Thirty years after Tejano icon Selena Quintanilla-Perez was murdered in her native Texas, her killer, 64 year-old Yolanda Saldívar, is under review for parole.
Saldívar is currenly serving a life sentence at the Patrick L. O’Daniel Unit in Gatesville, Texas — nearly five hours away from the scene of Selena’s death in Corpus Christi. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice records, Saldívar will be eligible for parole on March 30.
Saldívar was the president of Selena‘s fan club and the manager of her line of boutiques, Selena, Inc., when she shot her in the back on March 31, 1995. She was 23 at the time of her death. Selena was meeting with Saldívar in the latter’s hotel room to collect missing bank statements.
Her intent was to regain control of her finances as the business relationship between herself, her family and Saldívar were beginning to sour. The Quintanilla family accused Saldívar of embezzling funds.
In the years that followed, Saldívar maintained the shooting was an accident and that she really meant to shoot herself. As part of an interview for “Selena and Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them,” a docu-series that premiered in 2024, Saldívar also refuted the allegations of embezzlement.
Under the jurisdiction of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Saldívar’s review process will require letters of support and protest. An institutional parole officer will review these files and interview Saldívar before preparing a case summary for the board voting panel. The board is scheduled to vote on the case just prior to the parole eligibility date.
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