What Happened to Selena Quintanilla’s Killer, Yolanda Saldvar?

Yolanda Saldvar, who allegedly claimed to be Selena Quintanilla’s biggest admirer, murdered Selena Quintanilla, the “undisputed queen of Tejano music,” on March 31, 1995, 23-year-old Selena was headed towards revolutionizing the music business at the time of her passing.

Selena was the first Tejano singer to win a Grammy, and she already had a loyal fan base that could consistently sell-out performances at the Houston Astrodome. Selena was in the process of making her debut English-language album, which was expected to increase her already-expansive fan base.

When Saldvar, then 34, murdered the singer in front of a Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas, all that momentum—and everything that it represented for Latinx music artists—came to a terrible end.

Since then, tribute concerts, renowned biopics with Jennifer Lopez, Netflix programs, and investigative specials have all addressed Selena’s influence and her unrealized potential. Selena’s sister Suzette Quintanilla told NBC that Selena’s “impact and relevancy have only risen through the generations.”

Selena would be 49 years of age today if she were still alive. Sadly, the subject of Selena’s career’s demise is always brought up in discussions about it. Selena’s relationship with Saldvar, played by Natasha Perez, is explored in Selena: The Series, a Netflix original series, which stars Christian Serratos as the singer.

When asked why she did it, Yolanda Saldvar gave no explanation for why she had Selena killed.

When asked why she did it, Yolanda Saldvar gave no explanation for why she had Selena killed.

The Quintanillas found out that Saldvar had been embezzling money from both Selena’s businesses in March of 1995. According to testimony given by Selena’s father during Saldvar’s murder trial, the two met on March 9, and he warned Saldvar “that I was going to go to the police and launch an inquiry for theft.”

The family learned more about Saldvar’s financial misdeeds in the following weeks, and he is suspected of buying at least one rifle. On the evening of March 31st, Selena traveled to a motel room in Corpus Christi, Texas, in order to acquire financial paperwork from Saldvar.

Apparently, an argument ensued between the two, and then Saldvar shot Selena in the back. In her last moments, the singer made it to the hotel foyer, where she spoke the words “Yolanda… [Room] 158” to the hotel personnel.

Less than two hours later, Selena was pronounced dead at a local hospital, and Saldvar was eventually captured after a 10-hour confrontation with police during which she held a pistol to her head and threatened to kill herself.

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What’s become of Yolanda Saldvar?

A Texas jury convicted Saldvar guilty of first-degree murder in October 1995 after barely two hours of deliberation. Saldvar maintained throughout the trial that she had accidentally fired the trigger and that she had planned to kill herself rather than shoot Selena. Life in jail without the possibility of release until March 2025 was the maximum punishment she received.

The woman, who is now 60 years old, has remained in jail ever since her sentencing, and she has spent the entire time at the highest security Mountain View Unit for women in Gatesville, Texas.

When did Selena’s husband, Chris Perez, pass away?

Chris Perez, a Mexican musician, and Selena were married for a while. As far as Selena was concerned, her father would never approve of their relationship till they tied the knot. Chris and Selena secretly tied the knot on April 2, 1992. Almost immediately after they got together, the news spread.

The only way for Selena and I to be together was to go away and be married (when we were just 20 and 22 years old). What a crazy day That was,” Chris commented on Facebook in 2017.

When will Netflix finally upload Selena?

A biographical series about Selena’s life is available on Netflix. You can now stream the series on Netflix. Each of the nine episodes of the drama runs for 40 minutes. Christian Serratos plays the Mexican-American singer-songwriter as she rises to fame and becomes one of the most popular female musicians of all time before her untimely death in 1995.

But after barely five minutes of the first episode of the 10-part series, audiences were already moved by the performer’s tragic backstory. The series chronicles the life and times of the iconic artist, beginning with her childhood days when she and her siblings would play at their father Abraham Quintanilla’s Tex-Mex restaurant.

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Exactly who is Yolanda Saldvar, anyway?

Exactly who is Yolanda Saldvar, anyway?

During Selena’s lifetime, Yolanda Saldvar was widely recognized as the singer’s most devoted follower. She actually uprooted everything to be with Selena. Saldvar established the Selena Fan Club in 1991, and she later gave up her nursing career to devote herself full-time to the organization.

In 1994, she was given the position of managing Selena’s two Texas shops and quickly became an integral member of the singer’s inner circle. Saldvar claimed in an interview with 20/20 that Selena referred to her as “mom.”

But there was a shadowy aspect to their friendship. People who knew Saldvar describe her as protective and even obsessed with Selena. According to a report in Texas Monthly, a lady who shared an apartment with Yolanda found that her new roommate treated the space “like a shrine,” adorned with photos of Selena.

Martin Gomez, a designer for one of Selena’s stores, worked in the same office as Saldvar but eventually left the company due to her erratic behavior. “She had a lot of resentment in her heart. When it came to Selena, she was quite protective. If you crossed her, she would become really upset.

She would constantly misrepresent the conversation, claiming that individuals had said things they hadn’t “The Washington Post, Gomez informed them.

“What I was doing would get damaged in so many ways. Sometimes I would finish work and then return from a trip to New York to find that the hems had been pulled out. This was a really odd occurrence.” Unfulfilled purchases quickly became a source of client complaints.

It was shown that Saldvar was not only a poor manager but was also probably stealing from the stores. Selena’s father, Abraham Quintanilla, discovered theft evidence from Selena’s stores and fan organizations. On March 9, Quintanilla questioned Saldvar about her behavior.

Abraham said to UPI in 1995, “I informed her that I was going to go to the police and launch an inquiry for theft.” Saldvar decided to buy a revolver after that incident. And so it was that on March 31st, Saldvar and Selena finally hooked up, first to transport Saldvar to the clinic.

During her time in Monterrey, Mexico, Saldvar said she was sexually assaulted. They went back to the Days Inn where Saldvar had promised to deliver Selena the financial documents she had been missing.

The major artery in Selena’s body was cut when she was shot in the lower right shoulder while in Saldvar’s room. In a panic, Selena ran out of the room, with Saldvar close following. She went to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead upon arrival, and identified Saldvar as her attacker.

After nine and a half-hour confrontation with law enforcement, Saldvar was taken into custody. I didn’t set out to hurt anyone. She reportedly remarked, “I didn’t mean to murder anybody” as she put the pistol to her head, as reported by the L.A. Times.