Murder of Selena

On the morning of March 31, 1995, American singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was fatally shot at the Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas. The shooter, Yolanda Saldívar, an American nurse and the president of Selena's fan club, had embezzled thousands of dollars from the singer's earnings.

Saldívar planned the murder over three weeks. Earlier in the day, Selena confronted Saldívar in her hotel room about recovering her financial records. Later that morning, Saldívar fired a hollow-point bullet from a .38 Special revolver, hitting Selena in the shoulder. Selena was rushed to Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 1:05 p.m. Following the shooting, Saldívar surrendered to the police after a more than nine-hour standoff.

The murder triggered a global outpouring of grief, with crowds gathering at Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital and outside the Days Inn, and tributes held worldwide. Three days following the murder, Selena was buried at Seaside Memorial Park. On April 12, then-Texas governor and future President George W. Bush declared her birthday Selena Day in Texas. At Saldívar's trial, she was convicted of murdering the singer and given a sentence of 30 years to life imprisonment. She has been denied parole since becoming eligible in 2025.

Background

The Selena fan club

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was born on April 16, 1971, at Freeport Community Hospital in Freeport, Texas, to Abraham Quintanilla Jr., a former musician, and Marcella Ofelia Quintanilla (née Samora). Selena was introduced to the music industry by her father, who saw "a way back into the music business" after discovering Selena's "perfect timing and pitch". Abraham quickly organized his children into a band called Selena y Los Dinos, which included A.B. Quintanilla III on bass, Suzette Quintanilla on drums and Selena as the lead singer. The band became the family's main source of income after they were evicted from their home during the Texas oil bust of 1982. They filed for bankruptcy after Abraham's Mexican restaurant suffered as a result of the oil bust.

The Quintanilla family moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, and Selena y Los Dinos began recording music professionally. In 1984 the band released its first LP record, Selena y Los Dinos, with a small, independent record company. Abraham wanted his children to record Tejano music—a male-dominated music genre popularized by Mexican-Americans in the United States. Selena's popularity as a singer grew after she won the Tejano Music Award for Female Vocalist of the Year in 1987. She landed her first major record deal with Capitol EMI Latin in 1989.

Yolanda Saldívar, a woman from San Antonio, Texas, became a fan of Tejano music in the mid-1980s. Saldívar had originally disliked Selena because she had won awards for which Saldívar's favorite Tejano musicians were nominated. In mid-1991, Saldívar and her niece attended one of Selena's concerts in San Antonio. She subsequently became an ardent Selena fan; she enjoyed the singer's stage presence and especially liked the song "Baila Esta Cumbia". The day after the concert, Saldívar unsuccessfully searched news stands for a souvenir of the event. She got the idea of organizing a local Selena fan club to promote the singer. According to Abraham, Saldívar tried contacting him and left him fifteen messages; she said she left only three. Abraham contacted her to discuss her idea of starting a fan club. After meeting Saldívar in person, he approved of her idea and gave her permission to proceed.

Saldívar became the founder and acting president of the Selena fan club in San Antonio in June 1991. She was licensed as a Texas registered nurse the same year. As fan club president, she was responsible for membership benefits and collecting $22 in exchange for products promoting Selena, a T-shirt bearing the singer's name, exclusive interviews with Selena y Los Dinos, a fact sheet about the band and notifications of upcoming concerts. Proceeds from the fan club were donated to charities. Selena's sister Suzette was the contact person between Saldívar and the Quintanilla family; Saldívar did not meet Selena herself until December 1991. The two became close friends and the Quintanilla family trusted her.

By 1994, Saldívar had signed up more than 8,000 fans. According to television news reporter and anchorwoman María Celeste Arrarás, she had become the "most efficient assistant" Selena ever had. Arrarás wrote that people noticed how eager Saldívar was to impress Selena and did anything the singer told her to do. One person told Arrarás, "If Selena would say, 'Jump!', [Saldívar] would jump three times". Saldívar gave up her career as an in-home nurse to fully invest her time in running the Selena fan club, although she was earning less than she had in her previous career.

Selena Etc. boutiques

In 1994, Selena opened two boutiques called Selena Etc. in Corpus Christi and San Antonio, both equipped with in-house beauty salons. Her father thought Saldívar was a potential candidate to run the businesses because the family would be touring the country, based on her success in running the fan club. The rest of the family agreed; in January 1994, Saldívar became the manager of the boutiques. In September 1994, Selena signed Saldívar as her registered agent in San Antonio. After being hired to run the boutiques, Saldívar moved from South San Antonio to Corpus Christi to be closer to Selena. In an interview with Primer Impacto in 1995, Abraham said he personally "always mistrusted Saldívar", though the family never found anything odd about her behavior. Saldívar was authorized to write and cash checks, and had access to bank accounts associated with the fan club and boutiques.

Selena gave Saldívar her American Express card for the purpose of conducting company business. Saldívar instead used it to rent luxury cars, entertain associates in upmarket restaurants and buy two cellular phones which she carried. Staff at Selena Etc. complained that Saldívar was always "nice" when Selena was around, but treated everyone terribly when the singer was away. By December 1994, the boutiques' bank accounts lacked sufficient funds to pay bills. Staff levels at both stores had been reduced from 38 to 14 employees, mainly because Saldívar fired those she disliked. The remaining employees complained to Selena, but the singer did not believe her friend would hurt her or her business. Employees reportedly told Selena that Saldívar was "two-faced [and] was unstable". The employees then began to take their concerns to Selena's father, who warned her that Saldívar might be dangerous. Selena did not believe Saldívar would turn on her; her father had a habit of distrusting people.

In January 1995, Selena's cousin, Debra Ramirez, was hired to work in the boutiques and to help Selena expand the business into Mexico. She quit within a week, telling Saldívar she was dissatisfied with the failure of staff members to report sales. Ramirez also found receipts were missing from the sale of several boutique items. Saldívar told her to "mind [her] business" and that it was not her concern.

Saldívar also clashed with Martin Gomez, Selena's fashion designer, who complained that Saldívar was mismanaging the singer's affairs. Their animosity intensified during Selena's fashion shows, with Gomez accusing Saldívar of mutilating or destroying some of his original creations and never paying bills. The two constantly complained about each other to Selena. Saldívar began recording their conversations without Gomez's consent to persuade Selena he was not working for the boutiques' best interests. Gomez was relegated to a supporting role when Selena decided to design her clothes herself.

Between late 1994 and early 1995, Saldívar often traveled to Monterrey, to expedite the process of opening another Selena Etc. store in Mexico. When Saldívar visited the factory there, she intimidated the seamstresses by telling them to either side with her or leave.

Selena and Saldívar's relationship

Saldívar received "tokens of affection from [Selena]", which she was not accustomed to. Her room was covered with Selena posters and pictures, burning votive candles and a library of Selena videotapes which she played to entertain guests. During an interview with Saldívar in 1995, reporters from The Dallas Morning News said her devotion to Selena bordered on obsession. Saldívar told employees at Selena Etc. she wanted to "be like Selena". According to an unnamed former employee, she was "possessive" of her relationship with Selena, and tried to exert control by distancing the singer from the other employees. Saldívar said her reason for doing so was to "shield" the singer from the "petty issues" of managing her boutiques. Along with the responsibility of running the boutiques, Saldívar accompanied Selena on trips and had keys to the singer's house.

When Saldívar became a business associate, her relationship with Selena began to deteriorate. In September 1994, Selena met Ricardo Martinez, a doctor who lived in Monterrey, to inquire about opening a Selena Etc. location there. Martinez said he had contacts in Mexico who could help her grow her business. Martinez became a business adviser to Selena, though her family said he was simply a fan who posed in several pictures with her.