Yolanda Saldivar is serving her prison term for the murder of Selena, the young Latina singer who dominated the charts and bagged several awards at a young age. Saldivar left her career as a nurse to serve as president of Selena’s fan club in the early 1990s, an opportunity she utilized to infiltrate the singer’s personal space. At first, Saldivar did a great job growing Selena’s fanbase and ultimately earned a promotion to manage her clothing boutiques, Selena Etc. The relationship between the two continued to grow until Selena’s family discovered dirty secrets about Saldivar. In a tragic turn of events, the singer was fatally shot by Saldivar.
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, professionally known as just Selena was a celebrated artist in the late 20th century. She earned this status for her contributions to fashion and music. Several decades after death, Selena is still considered one of the Greatest Latino Artists of All Time. The acclaimed “Queen of Tejano Music” achieved so much at a young age with numerous awards and recognition to her name. Sadly, her life was cut short in her prime by someone she called her friend. While Yolanda Saldivar is widely known as Selena’s killer, the former nurse and boutique manager has maintained her innocence on certain grounds. Here’s everything you need to know about the woman who shot Selena.
Who Is Yolanda Saldivar?
An American by nationality, Yolanda Saldivar was born on September 19, 1960, in San Antonio, Texas. However, she has Latin ancestry. Saldivar was born to Frank and Juanita Saldívar who raised her as one of their seven children. Her father, Frank worked as a head waiter at a restaurant. Details about her growing up days reveal she attended three different schools, starting from Kennedy High School. She transferred to Holmes High School and later Jay High School. In 1979, Saldivar finally graduated from McCollum High School. She began her college studies at the University of Texas before transferring to Palo Alto College where she bagged a degree as a registered nurse.
Yolanda Saldivar worked as a graduate nurse before getting her license as a registered nurse from the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners in 1990. Her employer, Dr. Faustino Gomez accused her of stealing from him and sued her for $9,200. She was later dragged back to court by the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation for failing to pay her student loan of $7,361. In the course of her nursing career, Saldivar worked at numerous hospitals, including St. Luke’s Lutheran Hospital. She also became a fan of Tejano music and attended concerts to watch artists in the genre.
How Yolanda Saldivar Met Selena
Before Selena came into the picture, Yolanda Saldivar tried reaching out to Shelly Lares after seeing her perform in San Antonio, Texas. However, her request to start a fan club for the singer was turned down by her father. Saldivar later convinced Selena’s father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr. to start a fan club for the popular singer. The fan club’s membership grew to become one of the largest in the San Antonio area with Saldivar as president.
Yolanda Saldivar gained Selena’s trust over time and was promoted to manage the singer’s clothing line, Selena Etc. Unknown to the Latina songstress, Saldivar had developed an unhealthy obsession with her and even had her pictures all over her home. Saldivar also tried to sabotage the efforts of other employees of the singer out of jealousy. All attempts to warn Selena about Saldivar fell on deaf ears as the singer trusted her with her life to the point of giving her spare keys to her home.
Why Did Yolanda Saldivar Kill Selena?
In 1995, Yolanda Saldivar was fired by Selena’s family after discovering she was embezzling the singer’s money. In an attempt to retrieve some financial documents in her possession, Selena agreed to meet Saldivar in a motel but she refused to hand over the papers, claiming she was raped during her trip to Mexico. The singer took her to a hospital where it was confirmed that there was no sign of sexual assault.
They came back to the motel where Selena snatched Saldivar’s purse and emptied the contents on the bed to retrieve her stolen documents but a gun fell out as well. Yolanda Saldivar grabbed the gun and shot Selena in the back as the singer tried to escape. Selena managed to reach the motel lobby before she collapsed. The singer was later pronounced dead at Spohn Hospital. Selena died at the age of 23, just a couple of weeks before her 24th birthday.
What happened To Yolanda Saldivar?
Yolanda Saldivar was charged with first-degree murder even though she claimed the gun went off by accident. At her trial, the prosecution argued that she never tried to help the singer after shooting her and didn’t call 911 either. Saldivar was found guilty of murder on October 23, 1995, after a few hours of deliberation. On October 26, 1995, she was slapped with life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 30 years. As such, Saldívar is currently serving a life sentence at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville and will become eligible for parole on March 30, 2025.
