Selena's Murderer Yolanda Saldívar Seeks Parole After 30-Year Prison Term

Selena's Murderer Yolanda Saldívar Seeks Parole After 30-Year Prison Term

By Marcus Stevenson

January 16, 2025 at 02:53 AM

Yolanda Saldívar, who murdered Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez in 1995, has filed for parole in Texas after serving nearly 30 years of her life sentence.

Selena text logo on black background

Selena text logo on black background

On March 31, 1995, Saldívar, then president of Selena's fan club and manager of her boutique line, shot the 23-year-old singer at a Days Inn hotel in Corpus Christi. The shooting occurred after Selena and her family discovered Saldívar had been embezzling funds from the companies. When confronted, Saldívar shot Selena in the back with a .38 Taurus Model 85 revolver as the singer attempted to flee the room.

Despite Saldívar's claims that the shooting was accidental and that she had intended to kill herself, a jury convicted her of murder on October 23, 1995. She received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 30 years.

Now 64, Saldívar is currently held at the Patrick L. O'Daniel Unit in Gatesville, Texas, and is "in the Parole Review Process." The Texas parole process takes six months and includes:

  • An inmate interview
  • Collection of support and protest letters
  • Case summary compilation by an Institutional Parole Officer
  • Final decision by the Board voting panel

The parole board will make their decision by late March 2025. According to prison reports, Saldívar continues to receive death threats from other inmates due to her crime. She recently claimed in a Peacock documentary that she "was convicted by public opinion even before my trial started."

Related Articles

Previous Articles