Will Selena Quintanilla's killer be released? Yolanda Saldívar up for parole this week

USA Today

27-03-2025

Will Selena Quintanilla's killer be released? Yolanda Saldívar up for parole this week
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Selena fans continue to celebrate her life through art
Fans of Selena Quintanilla-Pérez express their love for the late singer through art and creating handmade clothes for a vintage Selena doll.
Robert Hanashiro and Sandy Hooper, USA TODAY
Thirty years after pop singer and Tejano legend Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was murdered, her killer is under review for parole.
Yolanda Saldívar, 64, is currently serving a life sentence for her murder. The crossover star died nearly 30 years ago to the day, March 31, 1995, at 23 years old in Corpus Christi, Texas.
According to Texas Department of Criminal Justice records, Saldívar will be eligible for parole on March 30, and she is currently in the parole review process.
Here's what to know about Selena's death and Saldívar's parole bid.
Who was Selena Quintanilla-Pérez?
Known by fans simply as Selena, Quintanilla-Pérez was a beloved Tejano musician turned crossover superstar. In 1986, she was named female vocalist of the year at the Tejano Music Awards − a title she'd go on to earn 10 more times. She won the Grammy for the best Mexican American album in 1994. Selena's tracks like "Como La Flor" (1992) and "I Could Fall In Love," released posthumously in 1995, endeared her music to Spanish and English-speaking audiences alike.
Who killed Selena? What happened between Selena and Yolanda Saldívar?
Saldívar was the former president of the Selena fan club and a manager of Selena's clothing boutiques.
On March 31, 1995, Saldívar, then 34, fatally shot Selena at a Days Inn Hotel in Corpus Christi, Texas, after the singer learned that Saldívar had been embezzling money. The singer was pronounced dead just two weeks before she would have turned 24.
Selena Quintanilla's widower reflects on singer's murder 26 years later: 'It was traumatic'
Selena movie with Jennifer Lopez released 2 years after death
In 1997, Warner Bros. released the film "Selena" on the life, career and death of the pop star, starring Jennifer Lopez in what would be her breakout performance. The film helped launch Lopez into stardom, after her TV debut as a Fly Girl dancer in the Wayans family sketch comedy "In Living Color" and going on to star in a handful of smaller films, including "My Family" and "Money Train."
Will Selena's killer Yolanda Saldívar get parole?
Saldívar is now eligible for parole for the first time. If granted, she would be released to serve the remainder of her sentence in the community under supervision.
If she is denied parole, her next review date will be set for one to five years from the decision date, a spokesperson for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles told the Times-Caller, part of the USA TODAY Network, earlier this year in an unsigned email. The parole panel would determine the specific number of years.
Selena Quintanilla's killer Yolanda Saldívar speaks out from prison in upcoming Oxygen docuseries
During the parole decision process, a Texas Department of Criminal Justice parole officer interviews the offender to prepare a case summary for the board. A panel of three members, who also have the discretion to interview the offender and individuals who support or protest their release, is then responsible for the final vote. Victims' family members are notified in advance of an offender's parole eligibility.
The parole panel considers the seriousness of the offense, letters of support or protest, the length of the sentence and the amount of time served, as well as criminal history, institutional adjustment and the offender's age.
Parole can be denied for several reasons, including if past behavior indicates a predisposition to commit criminal acts, if the offender poses a continuing threat to public safety or indicates a conscious disregard for the lives and safety of others, or if they've refused to participate in or failed to complete programs in prison.
The board traditionally votes on a case just before the parole eligibility date – in this case, March 30.
In 2019, Saldívar filed an appeal challenging her conviction and sentence, according to federal court records. According to documents from the denied appeal, a pair of tennis shoes worn by the victim at the time of the murder were not admitted into evidence during Saldívar's trial. Saldívar asserted that if the prosecution had admitted these shoes as evidence, the defense could have potentially discredited the argument that Saldívar shot Quintanilla-Pérez intentionally.
Saldívar's appeals have not been successful.
Selena Quintanilla songs
Some of Selena's biggest records include "Como La Flor," "I Could Fall In Love" and "Dreaming of You." Selena and her family, who performed as Selena y Los Dinos before she went solo, released a dozen albums, 24 singles and seven promotional singles.
"Dreaming of You," her fifth and final solo album released four months after her death, peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and became the first predominately Spanish album to top the Billboard 200 chart.
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY; John Oliva, Corpus Christi Caller Times