Disclaimer: The article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Known as the rising music industry star, Selena Quintanilla was a cultural icon and an award-winning artist. However, on March 31, 1995, an unknown assailant killed musician Selena Quintanilla in a Texas motel and ended her dream run. During the investigation, the authorities found that a woman named Yolanda Saldivar was responsible for the singer’s tragic death. Oxygen plans to re-examine the gruesome case in its true-crime series ‘Selena & Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them.’ The series will present a lot of never-seen-before details about the case. The two-part docuseries will premiere on the network on Saturday, February 17, at 8 p.m. ET.
As per The Sun, Quintanilla fired Yolanda Saldivar after the singer’s family discovered that Saldivar embezzled money from the musician’s fan club and boutiques. The outlet mentioned that Saldivar was the President of Selena’s fan club and also the manager of two of her boutiques. After getting fired from the job, Saldivar requested Selena for a meeting. Reports suggest that the meeting was being held to get all the financial records from Saldivar. As a result, the singer agreed to meet her at the Days Inn motel. The Sun reported that Saldivar took out a gun from her purse and pointed it towards the musician. The musician tried to flee the scene, but Saldivar shot her in the back. Subsequently, the musician reached the motel’s lobby and identified Saldivar as the shooter. Sadly, the singer died at the Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital.
The authorities apprehended Yolanda Saldivar almost 10 hours after the incident. They charged her with first-degree murder and sent her to trial. The jury found her guilty and sent to prison for life. As per The Sun, Yolanda Saldivar is serving her sentence at the Mountain View Prison in Texas.
Selena Quintanilla murder case explored
As mentioned above, Yolanda Saldivar murdered Selena Quintanilla by shooting her in the back. According to The Washington Post, the authorities arrested her after a shocking standoff. The outlet mentioned that Saldivar held a gun to her head and her finger to the trigger after she murdered the musician. During the trial, one of the officers testified and noted that Saldivar knew what she was doing. Citing the officer, the publication also revealed that the accused knew “how to manipulate firing mechanism” during the stand-off. Although the defense team tried portraying that the gun went off accidentally, the investigators made it clear that Saldivar never said that the killing happened by accident. The officer said, “She never stated it or implied it.”
On the other hand, the prosecution kept on trying to prove that Saldivar killed Selena Quintanilla intentionally. Even the eye-witnesses testified that they saw Saldivar running behind the singer-songwriter to the lobby. According to The Washington Post, the accused had the gun in her hand while chasing the bleeding singer. Most importantly, the accused noted she did something “very bad” and “disgraced her family,” as per a police officer. Meanwhile, during the trial, the jury members heard recordings in which she continuously said that she wanted to “kill herself.” She added, “I don’t want to live anymore. I don’t deserve to live after what I’ve done. Look what I’ve done to my best friend.”
After the closing arguments, the jury deliberated for two hours and reached a verdict. Subsequently, the jury found Yolanda Saldivar guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced her to life imprisonment with a possibility of parole after 30 years. As per People Magazine, Saldivar is up for parole in 2025.
