singer), told Univision’s Primer Impacto (an American Spanish-language tabloid) that the family still received letters from the prison, threatening Saldívar’s life.
Yolanda Saldívar, for her interview for the Peacock documentary Selena and Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them, reiterated that the singer's death was accidental.
"I was convicted by public opinion even before my trial started," she explained.
Saldívar's family told the New York Post that Yolanda felt like a "political prisoner" and that she felt she had served her time. Quoting a cousin, the publication wrote:
"Keeping her in prison isn’t going to do any good. It’s time for her to get out."
What happened between Yolanda Saldívar and Selena?
Selena was a Mexican-American singer hailing from Freeport, Texas. She began her musical career singing for her family band, Selena y Los Dinos, with her elder siblings, A.B. Quintanilla and Suzette Quintanilla. Initially, the singer was met with criticism for performing Tejano music, a male-dominated genre.
However, after she won the Tejano Music Award for Female Vocalist of the Year in 1987, she earned her recognition (she has also won the award nine consecutive times). Quintanilla-Pérez went on to release several solo albums, including Entre a Mi Mundo, Amor Prohibido, and Dreaming of You. She was dubbed as the Queen of Tejano Music.
According to an April 1995 article by Orlando Sentinel, the singer's parents appointed Yolanda Saldívar to manage the singer's boutique stores in Corpus Christi. She also served as the president of the singer's fan club.
In the biographical book Selena, author Joe Nick Patoski explained that several of the singer's employees at the boutique, customers, and even fashion designers complained about Saldívar's behavior and management skills. The singer initially dismissed the concerns, believing the manager.
However, according to the book, her father, Quintanilla Jr., investigated the matter and discovered Yolanda had embezzled $30,000. On March 31, 1995, the songstress confronted Saldívar in her motel room at the Days Inn in Corpus Christi, asking her for financial documents. But she was shot and killed.
According to the Daily News, during the trial, Yolanda claimed that her gun went off accidentally. In October 1995, she was convicted of murder and sentenced to life with an option of parole after thirty years.
Citing a rep at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), the New York Post reported that Yolanda Saldívar, who is now 64, has no blemishes in her record that would stop the parole board from holding her hearing.
Per the department's website, Saldívar's parole eligibility date is March 30, 2025. Further, TDCJ stated that her family would be officially informed of her parole hearing in January.
According to the New York Post, Saldívar's claims, if released, she would live with her relatives and find a job.