Remembering Selena Quintanilla 30 years after her death

HOUSTON - Selena Quintanilla-Perez was shot and killed by the president of her fan club on March 31, 1995, 30 years ago, in Corpus Christi, Texas. She was only 23-years-old. 

Yolanda Saldivar, who was 34 at the time of Selena's death, was convicted of shooting Selena in a motel room at a Days Inn in Corpus Christi.

What happened on March 31, 1995?

The backstory:

Salidivar had been the president of Quintanilla-Perez's fan club and manager of the singer's clothing stores, but had been removed as president and taken off the singer's business checking accounts about two weeks prior to the shooting, according to court filings from Saldivar's 1998 appeal.

Prosecutors said Quintanilla-Perez confronted Saldivar about money missing from the accounts and Saldivar shot the singer in the back as she was leaving the room.

Quintanila-Perez ran to the lobby of the hotel, where she told motel staff that Saldivar shot her before collapsing and passing out.

The singer would die that afternoon. 

Saldivar was arrested after a nine-hour standoff with police in the motel's parking lot.

Saldivar, now 64 years old, was denied parole last Thursday because of the nature of the offense, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles said. 

She's currently serving a life sentence.

The other side:

Saldivar has filed appeals on multiple occasions.

In her 1998 appeal, Saldivar's attorneys argued 17 points of error in the trial, including the exclusion of jurors based on race, admitting prejudicial or irrelevant evidence, denying a motion for a mistrial and denying a motion for a new trial.

In 2019, Saldivar filed an appeal on the grounds that prosecutors withheld a pair of white shoes and a black baseball cap that would have been favorable to her during trial, claiming prosecutors never allowed the defense to see them, but had them during a 2018 interview.

Saldivar's appeals have been unsuccessful.

The "Queen of Tejano Music"

By the numbers:

Quintanilla-Perez won a Grammy in 1994 for Best Mexican-American Album for "Live." It was the first time a female Tejano artist had won the category.

Quintanilla-Perez had four songs from her fourth album, "Amor Prohibido," reach number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs list: "Amor Prohibido," "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom," "No Me Queda Mas," and "Fotos Y Recuerdos."

The album reached number 29 on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for a Grammy.

The year after her death, Quintanilla-Perez's English-language crossover album, "Dreaming of You," reached the top of the Billboard 200. Two songs on the album appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 chart: "I Could Fall in Love" reached number eight and "Dreaming of You" reached 22.

Yolanda Saldivar denied parole

She was denied parole on March 27 and will remain serving a life sentence.

What they're saying:

"After a thorough consideration of all available information, which included any confidential interviews conducted, it was the parole panels determination to deny parole to Yolanda Saldivar and set her next parole review for March 2030," the Board of Pardons and Paroles said in a statement. "The reason provided by the panel for denial was the Nature of the Offense: The record indicates that the instant offense has elements of brutality, violence, assaultive behavior or conscious selection of victim’s vulnerability indicating a conscious disregard for the lives, safety, or property of others, such that the offender poses a continuing threat to public safety."

What's next:

Saldivar's case will be eligible for parole review again in March 2030.

HoustonEntertainment