The murder of Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla is one of the most tragic stories in a music business littered with them. Even worse, she was murdered by someone close to her, someone she should have been able to trust. That person was Yolanda Saldivar, president of Selena’s fan club and later a manager of her clothing line. So why did this woman gun down one of music’s most promising talents?
There’s renewed scrutiny on the case because of a documentary out on the Oxygen channel called “Selena & Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them.” For the first time in a long time, Saldivar gave her version of the events 30 years ago and why she “accidentally” killed Selena.
Selena’s father and former manager Abraham Quintanilla, by the way, has made it very clear that neither he nor Selena’s family were involved in the making of the project and that they don’t want anything to do with it.
He said everything out of Saldivar’s mouth is a lie and she’s proven that repeatedly. Here are the facts: Selena was shot in the back on March 31, 1995 in a motel room after she fired Saldivar for stealing money for her. Selena tried to run and made it to the hotel lobby before she died. Her last words were that Saldivar shot her.
Before we get into the why let’s do a little background.
Who was Selena Quintanilla, the Tejano singer murdered by Yolanda Saldivar?
Before she died, Selena was one of the most popular musical artists in the world, and also the absolute be all end all when it came to Tejano music – a hybrid Texas-Mexican musical style. She made her musical debut in the ’80s and quickly became one of the best-selling Latino artists of her day.
She was also the first female Tejano artist to win a Grammy. She was born in 1971 to a family of musicians and was the lead singer of her family’s band by the age of 10. She recorded seven albums with Selena Y Los Dinos before she went off on her own.
When she was 18, she released her first self-titled album in 1989. Between then and 1995, she released five albums and one live album. She sold more than 65 million records, making her one of the best-selling Latino artists ever.
She had seven number one hits on the Hot Latin Songs chart and 14 in the top 10. She even had a song called “Dreaming of You” on the Billboard Hot 100. By 1994, she had two boutiques called Selena Etc. in Texas and by 1995 she was starring in movies. Specifically, Don Juan DeMarco with Johnny Depp. It was at this point in her career and life, at 23 years old, that she was murdered.
Who was Yolanda Saldivar, the woman who murdered Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla?
Saldivar was a registered nurse from San Antonio who founded the Selena fan club with Quintanilla family encouragement. She started the club in 1991 and was Selena’s constant companion. She was so trusted that she moved on from the fan club to operate Selena’s boutique stores.
Her background, which the Quintanilla family didn’t know about, involved stealing money from a previous employer. She was lonely and didn’t have a lot of friends, and she had defaulted on her student loans. One woman who lived with her for a short time in her apartment said she had a “shrine” to Selena and it was unsettling.
After Saldivar left the fan club, it didn’t take long for the Quintanilla family to realize something wasn’t right about how it was run. There was a litany of complaints from fans who said they paid the $22 membership fee but never got their swag: a CD, T-shirt and signed picture. Turns out Saldivar was stealing money from fans, and had embezzled in the neighborhood of $30,000.
While this was going on, Abraham Quintanilla was also receiving disparaging reports of Saldivar’s handling of the boutique, suspecting that she was also stealing from there. The family asked to meet with Saldivar in early March and she denied all of the charges, saying that other people didn’t like her and wanted to make her look bad. She also probably realized she was going to get fired.
Why did Yolanda Saldivar kill Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla?
To put it bluntly, Saldivar knew she was going to get fired and she killed Selena in a fit of rage. However if you ask Quintanilla, as many have done over the years, she claims the shooting was an accident. Saldivar bought the snub-nosed .38 caliber gun she used to murder Selena on Mar. 13.
Then she went to Monterrey, Mexico, the next location for a Selena boutique. She took Selena’s business papers with her and Selena called her and said she needed to bring those records back. On Mar. 30, Selena and her husband Chris went to get the records in Corpus Christi at a Days Inn where Saldivar was staying.
Saldivar had asked Selena to come alone and when the couple got home they realized there were still some papers missing. She called Yolanda and they agreed that she would come get them in the morning. When Selena arrived, Saldivar asked her to go to the hospital with her, claiming she had been raped.
They did, and the tests from the hospital were inconclusive as to whether there was a rape or not. Then Saldivar admitted it was all a lie. They drove back to the hotel and once they were in the room Selena asked for the records again.
She also told Saldivar that their professional relationship was over. They started arguing and Saldivar asked for a ring back that she’d given Selena as a gift. Selena started to take off the ring and Saldivar pulled out the gun. Selena tried to run and Saldivar reportedly yelled “you bitch” and then shot her in the back.
In later interviews with police, Saldivar said the gun was for a suicide attempt. She said Selena told her “I don’t want you to kill yourself” and that when Selena opened the door she asked her to close it and then the gun went off.
Selena’s father Abraham told Univision that the shooting “was no accident” but “a moment of rage because she was being fired. Despite life-saving efforts at the hospital, Selena didn’t make it. At her trial, the jury convicted Saldivar of murder after a short deliberation and she was sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole before Mar. 2025. Her appeals have failed and she remains behind bars to this day.
