Fan Club President Who Killed Singer Selena Could Be Freed
Convicted of murdering the pop icon in 1995, Yolanda Saldivar is up for her first parole hearing in March.
Arlene Richie/Getty Images
Yolanda Saldivar, the woman convicted of murdering Tejana pop icon Selena in 1995, is up for a parole review for the first time after 30 years in prison.
The president of the singer’s fan club and the manager of her clothing boutique, Selena Etc., Saldivar was found guilty of shooting the Grammy-winning artist, whose full name was Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, in March 1995 and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
According to online records from Texas’ Department of Criminal Justice, Saldivar is slated for a parole hearing on March 30. The parole review process in Texas typically includes an interview with the offender and a review of their file, namely letters of support or protest, before presenting their case to a voting panel per the Washington Post.
Singer Selena (Quintanilla) receives Grammy Award at The 36th Annual Grammy Awards on March 1, 1994 in New York, New York at Radio City Music Hall.
Larry Busacca/Getty Images
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles lists factors such as not having a repeated history of “violent or assaultive arrests or convictions” as reasons for parole approval, and reports that Texas’ parole approval rate for 2023 was around 34 percent.
Saldivar is currently in custody at the Patrick L. O’Daniel Unit prison in Gatesville, Texas.
On March 31, 1995, Quintanilla-Pérez, known by her stage name of Selena, agreed to meet Saldivar at a motel in Corpus Christi to retrieve financial records from her after finding out that she had been embezzling money from her fan club and boutiques. She was then shot to death at only 23 years old.
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During Saldivar’s trial, prosecutors claimed that she had intentionally killed the singer with her .38-caliber revolver because she was about to be fired. Meanwhile, Saldivar alleged that her gun accidentally discharged. She was ultimately found guilty by the jury and convicted of first-degree murder.
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